2 – The lute and its organological evolution: the colascione

Of Calogero Sportato

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The breakfast, with small convex case and long handle 100 a 200 cm, he was very popular in southern Italy and was not lacking in cheerful outings as Giovanni Battista Valentino testifies to us in a short poem "Naples collided after the plague", given birth by Paci in 1668. It tells of a trip to Posillipo: Co’ bowls. guitars and tammorielle, co’ heel theorbos and musket holders, rebecchine and siscarielle co ‘ zimmare, violets and biomoons… It is assumed that the inventors of this instrument were the Cola brothers from Brescia who built examples of rare beauty in the mid-18th century., era in which the colascione had reached six strings. The paternity of this instrument is called into question by the discovery of two specimens in Naples and Brussels which bear the following wording: "Barrata Eméntoti will do Lord in Padua in 1564" . The handle has 24 probing to produce a chromatic succession of 2 octaves on each string. The smallest type was called colasciontino or half colascione, with 2 o 3 rope, tuned to the top octave, and no longer than one metre. The Middle Eastern derivation of the colascione interrupted for a moment the chronological succession relating to the evolution of the long lute which, among eastern peoples, it is still present in Indian and Chinese cultures. In India the long lute is transformed into an instrument with a small body, of wood or pumpkin, and with a perforated wooden soundboard; the neck flattens in the upper part to form a comfortable fingerboard and is hollow to broaden the sound of the instrument. The pegs are still in mixed position (front and side), but the metal strings rest on movable stands to vary the pitch from time to time, as is customary in Hindu musical practice.

The name sitar — with which, during the Middle Ages, Persian setar a became popular in northern India 3 strings — has today lost its etymological meaning, and is used generically to indicate modern lutes, in most cases, present from 4 a 7 rope. As a rule, only one of the strings is used for the melody, while the others are used as drones, and sometimes enhanced by additional strings. In China, the tanbúr and the sitar generated the san-hsien (o hsientzo), That, similarly to the Persian term sitar, means «3 strings». The case lacquered in red, built with a massive quadrangular or round frame, the skin that forms the harmony table and the background, the large cuneiform lateral pegs and the large and heavy triangular jade plectrum are characteristic elements of Sinic manufacturing, but they are not sufficient to conceal the average origin – east of the instrument, which retains the long handle inserted into the case, ending in a spatula anklet that turns slightly backwards. Western civilization pointed to Mani (t 215 d.C.) the inventor of the lute. The ancient theologian was active in Persia, a consideration which brings us back to the development area of ​​the instrument; being a follower of Greek thought, Mani introduced that ethic into his doctrines, encouraging the study of music, of poetry and painting, disciplines that his brothers had to know.