The archlute, also called archilaúd in Spanish, arciliuto in Italian, and Erzlaute in German, is a European plucked string instrument created around the year 1600. It was designed as a middle ground between the large theorbo and the Renaissance tenor lute. The theorbo was too big and had tuning that made it hard to play solo music, while the tenor lute did not have enough low notes. The archlute has the shape of a tenor lute but includes the theorbo’s extended neck. However, it does not have the strong sound in the lower notes that the theorbo’s large body and longer strings provide.
Overview
The main differences between the archlute and the "baroque" lute of northern Europe are that the baroque lute has 11 to 13 courses, while the archlute typically has 14. The tuning of the first six courses of the baroque lute forms a d-minor chord, while the archlute keeps the tuning of the Renaissance lute, with perfect fourths around a third in the middle for the first six courses. The archlute was often used as a solo instrument during the first three-quarters of the 17th century but is rarely mentioned as a continuo instrument in this period. The theorbo was the lute class instrument with this role.
As continuo bass lines became faster in motion and higher in range toward the end of the 17th century, the archlute began to replace the theorbo as the main plucked string continuo instrument. The theorbo did not have the higher notes needed for the bass lines. The growing practice of doubling the continuo part with a bowed bass (cello or viol) made the archlute’s lack of power in the tenor and bass less important.
The theorbo was commonly used as the melodic bass instrument in trio sonatas from the start of the Baroque period. The archlute also took on this role. A famous example is Corelli’s Opus 1 and 3 trio sonatas, which include partbooks for first and second violin, "violone o arciliuto," and a continuo part for organ. The "violone o arciliuto" partbook has as many figures to guide the player on which chords to play as the organ partbook. This suggests the archlute player would add chords above the bass when possible.
The archlute was used in Handel’s operas and similar works. His opera Giulio Cesare (1724) includes continuo parts labeled both "arciliuto" and "tiorba." Perhaps one player performed both instruments.
Music for solo archlute is usually written in tablature.
Composers
In late Italian Baroque music, any piece with a part labeled 'liuto' refers to the 'arciliuto,' as the classic Renaissance lute was no longer used by this time. Important composers of archlute music in the 17th century include Alessandro Piccinini and Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger (c. 1580 – 17 January 1651). In the 18th century, Giovanni Zamboni composed a set of 12 sonatas (1718, Lucca) for the instrument, which still exist today. Other composers from the late 18th century include Antonio Scotti and Melchiorre Chiesa of Milan. Additional known composers of archlute music are Antonio Tinazzoli, Giuseppe Vaccari, and Lodovico Fontanelli. Modern composers who write for the archlute include Roman Turovsky and Konstantin Bozhinov.
Performers
Some living musicians who mainly play archlutes include Edin Karamazov, Axel Wolf, Luca Pianca (the founder of Il Giardino Armonico), and Javier Mas. Other musicians who often use archlutes are Paolo Cherici, Massimo Lonardi, Luciano Contini, Paul O'Dette, Jakob Lindberg, David Tayler, and Nigel North.