h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Viols - A87758518
Author: Recumbentman - U208656

It had to be done, so here it is. Viols.

You've got a typo, 3rd from last word, 5th paragraph, 'amd' needs to be "and".

10th word, first sentence under "Fantasias", is that meant to be "amusement"?

Excellent article!

Thank you, ITIWBS!

'Playing for your own amazement' is a Dublin expression. I think its meaning is clear enough?

Good work, R!

Not much to say about this, as it is almost perfect.

Do we not know the first name of Mr Sainte-Colombe?

The last sentence is cumbersome with its A until B until C construction:

"After that, the cello began to dominate the scene, until with the French Revolution the elegant baroque instruments, viol, recorder, harpsichord and lute, were silenced for a hundred years until the Early Music Movement revived them."

Could you split it up?

Two other trivial points:

"and specially" sounds to me as if it should be "and especially".

The BBC Eds insisted on the spelling "medieval" but I prefer "mediaeval", so you're free to use whichever spelling you prefer.

A rounded and harmonious work, indeed.

I don't know if it's relevant, but I learned a lot about the viol from the film "Tous les matins du monde" which had me absolutely captivated. It starred Gerard Depardieu and his son Guillaume and was all about the development of the 7th string, Ste Colombe and his life. An unusual film for M. Depardieu sr. I don't think it's available in English, except the original French with English subtitles. I saw a German version on TV.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103110/

Yes, TC, I considered mentioning it but I am keeping things minimal (so far). It is a beautiful film, and the music is excellently done (by Jordi Savall). But the scenes showing Ste-Colombe playing should have been filmed so as to hide the ridiculous movements the actor makes with his left hand. It is as though a tennis film showed a player holding his racket like a fork.

The son of Depardieu (Guillaume) is obviously a guitar player, as he had a grasp of how the left hand should look; and one girl playing Ste-Colombe's daughter is actually a viol player. When she played, the musical Dublin audience collectively sighed in relief.

Ste-Colombe's first name is not definitely known; probably Jean. Ste-Colombe was not his surname anyway, but his landed title.

I'll redo that awkward sentence, and thanks.

I've nothing to quibble with either. Good man that man

Some people have even been known to get away with spelling it 'mediæval' (mediæval)

I don't know a great deal about viols, alas, so all I have to add is perhaps suggest that you may, if you wish, add links to related edited articles:

A2106 Harpsichords
A622450 Violas
A536429 Cellos
A668081 Taking up a Musical Instrument
A523225 Double Basses
A437528 Classical Violins
A486074 Unusual Musical Instruments
A22917747 Musical Instruments

<BB<

Lovely entry

Thank you, Bluebottle and Z. I will be glad to add those links and more, not today or tomorrow but soon.

Oh, and thank you too, h5ringer.

Gnomon already recommended this Entry to me, Recumbentman, so I am keeping it for a treat to read later with a glass of wine.

Not often we get such high calibre writing _and_ a fascinating subject all rolled together, that won't even need proof reading.


later Thanks!

Thank you!

I have just updated the bit about Byrd and the St Paul's viol-playing boys.

I want to put in a link to the excellent book by Ian Woodfield, 'The Early History of the Viol'

http://books.google.ie/books?id=sEh7VkTEaM4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Ian+woodfield&hl=en&sa=X&ei=SYi2T9-KEtOFhQeV6JH6CA&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Ian%20woodfield&f=false

I'll (re-)find out how to do this in due course.

The Early History of the Viol You have to change all the & characters in the link to & - I hope I got them all.

Hmm, the url shortener has shortened the url, so I'm not sure you'll be able to cut and paste that. But hopefully you get the idea.

Thanks, that works in Brunel OK.

I was thinking more of a link not in the text but in the right-hand list. I can find this for myself, I just did some recently in the Ukuleles Entry.

Thanks Gnomon;

I have tried to link searches and have gotten the error in Guide ML. Could you repost the &amp; in the GUIDEML CLINIC?

Thanks
FS

R,

If you want the link to appear in the right margin but not in the text, move it to a references section at the end of the entry. This should be after the /BODY tag and should be between REFERENCES and /REFERENCES.

I really enjoyed this. It's erudite, but written in a very accessible way. I'm no music student, but it invites me to go and find out more about early music.

If there's one improvement I'd suggest, it's the ending. There isn't one. How about something in a modern context, eg. a closing paragraph describing the resurgent popularity of the viol, or early music in general. Are there any modern virtuosi or recordings you would recommend?

Icy

There certainly are. I take your point, but I do love keeping things short. I think I'll add links to the Viola da Gamba Society and the VdGSA (=America).