Odhecaton

TC: The lute is considered a very delicate and intimate, almost meditative instrument. The question arises whether and to what extent a comparison with the Japanese koto or shamisen game is permissible, with which they have certainly come into contact.

RS: Personally, I have very little experience with traditional Japanese instruments like koto or shamisen, although my parents owned some. But I can say that the typical Japanese plucked instrument Biwa has the same origin as our European lute. The sonority and musical function of the biwa are very similar to those of the plectrum lute, the instrument I play in this concert.

TC: You were already involved with early European music in Japan, both as a lutenist and as a gambist. Can you tell us something about the reception of European early music in Japan. Does the inclined audience mostly come from Tokyo?

RS: Early music concerts were not rare in Japan, but only from the 1980s. Tokyo is a center for early European music, and some conservatories have an early music department, but no lute class … And it is also true that there are not many musicians who play the music of the early Baroque, Renaissance or even the Middle Ages.

TC: You also spent some years in Sweden and in 2008 you brought your knowledge, your expertise and of course your instrument to its old home in Europe. I suppose this has simplified and enriched your dialogue with the lute literature. Or are they feeling the greater competition in Europe?

RS: The first time I consciously played the instrument, I was still a small child in Sweden – Swedish folk songs inspired me enormously. Above all, I suddenly fell in love with the music of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. However, I did not yet perceive it as “early” European music, as something special, but as everyday music.

TC: Baroque music has enjoyed great popularity in Europe for several decades, while with Renaissance music we have a knowledgeable but numerically limited audience. Do you think that will change in the coming years, that there will be a growing need in our society for a more intimate and meditative musical experience? In terms of content, there would still be a lot to discover.

RS: I am above all a lover of Renaissance music (especially music of the 16th century). From my perspective as a performer, the intellectual aspects (such as the rich polyphony) of Renaissance music are quite difficult to present to modern audiences. I think this ReRenaissance series certainly opens a window for a new audience.

TC: As a lutenist, could you imagine participating in a Euro-Japanese cross-over project, i.e. playing old Japanese court music with the lute?

RS: Since ancient Japanese music depends so much on oral tradition, it is almost impossible to reconstruct the music. But in fact, with Joan Boronat-Sanz (harpsichord and organ), I started the project ‘Missione Musicorum’, in which we play the music from the late 16th century, when a Jesuit missionary came to Japan. There are enough documents showing that the Japanese at that time learned to play and sing European music. Recently we have played this program several times in Japan and Spain. It would be nice if we could play it in Basel too!

This realization, however, also indicates the magnitude of Petrucci’s project: that it occupies a place of honor in all musical histories is for good reason. Petrucci was the first to master the art of printing an extensive book of mensural polyphony with movable type. Music printing before Petrucci consisted either of individually cut wooden blocks or of monophonic chorale – often limited to only a few pages, although some large and beautiful chorale books were printed in the preceding decade, especially in Venice. What Petrucci undertook required much more than that. He had to invent a technique to print and align sheet music. He had to cut and cast a completely new typeface for music – and he succeeded in doing so with such beauty that it was hardly surpassed until the 19th century. He had to instruct his printers and teach them to align the paper in three successive passes so that the notes came to rest in exactly the right places on the staves: the results are amazingly accurate, even by today’s computerized standards. He had to select and arrange the music: about 200 pieces for the first three volumes. He needed to raise funds to finance the venture. It truly takes wonder that an insignificant man from the tiny provincial town of Fossombrone should have accomplished this in Venice. His most impressive achievement, however, was to bring a steady flow of new music books to market over the next eight years – more than fifty publications. During these years, the printed book replaced the manuscript as the most important medium for the transmission of polyphonic music. This change was almost entirely Petrucci’s doing.

(Translation: Marc Lewon)