Nathan Bredeson

Renaissance

Vihuela:

-A five-to-six-course gut-stringed chordophone originating in Spain in the 15th

Century.
-Gut strings
-Often had a chantaral (single string) on the highest pitched course
-Vihuela de arco: Played with a bow
-Vihuela de mano: Plucked with the fingers
-What we usually think of when we hear vihuela
-Music notated in Italian tablature (numbers for frets, highest pitched string
on the bottom of the staff)
-Except Luis Milan, who flipped it

Most prominent composers and their publications:

-Luis Milan: Libro de musica de vihuela de mano, intitulado El maestro (aka El

maestro). Published in Valencia, 1536.
-Luis de Narvaez: Los seys libros de dolphin, de musica de cifras para taner
vihuela. Published in Valladolid, 1538.
-Alonso Mudarra: Tres libros de musica en cifras para vihuela. Published in
Seville, 1546.
-Juan Bermudo: Declaracion de instrumentos musicales. 1555treatise on
vihuela.

Tuning:

-Tuned in fourths with a major third between the third and fourth courses
-F sharp tuning for modern guitarists.
-No set pitch for the strings; players would tune the highest string until lit felt
not too loose or tight and then tune the rest accordingly.
-Generally believed that all courses were tuned in unison but the octave
tunings of the renaissance guitar make it plausible that the bass strings could
have been tuned in octaves

Four-Course Guitar
-Treble instrument
-Four courses of gut strings (with chantarel on top string)
-Plucked with fingers or strummed with plectrum

Original sources of music:

-Alonso Mudarra :Tres libros de musica en cifras para vihuela. Published in
Seville, 1546contains pieces for guitar
 -Miguel de Fuellana: Libro de musica de vihuela, intitulado Orphenica lyra.
Published in Seville, 1554features nine pieces for four-course guitar and
another nine for a five-course instrument (called a five course vihuela by the
author).

Tuning:
Two tunings for the four-course guitar:
-Temple a los viejos (old tuning)
-Fifth between fourth and third courses, major third between
third and second, fourth between second and first.
-Temple a los nuevos (new tuning)
-Fourths with a major third between the second and third
courses (similar to top four strings of modern guitar).
-Tuning the fourth course:
1. Double-bourdon tuning. Both strings are tuned in unison at
the lower octave. Proposed by Bermudo.
2. Requinta tuning: one string lowered the octave (bourdon)
and one string tuned up the octave so it is higher than the third
course (requinta).
3. Re-entrante tuning: both strings are tuned up to the requinta
tuning. Used in Italy.

Renaissance Lute:
Prominent Composers and Publications:

-John Dowland (1563-1626):

-First Book of Songs. London, 1597
-Second Book of Songs. London, 1600.
-Third Book of Songs. London, 1603.
-Lachrymae of Seven Tears. London, 1604.
-Micrologus (Reprint of Andreas Ornithoparcus treatise from 1517). London,
1609.
-A Pilgrims Solace. London, 1612.
-Robert Dowland (1591-1641)
-A Varietie of Lute Lessons. London, 1610.
-A Musical Banquet. London, 1610.
-Francesco Spinacino (b1507)
-Intabolatura de lauto libro primo. 1507.
-Intabolatura de lauto libro secondo. 1507.
-Joan Ambrosio Dalza (b1508)
-Intabolatura de lauto libro quarto
-Vincenzo Capriola (1474-1548)
-Capriola Lutebook (1517)
-Francesco Canova de Milano (1497-1543)
-Wrote some of the earliest toccatas
-Pierre Attaingnant (1494-1551)
 -111 surviving publications
-Albert de Rippe (1500-1551)
-Three pieces published in his lifetime
-Vast majority published posthumously
-26 fantasias, 59 intabulations, 10 dances (all for 6-course lute).
-Two fantasias for 4-course renaissance guitar
-Guillaume Morlaye (1510-1558)
-Premier livre de chansons. Paris, 1552.
-Published 10 lute collections between 1552-1558.
-Published three books of 4-course renaissance guitar pieces between 1552
and 1553.
-Giovanni Kapsberger (1580-1651)
-Libro primo dintavolatura de chittaronne. (1604)
-Wrote mainly in Baroque genres despite being on the
cusp of the Baroque and Renaissance.
-Hans Neusidler (b1508-1563)
-Ein newgeordent kunstlich Lautenbuch. 1536.
-Detailed method book; first to have left hand fingerings and to
indicate sustaining notes
-Francesco da Milano (1497-1543):
-Noted for his innovations in the genre of the ricercare and fantasia
-Tuning:
-Similar to vihuela; fourths with major third between the 3rd and 4th courses.

