my first orpharion

Subject: my first orpharion
From: leeneia
Date: 04 Jun 20 - 12:28 AM

Tonight the DH and I were watching a Time Team show, and the historian mentioned that a wealthy Tudor family owned an orpharion. A what?

Click on the link to hear an orpharion. You can hear Greensleeves, too.

dances on orpharion

It's certainly an archaic sound.

Subject: RE: my first orpharion
From: Phillip
Date: 04 Jun 20 - 04:33 AM

Beautiful. Thanks for the pointer

Subject: RE: my first orpharion
From: Jack Campin
Date: 04 Jun 20 - 09:07 AM

I've never seen such strongly fanned frets.

Apart from the tuning it seems very like a Puerto Rican cuatro.

Subject: RE: my first orpharion
From: GUEST,Mark Bluemel
Date: 04 Jun 20 - 10:38 AM

Fascinating.
A quick web search yielded this page which tells me the instrument was "a hybrid between the shape of the bandora (though the bandora was much larger) and the tuning of the lute" and that in common with modern fan-fret guitars and bass guitars, the angled bridge, nut and frets allowed greater range.
Apparently the secret of the original metal strings was lost, and the instrument fell out of favour as the alternatives didn't match the sound.
I rather like the sound of the one in the video.

Subject: RE: my first orpharion
From: meself
Date: 04 Jun 20 - 11:53 AM

Thanks - what a beautiful-sounding instrument!

Subject: RE: my first orpharion
From: leeneia
Date: 04 Jun 20 - 01:20 PM

I like it too. It seems like a lute with steel strings.

I prefer the dances to Greensleeves. I wonder if that's because Greensleeves moves stepwise more and that leads to disharmony among the sustained tones.

I am reminded of Shakespeare's 'Tempest' with its twangling instruments.

Subject: RE: my first orpharion
From: JennieG
Date: 05 Jun 20 - 03:48 AM

"Twangling" is a wonderful word.

What a gorgeous sound, I love it.......music of the Renaissance is a favourite. I'm convinced that I was born 400 years late.

On our last trip to Canada in Oct-Nov 2018 I spent most of the time on those long flights listening to a recording of Thomas Dunford playing Bach on theorbo, over and over and over, courtesy of Air Canada's music choices.

Lute transcription of cello suite

Subject: RE: my first orpharion
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 05 Jun 20 - 08:52 AM

Thanks for posting the link.