Last year I examined the lutes in the collection of musical instruments at Harvard University. They were not held in a museum open to the public but were stored in a music room filled with the university's keyboard collection. A new building is planned for the Faculty of Music and the administrators wanted to appraise their collection of lutes in order to determine how they should be conserved. I gained access to the collection in return for my opinion. I had seen several of the lutes during a brief visit while attending the LSA Summer Seminar at nearby Tufts University in 1999. At that time a large theorbo with bird's eye maple ribs was prominent as it rested on its belly on the lid of an early piano. The bowl was badly cracked and it was possible to view the interior of the soundboard. Because the instrument was in such a fragile condition I was not permitted to photograph, measure or otherwise touch it, but I did take notes and estimated various dimensions. When I returned last summer the theorbo was in the same location, but alarmingly more dilapidated. In the meantime the instruments had received new catalogue descriptions and the theorbo which had been No.30 and listed as anonymous was now HUCP3266 and attributed to Thomas Ebb Hoss.

Some of the features of the instrument clearly characterize it as a German theorbo: maple ribs with a painted neck and a painted theorbo extension that in turn is mounted by a simple theorbo head. The over-all aesthetic of German theorbos is simple. Other features required a closer examination. I recorded principal measurements of these features as accurately as possible using a cloth tape and plastic rulers. My photographs comprised general views and close-ups of the bowl, the interior of the soundboard, the neck joint and the theorbo head. It was not possible to photograph the instrument in its entirety due to space limitations. Nor was it possible to record as many measurements as I would have liked owing to the fragile condition of the instrument.

The bowl measures 40.8 cm wide and 63.5 cm long. It is expertly constructed of 19 bird's eye maple ribs with thin black fillets. There is a moderate flattening of the cross-section. The view from the rear is partially obscured by the curl of paper that was used during my investigation and by the hinge of the piano lid that served as an examination table, but the ribs, as they terminate beneath the end-clasp, widen uniformly from the middle to the edges of the bowl. The rib ends are also of uniform width at the joint with the neck.

The soundboard is constructed of fine grain spruce. The pierced triple rose has a well defined border with a center triangular emblem. Although fully half of the rose design is missing, enough of it remains in order to decipher the pattern. It was expertly cut. The bridge is still glued in place. It is elegantly made with a delicate double crescent design at each tip. This design is also found on the lute by Martinus Harz, Rome 1665, Edinburgh University Collection of Musical Instruments, No. 300. There is no decorative edging. The interior of the soundboard is exposed. The original harmonic bars are either still glued in place or are conserved separately. Glue residue on the soundboard (the third photo) clearly denotes the positions of two diagonal tone bars which are conserved separately and a curved bar, the “J” bar so named for its signature shape, which was present in 1999 but which is now sadly missing.

The neck and theorbo extension are constructed of solid wood that is covered with a black finish. The fretted string length is 88.5 cm while the diapason length is approximately 162 cm. It was not possible to take an exact measurement because of the loose joint between the neck and extension. This is apparent in the photo. The joint that the maker used to attach the extension to the neck is a simple lap joint. Notice how the extension is sculpted into the curvature of the neck. This technique became a favorite among builders of baroque lutes in the 18th century.

The theorbo head is a simple construction mounted on the end of the long extension. It has a raised section for the nut and holes for eight tuning pegs. The head is roughly joined to the extension. Similarly designed theorbo heads are found on other lutes. Interestingly, the lute by Martinus Harz, of which the bridge design is identical to the Hoss, has a nearly identical head.

After returning home and a good deal of reflection I wrote my appraisal from which this report is drawn. I made the following conclusions and recommendations:

I have described and commented on this lute in detail and compared it to other lutes of its kind for several reasons. First, it is a rare type of lute that was built at a time when all facets of lute making were in transition. Second, all or nearly all of it survives. Third, it is in a deplorable state of preservation.

This theorbo by Thomas Ebb Hoss is one seven German theorbos known to me. Several are fragments. Others have been so altered as to obscure their identity. Only the instrument by Mathias Albani, Ueno Gakuen Collection, Tokyo which is reported to be conserved in near original condition, is as complete as the instrument in the Harvard collection.

Through my examination of this theorbo I was able confirm an attribution for another instrument that is conserved as a fragment. This was the subject of my article, Le Luth de Georg Aman (Augsbourg,1739), translated by Joël Dugot, in the September 2008 issue of Le joueur de Luth. The similarities that the Hoss theorbo shares with the instrument by Martinus Harz raise questions of provenance for both instruments.

However, the condition of the Hoss instrument hinders further research. There are important features of the lute that could not be recorded because of its condition. The bowl of the lute needs to be assembled from its parts and stabilized. Then it can be photographed and accurately measured. The soundboard needs to be similarly preserved and recorded. The neck and extension only suffer from several loose joints that can be easily repaired. If the lute were reassembled from its constituent parts it would be of inestimable importance to the lute community.

My interest and curiosity about the instrument did not cease as I was troubled by the obscurity of Thomas Ebb Hoss. There are no other instruments by him nor does his name appear in the references. The similarities of the bridge and theorbo head with the archlute by Martinus Harz was troubling because the date of the Harz archlute is 1665, 35 years before this theorbo was supposedly built and nearly as many years before German theorbos became common. I sent the photograph of the label (below) to Klaus Martius, curator at the German National Museum. Klaus' response (August 11, 2009) was fascinating!

Dear Michael
Thank you so much for your letter and the photograph. It is like I thought: The label reads a little different: "Thomas Ebb Hoff// Lauth.macher". Its sometimes a little difficult to distinguish between f and s in the german gothic letters. It means that Thomas Ebb was maker to the court. According to Bletschacher, Layer, Haupt and Drescher (Lütgendorff suppl.) Thomas Epp was court-maker in Vienna. He is related to the Füssen family Eberle. Born before 1596 in Füssen, he died in 1644 in Vienna. His daughter married Magnus Feldtle, who was properly Thomas' successor in the position as "Hoflautenmacher". So far for the moment. Thank you so much.
Kindest regards
Klaus

In a second email (Aug.13) Klaus explained that before modern times the letters "b" and "p" were interchangeable, especially in the written form of regional dialects. He is unequivocal in his opinion: "I am absolutely sure that we have an instrument by the Viennese Hoflautenmacher Thomas Epp."

This has been an exciting investigation to this point. I am sure there will be further developments.

Acknowledgements: Justin Haynes, custodian to the collection, arranged my visit and generously provided the photograph of the label. All other photos are by the author.

Michael Schreiner, August 13, 2009

copyright michael schreiner 2009