Lute Virtuoso Paul Odette - 1984 SOUNDBOARD TV Series DVD

[SchweizerKatze]

I met Paul O'Dette more or less at the time this video was recorded. It was in Italy, in Pamparato in summer 1984, at the Early Music Summer School, where I was studying the lute. Paul gave an impressive recital, in which he displayed his superb musicianship and technique, and also his sense of humour: when we called for an encore, he sat, grinning under his beard, started off a Ricercare by Capirola which he then turned into a blues improvisation. We laughed the room down.

[adamg709]

Fantastic.

[coreyagraph]

@adamg709 saw him many years ago.........front row seats.........and had the pleasure of meeting him afterward. a charming guy....

[suvarbal]

WOW!



[benjidrake]

Super bard.

[jakobv8]

Interesting to learn a bit about the lute. At times it looks as if though he's playing with a pick, though that's just him being very efficient with his fingers.

[dagoelius]

amazing right hand...

[efngn]

my teacher knows him

[sollinkmaster]

does he mean cat gut?????

[StrixNoctis]

@sollinkmaster probably sheep or goat gut strings.



[morrowindarcherman]

His beard is the key to his talent

[TheMarcos772]

Grande O'Dette! 

[maverickvicars]

alan from the hangover plays lute?

[moregreatmusic]

Really nice playing!

Please check out my new performance of some french baroque music (de Visée) aswell!

[metalshreder127]

were can i buy a beginer lute

[treesingroves]

@metalshreder127 amazon actually has some decent lutes designed by the Early Music Shop in Bradford England

[IAmTheOwnageBiatch]

Yup i concur that beard is badass

[GaleoDeus]

Though the whole piece is outright genius, the ending to this Dowland Fantasie (starting in this video at 1:45) is quite possibly one of the most beautiful and sublime endings to any piece of music ever written.

I particularly love the shift to Phrygian mode (when the bass line suddenly sounds almost Arabic) that unfolds unexpectedly yet perfectly within the structure of the music.

[cmdrchris971]

i like how he can fingerpick like a god and doesnt have the gross long fingernails

[fabrizio87w]

Simply stunning.

[ninjae4976]

i like the 12 one in course :O its AWSOME

[ravichandra70]

So Paul O'Dette is really Jack Black? I like his lute playing better than his comedy then.

[NaltaLife]

Why does this guy look so much like Jack Black....

[jonjonjonmw3]

Because he really is Jack Black.

[skunkradioDOTnet]

LOL if u say so..

[cmdrchris971]

oh em gee

thats what i thought

[adishredder]

this is the lute

[HellishWolf]

How much do lutes cost?

[DsilverF]

depends. most will be expensive. there all hand made. for a decent lute you are looking to between 1500.00 and 3000.00. i only paid 700 for mine but its not a really goo done. its a good one to start with thought.

[HellishWolf]

O.O . . . I'll stick with guitar and get one when I am rich.

[MnM3k3]

This looks like an arabian oud

You can get one custom built in egypt and many arab countries for almost nothing and retune it to whatever u need.

[riceboii101]

The oud is a predecessor of the lute.

[luteguitar]

@MnM3k3 is not so easy, the number of strings change, and the oud came in europe during the Crusades , about 11th century, the renaissance lute and the oud had 4 centuries between them and it became and european instrument they changed it to their wish, woods, tuning, technique ,sound is different, if tune an oud like a lute doesn't sound like a lute, and if you tune a lute like an oud it doesn't sound like an oud.

The lute was no more used in europe at the end of 18th century.

[mickmos]

Kick ass fucking beard and lute player

[druss56]

he is so clean and precise yet he is able to play with much emotion as well

[coreyagraph]

saw him in atl many years back. amazing and a super nice guy when we met him afterward.

[dontobeay]

that is amazing

[StopTheMoti0n]

lute and clasical sound really cool together :)

[Fenderprecision51]

I have to agree, his beard is EPIC

but also very nice playing

[Ryak1234]

I love the Lute.... it's so .... magic?

[marsvltor2]

What can one say about the man? Phenomenal technique and musicianship to match. Magical. P :-)

[drv30]

nice beard !

[Blake12000]

O'dette is an incredible player and I love this vid. But I wish the interviewer could ask some more interesting questions...

And yeah - what a beard!

[gastonreboredo90]

Very interesting. The lute looks like it would be a fun and challenging instrument to play.

And I have to agree with everyone else who commented on this video - yes, he does have a bad ass beard :) lol

[Blake12000]

It is a wonderful instrument to play! :)

[MoaiMaea]

With that I just meant the exterior likeness ...

[Vanquard5150]

Amazing!

[Twinhit]

Strange,

the man can play extremely well but people are impressed by his beard.

Not sure how to follow that logic.

[BFGUITAR]

It's a sweet beard lol.

[Twinhit]

I don't know, I have a beard, so... maybe I'll just go pluck a whisker and see that makes the girls come runnin'.

