Ceterone
Encyclopedia
The Ceterone was an enlarged and bass-extended cittern
, the counterpart of the chitarrone as a development of the lute
, which may have dated from the 1520s, but no firm evidence exists for it before the end of that century.
Monteverdi scored the 1615 edition of his 'Orfeo' for two 'ceteroni' as well as two 'chitarroni' which is clear evidence for a distinction between the qualities of sound of the two instruments at that time. Michael Praetorius
also mentions the instrument in his Syntagma Musicum, describing its 'strong and magnificent sound like a harpsichord
.' In the Syntagma Musicum (Wolfenbüttel, 1619), he lists one illustrated example of ceterone as a "Zwölfe Chorige Dominici Cister," with re-entrant bass string tunings of eb, Bb, f, c, g, d, a, e, and treble strings tuned to b, g, d' and e'. Either twelve, or fourteen courses of strings seem to have been used.
Like the cittern, the ceterone was built with a flat-backed body in teardrop shape, with a single large 'rose', and had fixed, metal frets (unlike the tied, gut frets of the lute
family) and used metal strings. The unfretted bass strings were attached to a neck extension, the instrument totalling perhaps as much as 1.5 metres in length. A single original example exists in Museo Bardini in Florence, dating from around 1600 and built by the cittern luthier Gironimo Canpi.
, Instruments of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, OUP 1976, supplied with the EMI boxed LP set of that name.
Cittern
The cittern or cither is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is descended from the Medieval Citole, or Cytole. It looks much like the modern-day flat-back mandolin and the modern Irish bouzouki and cittern...
, the counterpart of the chitarrone as a development of the lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
, which may have dated from the 1520s, but no firm evidence exists for it before the end of that century.
Monteverdi scored the 1615 edition of his 'Orfeo' for two 'ceteroni' as well as two 'chitarroni' which is clear evidence for a distinction between the qualities of sound of the two instruments at that time. Michael Praetorius
Michael Praetorius
Michael Praetorius was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms based on Protestant hymns, many of which reflect an effort to make better the relationship between...
also mentions the instrument in his Syntagma Musicum, describing its 'strong and magnificent sound like a harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
.' In the Syntagma Musicum (Wolfenbüttel, 1619), he lists one illustrated example of ceterone as a "Zwölfe Chorige Dominici Cister," with re-entrant bass string tunings of eb, Bb, f, c, g, d, a, e, and treble strings tuned to b, g, d' and e'. Either twelve, or fourteen courses of strings seem to have been used.
Like the cittern, the ceterone was built with a flat-backed body in teardrop shape, with a single large 'rose', and had fixed, metal frets (unlike the tied, gut frets of the lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
family) and used metal strings. The unfretted bass strings were attached to a neck extension, the instrument totalling perhaps as much as 1.5 metres in length. A single original example exists in Museo Bardini in Florence, dating from around 1600 and built by the cittern luthier Gironimo Canpi.
Source
David MunrowDavid Munrow
David Munrow was a British musician and early music historian.- Biography and career :Munrow was born in Birmingham and was the son of Birmingham University dance teacher Hilda Norman Munrow and Albert Davis 'Dave' Munrow, a Birmingham University lecturer and physical education instructor who...
, Instruments of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, OUP 1976, supplied with the EMI boxed LP set of that name.
External links
- http://www.cittern.theaterofmusic.com/new/rb_ceterone.html Fine Ceterone constructed by Ron Banks of Texas, on which he uses a scalloped fretboard.