Genres in the Renaissance:

-Fantasia: improvisatory-sounding piece. Normally had numerous sections

with some theme or idea to link it all together. Da Milano interchanges this
term with ricercare.
-Tiento: similar to a fantasia. Normally shorter than a fantasia
-Intabulation: Arrangement of a vocal work, especially of the Franco-Flemish
composers (Josquin, Gombert)
-Differencias: Early form of theme and variations on a repeating chord
progressionmost commonly the romance.
-Dances: Solo works based on the popular and noble dances of the day Pavan,
saltarello, galliard, to name a few)
-Intablulations: arrangements of contemporary vocal pieces.
-Tocattas: A new genre coming from the term to touch. Free in form, often
complex or improvisatory sounding. Described as tasting the strings, or
sampling different keys and ideas. Precursor to the prelude.
-Chansons: popular pieces for voice with instrumental accompaniment.
 Baroque:
Baroque 5-course guitar:

Tuning:
-Joan Carles Amats tuning: Similar to the top five strings of a modern
guitar but with the bottom two courses in octaves
-AKA Spanish tuning
-French tuning. Similar to Spanish tuning but the A course has both
strings tuned up (re-entrante tuning). The D course still has a bordon.
-Italian tuning: both the A and D courses are re-entrants.

Notation:
-Spain and Italy: Italian Tablature (5 lines, highest pitch is lowest line,
numbers for frets)
-France: French tablature (5 lines, highest pitch it highest line, letters
for frets)

Notable Composers and their Publications:

-Joan Carles Amat: Guitarra espanola de cinco ordenes. 1956
-Early method book
-Pictures for the different chords and numbered them
-Defines the rasgado style of strumming chords
-Luis de Briceno: Metodo muy facilissimo para aprender a taner la
Guitarra a lo Espanol . Paris, 1626.
-Only surviving Spanish guitar method book from the early 17th
century.
-Girolamo Montesardo: Nuova invention dintavolatura per sonare li
balletti sopra la chitarra spaniuola senza numeri e note. Florence,
1606.
-Introuces Alfabeto, in which each chord is given a letter of
the alphabet for ease of reading
-Bendetto Sanseverino: Intavolatura facileper la chitarra all
aspagnuola. 1620
-Used alfabeto and also incorporated chord transposition
Giovanni Paolo Foscarini: Il primo, secondo, e terzo libro dell chitarra
spagnuola. 1630
-Notable for synthesizing rasgado style and lute-inspired single
note lines.
-Francesco Corbetta (b1615): de gli sherzi armonici trovatisopra la
chitarra spagnuola. Bologna 1639.
-Further refined the new synthesized style.
-Robert de Vise (1650/1660-1732)
-Livre de pieces pour la guittarre. 1686.
 -Published a number of baroque dance suites, similar to what
JS Bach did for the keyboard and lute
-Gaspar Sanz: Instruccion de musica sobre la guitarra espanola.
Zaragoza, 1674.
-One of the most important 5-course guitar method books
-Covers stringing, fretting, tuning, plucking.
-Musical material uses Spanish folk elements
-Francois Campion (1686-1748)
-Notable for writing fugues for the guitar.
-Pablo Minguet(1733-1775):
-Blatant plagiarist who ripped off Amat and Sanz.
-One of the last to publish 5-course guitar material, however.

Repertoire:
-Baroque dances: Allemande, gavotte, sarabande, canarios, etc
-Sometimes organized into suites of dances all in the
same key
-Older dances: pavana, gallarda
-Variations: passacalles, folias, chiacconas
-Some fugues!

Baroque Lute:

Courses: started with 6 but around the 17th Century people just kept adding
more and more
-Weiss had thirteen!

Tuning:
-The top 6 courses are still the standard F sharp tuning that modern
guitarists know.
-The additional bass courses usually followed a diatonic scale and
often continued off the fret board.
-The top six courses did not vary in tuning but the low basses could
vary tuning to fit the key.
-Weiss had a unique tuning that allowed for campanella-style cross
string scales:
(highest to lowest: f, d, a, f, d, a, g, f, e, d, c, b, a)
Notation:
-Weiss used a unique tablature with German letters for frets and slash
marks over letters under the staff to represent the lower courses
-French composers used French Tablature
-Italian Composers used Italian Tablature
-German Renaissance Tablature was too difficult to read so people
stopped using it
-Each fret on the instrument had its own symbol so the player
had to memorize 56+ unique symbols.
 -Spaniards did no write for lute

Notable Composers:
Silvius Leopold Weiss:
-Wrote many suites for lute, many of which are still only in
tablature
-Wrote some chamber music for lute and flute, including a
concerto but the other parts are missing.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1675-1750)
-Wrote four lute suites and arranged and wrote some other
pieces for lute
-BWV 995-1000 and 1006 are all for lute (995, 1000, and 1006
are arrangements)
Denis and Ennemond Gauthier:
-The two biggest composers of French lute music
-Denis is famous for his collection La rhetorique des dieux
(1672)
-Ennemond did not publish his pieces during his lifetime
-Their use of style brise influenced later composers

Genres:
-Baroque dance suite: Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue
-Could also contain: Gavotte, Bouree, Minuet, Passepied,
Chaconne
-Fantasias/ Ricercares (more early Baroque)
-Perhaps this role was replaced by the toccata and prelude
-Fugues
-Toccata
-Chamber music (lute and voice, more than one lute, lute and another
melody instrument)