[MoaiMaea]

Reminds me of Jack Black ... but with a beard o_o

[jjkid007]

geico...... so easy a caveman could do it

no but this really kiks butt

[kayele]

His beard is badass..Plus you have to be a bad ass to rock that beard and play the lute that good...sick

[Eggness]

This guy is a badass; his beard is also badass.

[ecgdude]

yes eggness his ass is very bad. wow I never thought of a badass beard but wow what a badass beard.

[derob7]

wow...do you realize what you are saying is most likely out of jealousy?

[Eggness]

I am jealous. I wish I could grow an awesome beard like that.

[zbaby82]

Nice tone.

[snappleduck]

is it Pavana alla Veneziana?

[GUITARARTS]

This video clip opens with an excerpt from

"Italian Renassiance Dances" by

JOAN AMBROSIO DALZA (fl. 1508)

[laraineannebarker]

Thank you. I have one Dalza piece played by Paul and would like more. :-)

[snappleduck]

what was the peice that paul played at the start of the video

[BubCar2]

That lute is surprisingly small, or maybe Paul is a very big man :)

[Yeltsakcir]

lol, anyone have this in lute tabs?

[musictranscription]

I can write for you any sheet music

[Vanquard5150]

Wow this guy is playing very good

It sounds allmost like a guitar

I'm going to buy a lute too

But it's a 4 string to begin with and than I buy one with more strings, like an 8 or 11 string lute

This vid. inspirers me I want too play like that too

[Vanquard5150]

Oh I mean an 6 string lute or else an lute with 8 strings...

There are no lutes with 4 strings haha

[GUITARARTS]

The last piece in this Clip was the finale of a suite of 3 pieces by JOHN DOWLAND. This particular piece is titled "A FANCY"

[LutenistDeMari]

@GUITARARTS

true about the title of the piece, but Dowland didn't write 'suites' or group his pieces in in this way - that was not the practice in his time. You must be thinking of a guitar edition that groups some pieces together as a suite....

[davecing]

@GUITARARTS I have Dowlands complete works for lute ..what page is that fancy on?

[jinroh81]

what was the last piece that Paul played in this clip? it was awesome.

[pigbenis667]

he reminds me of my dad

[NeoMalikov]

LMAO

[corinneiscool]

this is very well done.

[Korea4Me]

Man, that lute was smokin'! Absolutely amazing.

[JFman00]

The tremulo style is actually superficially similar to the tremelo style used to play the chinese guzheng. I wonder if that's just a coincidence.

[thoyo]

wow! i'm blown away, maybe it's because i play the modern classical guitar and not lute, but i've never seen that tremelo technique before, it seems to very impressively shed the problem of using three fingers playing tremelo in sucessive groups of 3 notes at a time. unlike with almost every other tremelo, i noticed no dragging and overlapping of the notes

[philomelodia]

Impressive tremulo on the end piece. I'm a classically trained guitarist so, I can appreciate how difficult it can be to get a nice, even tremulo going. I think I'll buy some of this man's music. Hope he has cds out. Heretofore, I've seen stuff by enthusiasts but not any who style themselves virtuosi. I'm quite impressed with this artist.

[Thm46]

Many,many CDs. His latest, on Harmonia Mundi, is vol 1 of Bach's lute music. He's a professor at the Eastman school. He's also done a lot of Dowland.

[philomelodia]

Many thanks. I'm familar with Julian Bream who is one of the musicians responsible for the revival of this instrument in modern times but I found that I'm more drawn towards his guitar work than his lute work. I will definitely look Paul up on amazon and purchase some of his music. thanks again. Know any viguela virtuosos?

[FockerTheLopper]

Where did the lute originate? It's used commonly in traditional greek music and it's called "Laouto" pronouced La-oot-o which emphasis on the la. It is also played much differently in an Oud style with a pick. Fill me in guys :-D

[philomelodia]

This particular form of lute came to Europe via crusaders and spaniards and is based on the Oud of the arabic tradition. It is thought that lutes in general originated in ancient persia. From there, it spread throughout the world and took many shapes such as the Sitar of India, the oud of the Arabs, and the Lyre of the greeks which you must be referring to. Lyre is what it's called in English and it's cited as Apollo's instrument in literature. Guitars descend from lutes via vihuelas.

[LUKEJAMESBARRETT]

lute is an arabic word for wood.

[philomelodia]

If the word is arabic, it would probably have to be something like al-oud with an ayin in the beginning of the word oud and al being the definite article. Lute is a corruption of this word. It entered europe through spain.  To this day there's an instrument played there called laúd in the same family. Lute is the english version of this word which, at this point, has varried significantly from its linguistic progenitor. Are there any arabic speakers out there who would care to comment?

