Welcome! It's good to see that you are keeping the Early Romantic era alive. I enjoy your costumes. I have a full 19th century suit, frock coat and all,  as well that gets more attention than my guitars when I wear it...such is life.

 

I look forward to your input.

Hi Lars. Good to see you here. Love your music and image.

Nerds?! :-)

Dear Lars, I was not offended :-) I was joking. Nerd is a badge of honour for me. And I am very impressed with the styling of your duo, you guys look amazing and sound good too.

Lars, I believe the instrument in the photo is a Bandora. See here: http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~lsa/aboutLute/Bandora.html

 

Not a bandora - although it has similarities. Quite definitely a cittern, probably French, but it could also be Swedish, German, even Italian. The sitter, Carl Michael Bellman, 1740-1795 composed, and played, a very large number of songs with cittern accompaniment, and his first cittern was apparently brought back from Italy by his grandfather. My information comes from a friend in France. There is apparently a website - www.proprius.se/bellman.html ; at least one book, by Poul Austin Britten; and 'a lot' of CDs in Swedish and Danish; one by Martin Best 'To Carl Michael with Love'. I recently got a very nice CD of which approximately half the tracks are by Bellman, by Jakob Lindberg, with Anna Emilsson, voice. The Bellman tracks are played on an original French cister, not unlike the one in the painting, by Delaplanque 1776 - Svenska Sanger, Aterspeglingar, todoproduction 2007 TOP01.

Bien amicalement, et bravo pour les propositions musicales.

Hello Lars, I think I just sent you a rather garbled message, so I try again. I mostly accompany a few good singers, and besides that I try to limit the playing to short projects, or I would go crazy. I agree with you that the late 18th and early 19th century are a fascinating time, so many revolutions happening, socially, politically, artistically... and the guitar right in the middle of all that! Anyway, I loved your videos, very stylish, and I hope you keep us posted with new duo developments. J.

I think the instrument in the picture may be a viola da mano (e.g. http://www.vihuelademano.com/viola-da-mano/duo-viola-da-mano.htm) as there appears to be a viol style cut out in the body between the upper and lower bouts, just visible above the players right wrist.

Look at this: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Who-Had-the-Best-...

 

:-{) Jelma

Hi Lars. Thanks for the quick reply! I know the copy from the Boije collection; that is from the Leipzig edition. The number 1795 at the bottom of the pages is not the year, but the plate number: music publishers numbered the plates on which their editions were engraved, and that is how one (sometimes) can date them.

By the way, I very much like the sound of your guitar. Gut strings really make a world of difference.