Theorbo by Pietro Railich, Musical Instrument Museum , No.1569, Brussels

This theorbo has fascinated me for years. I was planning a trip to Europe to examine instruments and I decided that I would arrange a visit to Brussels. Although a drawing of the belly of this instrument has been available for many years I was never able to locate a drawing of the entire theorbo. Detailed photographs, particularly of the bowl, are also scarce. I knew from the published measurements that it was a medium sized theorbo with string lengths of 79.3 and 162 mm. When I arrived at the museum here is what I found.

The lute is broken into three parts. The bowl is completely separated from the neck block which is still attached to the neck/theorbo extension (foreground in the first photo). The belly is mostly intact but separated from the bowl. After surveying the different parts of the instrument it appeared that few additions or alterations had been made to it over the years. I felt confident that I was about to examine a very useful artifact.

The bowl measures approximately 348 mm wide and 550 mm long. It is constructed of 25 yew ribs with thin black spacers between the ribs. It is moderately flattened in the cross-section. In profile, there is a 4-5 mm re-curve in the rear of the bowl. The apron is made of two pieces of yew with a black spacer between. The ends of the apron are fashioned with a characterisitic hook.

close-up view>

The inside of the rib joints are covered with narrow strips of printed paper with broader paper strips placed laterally. The contre-brague or inside apron is short and low but it is 7 mm thick at its center which provides a good glueing surface for the belly at this critical juncture.

close-up view >

The bowl is tightly assembled although not as expertly as some that I have seen. Ribs of varying widths can be discerned in the photo of the rear of the bowl and the "flow" of the ribs joints lacks elegance as seen in the profile view of the bow. Nevertheless when I handled the bowl it felt strangely sturdy although it was obviously fragile. I wondered if the bowl had retained its shape even though it was seriously damaged. I made a drawing of the outline of the belly and laid the bowl over the drawing --the two contours aligned. I was delighted by this event because it meant that I could develop an accurate drawing of the bowl by combining the outline of the belly with various measurements of the bowl and extrapolations derived from photographs.

While I was examining the regularity of the widths of the ribs at the neck block I noticed what appeared to be tiny holes in the center of several ribs at a point that would have served to attach the ribs to the neck block. These were only visible at the end and on the inside of ribs that had become detached from the neck block. The holes are less than a millimeter in diameter and have been filled. The dark varnish obscures their presence on the external surface of the bowl and it was only by chance that I noticed them.

The presence of pin size holes that have been filled are not uncommon on 18th century lutes. They generally appear in the center of the middle rib at a point near the deepest part of the bowl. Presumably they denote the point that was used to position the first rib on a simple mold at the beginning of the construction of the bowl. I have not noticed their presence on earlier lutes and was surprised by this discovery.

The soundboard is constructed of fine grained spruce with a precisely and delicately cut triple rose that is edged with a serpentine border.

The bridge is poorly crafted and is an obvious replacement. However, it appears to have been placed on or very near the original location. It is drilled for 14 single strings.

It is always exciting to examine the interior of an ancient soundboard first hand. Although the position and dimensions of the bars often follow established patterns many times there are details that reveal an insight into the builder's construction practices.

All of the harmonic bars appear to be original although the two treble fingers and a curved section of the J-bar have been truncated, perhaps when the bridge plate was added as a reinforcement under the replacement bridge. The treatment of the ends of the bars deserve special note. The bars are scalloped over the last several centimeters of their length to a height of approximately 6 mm. But the ends, instead of being cut to an angle that would result in a close fit against the inside of the edge ribs, are angled away from the ribs so that only a millimeter or so of the bar end is in contact with the rib. I have seen this treatment on other conserved lutes and have tried the technique myself. It simplifies the task of fitting the belly to the bowl. It is only necessary to trim a bit off the bar to finish the fit. The technique results in a flexible but weak joint between the belly and edge rib. When I use this method I cover the edge with a parchment or cloth banding. This provides strength without adding rigidity. There are traces of glue around the edge on the bass side of the belly forming a pattern that suggests such a covering was once present. But this is confusing because the entire circumference of the belly is bordered by a 3 mm wide half-binding of dark hard wood. I think this is a case where the original banding is the dark wood strip while a parchment or cloth banding was added later, on the bass side, as a reinforcment.

The neck is robust. It measures 112 mm wide at the joint with the bowl. It is a chunky 36 mm thick at the joint with the bowl and 29 mm at the joint with the extension. The back of the neck is veneered with multiple strips of rosewood (?) while the fingerboard is a hard dark wood. By contrast, the extension is lightly constructed. Over its entire length it is rounded on the back and the cross-section is trapezoidal . It is constructed of quartered spruce (?) and is painted black.

The theorbo head is lightly constructed, following a simple design and is finished to match the extension.

In summary, I was excited by this theorbo. The experience and purpose of the builder were evident in all aspects of its construction. The contours of the bowl are elegant, but in construction it was decisively and quickly assembled. The rose is a simple design but it is delicately and precisely cut. The soundboard wood is excellent. The neck, inexplicibly stout, is still attractively and perhaps comfortably crafted. The construction of the theorbo extension displays all of the required elements to reduce its weight and thereby lessen fatigue to the theorboist. I can't help but believe that this was anything other than a musician's instrument. Certainly it is a worthy model for today's lute builders.

copyright michael schreiner 2010