[brunehilde92]

Yes if you want I'm french and I speak fluently arabic (arabic roots^^) so, i think that you have explained very good the word and indeed it's "al-oud" but you don't pronounce "al" just brievly "l'" and "oud" must be pronounce "houd" but i don't know how to explain you how must sound the "h" ! sorry but i don't speak english very good and it's also difficult in french :P !^^

[tyoonz]

N'avez pas peur...vous ecrivez l'anglais bien! And, I'm sure your French is also quite good! :)

[brunehilde92]

(thanks =)! Sur I'm french ! ;)

But in french or in english, if you want to explain how to "pronounce" a word with words, it's very difficult ! The better way it's to listen the word by yourself !

ps : your french is also quite good !

[philomelodia]

Must correct prior posting after further research. (dug out my books:p ) Ancient lutes were found in archaeological sites in Mesopotamia from about 200=2500 BC (Sumerian times?). Anyway, it's really old and very beautiful in all its forms. There's even a form of lute played in the Andes which the locals developed from renaissance spanish instruments. It's called a Charango.

[FockerTheLopper]

I own one of those :-)

[matia66655]

SHRED IT!!

[enpsaphier]

I am speechless! (almost) Mr. O'Dette is off the charts. I am now determined to dust off my lute and aim for sublimity once again.... :-)

[welltuned24]

Does anyone know what pieces are being played?  I've been at the Baroque Lute so long my old man brains can't remember what from what. It sounds like maybe a Dalza piece at the beginning, and maybe the tail end of a Dowland Fantasia at the end.

[curwen1]

You´re right about the ending piece. That´s 'A Fancy' you could find in Diana Poulton´s edition (The Collected lute music of John Dowland) with nº 73.

[welltuned24]

Thanks, I've got the book (excellent1) and am picking it up (renaissance lute) later today to go through the piece.

I've just moved around so much musically that I have trouble keeping it all sorted out upstairs. Usually I can get it in the ballpark though, so I guess I've not totally lost it yet. Thanks again!

[C6H12B26]

Paul is the best ! By far ! Great thanks !

[C6H12B26]

Paul is the best. Kara

[gmlch]

this is wonderful , wonderful !

[smanticor]

Paul is good, but Karamazov is better.

[Luthval]

Ah Ah Ah

[Postie1]

this one goes to eleven

[jaangunnar]

touche.

[bobbyVisitor]

Interesting right-hand technique, seems quite unlike that of guitar players... Do they use more than two fingers though? And if so, how? It seems he uses his thumb and the index, which he moves along with his hand itself. I wouldn't even call it picking, it's more like a slow tremolo with the index finger... Any ideas?

[welltuned24]

The early Renaissance right hand technique derived from the Medieval use of the plectrum (pick), with the thumb getting strong beats and the forefinger the weak etc.; as time progressed more courses (sets of strings) were added and the bass lines got more involved, the fore middle finger took up the alternation. The dividing line on this thumb/forefinger alternation is approximately the time of Dowland.

[welltuned24]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that yes, eventually as more 'voices' were added to the polyphony the ring finger was needed. The little finger is traditionally rested on the soundboard.

[bobbyVisitor]

Very interesting, thanks.

[davecing]

I can feel the pieces..wonderfully played and a pleasure to listen too...I never cease to be amazed at how anybody could be so critical of this clip..given the age of it and the poor audio..its a 6 course lute (the first piece) obviously the bass notes are not going to be as deep as an 8 or 10 course lute...Paul is a maestro and of course a professor of the lute..I dare say it would take only an ignorant individual to be (unrealistically)critical of Paul O'Dette

David

[Kraecker2007]

Eine sehr gut gemachter Beitrag, er stellt die Kunst des Lautenspiels auf beste hervor. :-)

Prima!!!

[pabloguzman85]

que performance!!es un maestro. ya me estoy comprando un laud!!!

[patukuzunkol]

Beautiful! ;-)

[kiptw]

He has a terrific CD of the originals of all the "Ancient Airs and Dances" Respighi arranged. He not only plays with precision and taste, but I'm impressed that somebody tracked all those pieces down in the first place.

[playfromthesoul]

I never cease to be amazed at how musicians can think that what they feel, others feel as intensely. Mr. O'Dette is clearly feeling this piece, but I don't. I am not interested in how he feels, only in how I feel when listening to music...and I am only one in billions, perhaps. Wake up! Play the music so we can feel it, too. Also, get a better instrument, the one being played is thin and flat sounding.

[aitkenjoshua]

I never cease to be amazed at supernatural powers. How is that you know what Paul is thinking through a video filmed over two decades ago? Incredible!

[drisspissdriss]

playfromthesoul, do not be unfair and judge someone's playing from the poor sound of youtube videos. Or compare the lute to whatever instrument you've got in mind. Or do you only want to vituberate?

[jesusarnulfo]

this is the correct way to play lute!!!!!

[alessionebiolo]

Thanks for the video, God Bless Odette!

[barouqeguy]

O'Dette is the master.

[smanticor]

wow,Paul the Great -

[glaoud]

Eh bien ,y en a qui sont bons ici!

[wwelti]

awesome!

[kidneykutter]

Doesn't get better than POD on the lute

[Luthval]

Great, he is the BEST !