11 & 13 course Lutes- from £3400
Ten Course (Renaissance) Lut
French Eleven Course Lutes
Our understanding of the design and construction of early 17th century French lutes remains frustratingly incomplete as no instruments of this type survive. Although contemporary French makers, such as Jean Desmoulins, are known to have made lutes, most lutenist seem to have prized old Italian instruments - in particular those made in Bologna by makers such as Frei and Maler. These were imported into Paris in large numbers, where they were converted to the fashion of the day by fitting new necks and rebarring the soundboards.
Hans Frei (Vienna C.34)
String length 67 .5 cm.
Courses: 11
The ebony veneered neck has ten fret spaces and a cambered ebony fingerboard. Single pegbox with a chanterelle rider. Ideal woods for the 11 rib back are figured or bird's eye maple.
Hans Frei (Warwick County Museum)
String length 70 .5cm.
Courses: 11
A magnificent model for a French lute. The ebony veneered neck has ten fret spaces and a cambered ebony fingerboard. Single pegbox with a chanterelle rider. Ideal woods for the 11 rib back are figured or bird's eye maple. Hans Frei details
German Eleven Course Lutes
Interest in the lute continued in Germany after the instrument's popularity in France had declined. Baron's Study of the Lute (1727) suggests that lutes of very different types of lute were appreciated by players according to individual taste. Hence it is no surprise to find lutes in this period that vary from the deep bodied, wide rib models of the younger Hoffmann, to those modelled on the much flatter bodied instruments preffered by J.J. Edlinger. Baron's admiration for this range of radically different types of lute suggests a compelex situation.
photo left : original lute by J.C.Hoffmann, Brussels no 1559
Andreas Berr , Vienna,1699 (Private collection)
String length 650mm
Although many German lutes of this period were large , not all were so - there are references to Count Losy who owned a small lute made by Andreas Berr. This model benefits from a small body and a comparatively short scale length of 650mm. The original instrument was built as an eleven course lute, and only later converted by the addition of a bass rider to the pegbox to carry an additional two courses. Maple is a suggested material for the 11 rib back. The neck and pegbox are veneered in ebony.
J.C. Hoffmann 1716 (Brussels No.1559)
String length : 710mm.
Nine ribs of birds'eye maple with ebony strips between, neck and pegbox are veneered in ebony. A very deep bodied instrument typical of the younger Hoffmann's work. Baron (1727) says of Hoffmann that " in the building of his lutes he not only creates great proportionate beauty, but also a good and pure tone."
German Thirteen Course Lutes
Hans Burkholtzer1596 (KHM SAM 44),
String length : 710mm & 780mm.
Originlaly built as a seven or eight course lute, it was first converted to 11 courses by Thomas Edlinger. Subsequently a bass rider was added for the extra bass courses. Twenty one ribbed back.
Johann Christian Hoffmann 1730 (Brussels No.3188),
710mm and 780mm.
The original has 11 ribs of figured sycamore with an ebony veneered neck and a carved and pierced back to the pegbox, a sycamore bass rider carries the two lower courses.
Martin Hoffmann 1692 (Nuremberg MI 245)
String length : 690 mm & 970 mm.
The original has a 9 rib back of figured sycamore with ebony filets, ebony veneered neck. The double pegbox is in ebonised sycamore with relief carving in three panels on the back.
Johann Christian Hoffmann, Leipzig (Horniman Museum,London)
String length : 720 mm and 976 mm.
Overall this instrument is slightly smaller than the Widhalm (above). The body of nine ribs is in typical Hoffmann style
