What's easier to play – the voiced or unvoiced version?
Some six years ago I posted an arrangement of "Solus cum sola, P10", a quite lively piece. You can read the original post here.
The present arrangement "Solus sine sola" ("A lone man without a woman") is much more serious and melancholic in tone, especially on the lute. It is quite a challenge to create melancholia on the chirpy ukulele.
I slavishly followed Poulton & Lam's transcription in making a copy of their lute transcription, the first time I have done this.
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| My version, as close as I can get, to Poulton and Lam's transcription. They found 3, and occasionally 4, voices in the MS. Quite a challenge! |
Then I edited it to transfer what notes I could from the lower 2 courses to the upper 4. This was then playable on a ukulele with the 3rd tuned down a semitone to B3. I had to reduce the number of voices to 2.
The next stage was to "correct" the fingering on the 3rd string to the standard uke tuning of C3. There seemed to be a lot of barrés in second position, so I dropped it a whole tone and everything fitted nicely (mostly) under the fingers.
In my new campaign to make my arrangements more accessible I have also prepared an unvoiced version. To look at the notation rather sets my teeth on edge, but I must admit that I find it easier to get the timing of the 2 voices right without voicings. It is after all, closer to what JD wrote. Perhaps we can say that the voiced version is for understanding, the unvoiced for playing.
You can download the pdfs here:
