Theorbo for sale: Student Paduan Theorbo based on Sellas

Theorbo for Sale

  Student Paduan Theorbo based on Sellas (Paris E547)

The Paduan Theorbo version of the Sellas E547 has been re-created from music scholar and composer Praetorius' Syntagnum Musicum II de Organographia woodcuts as seen above, this has been a valuable catalogue of instruments in scale drawings.The instrument is almost the same size or just short of the folding theorbo when folded  so the case is cheaper too and no extra cost for a folding mechanism needed. The original size of the Paduan theorbo is projected as 96cm with 128cm basses, the Sellas has a string length of 85.7cm so therefore has basses of 114cm in loaded Nylgut, since loaded strings were available for 7crs lutes already (iconographical evidence according to Aquilla) then the Paduan Theorbo is likely to have had them as basses rather than plain gut, allowing for a shorter neck but the same volume as the long plain gut basses. Of course if you are not too worried about authentic stringing then louder D type wound basses can be used.

The original Paduan Theorbo is 16crs but there's not much music for 16crs so the standard 14crs tuning in 440Hz is used. The ribs, neck and pegs are in slightly figured, varied toned natural pear wood, ebonised maple extended neck and ebonised pear wood bridge with black bog oak fingerboard. The larger rose is the same as the Sellas E547 as is the smaller bass rose. This arrangement has not survived well overtime on museum instruments, and the few Paduan theorboes that were made haven't  either making some doubt if they existed but I don't think Praetorius would have included a fictitious instrument in an accurate survey of instruments at the time (1614/15), some may have been converted to longer necked theorboes out of popularity but some theorboes with two sound holes  do exist as do a few paintings  as seen below being held by Lady Mary Wroth.

The original idea of a bass rose may have been invented by composer for archlute and chitarrone Alessandro Picinini in 1594 as an unusual ('experimental') instrument with a longer body than it's neck exists in the museum in Vienna as seen below:

This was made by a well known luthier, in Padua too! a forerunner of the Chitarrone, but it's easier for the luthier to extend the neck than the body, and easier to play too! The paduan theorbo can be heard via You Tube played by Tomas Korula (heard here) originally an inspiration to make this instrument available in the first place.

£2849 (case £828)