Early Guitars and Vihuela

A network for historic guitars and vihuelas

undefined

I am looking at The Alfabeto section of the Carlo Calvi book, and Im stuck on interpreting rhythm. Can you look at my attachment and tell me which interpretation is more likely, or is there some other option that makes more sense? and if its B, what do you do in the second and third measure of the second line?

pastedGraphic.png  

 

Views: 380

Attachments:

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

I meant to put this in baroque guitar. Please help.

Moved!

Thank you.

Actually the alfabeto pieces in Calvi's book have been copied from Corbetta's 1639 book and Corbetta has given both the time signature and the note values.   The Mantouana is in common time.  I will try to copy Corbetta's version for you anon.  Monica.

Here is Corbetta's version.   Corbetta also has an elaborate variation which Calvi hasn't included.  Hope this works.  If you look on the title page of Calvi's book you will see it says "Hauute da duo Eccellenti Professori.   None of the pieces are by Calvi himself.

Attachments:
Thanks very much!
I have a pdf of Corbetta, but no alfabeto. I can't open what you sent me at the moment, but should be able to tomorrow.
So is it a case where, if you didn't already know, the alfabeto would as provided by Calvi wouldn't tell you?
The"duo" element also raises some questions for me. I can't figure out how to reconcile the different keys between alfabeto and punteado sections.

The pieces in Itaiian tablature rather than alfabeto are by a different person i.e. not Corbetta and were not originally intended for the 5-course guitar.  They are not meant to match up with the alfabeto pieces.   The note at the bottom of p.24  translates as "The following sonatas can be played on the "chitarriglia" but are really for the "chitarra".   The chitarra referred to here is not a 5-course figure of 8 shaped instrument but a small lute shaped instrument with 4 or 5 pairs of strings known as the "chitarra italiana".  The term "chitarra" in Italian is derived from the Greek/Latin "kithara" and until well into the 17th century usually refers to a small lute.   The music in tablature as you have probably noticed is completely different from most baroque guitar music.   The baroque guitar is usually referred to as the "chitarra spagnola" in Italian sources to distinguish it from the lute.   A chitarriglia is a small guitar - the term is derived from the Spanish "guitarilla" - it is sometimes used more generally to refer to any Spanish baroque guitar.   A "chitarrino" in Italian sources is a small lute.   Not many people realize this as they have not read the seminal article by Renato Meucci.   It's all down to what's in a name.  Monica

I had not noticed, and indeed I'm not sure in what way it differs from 5 course guitar tablature. It is simple, but it looks very similar to me like the first page of punteado in Sanz' book.
So what is meant by "duo," then? Simply that he got the material from someone else?

Duo means "two"; Hauute [i.e. ha avuto]  da duo Eccellenti Professori" means literally "had from two excellent professors".  Calvi has signed the dedication but his name does not appear on the title page.  The music in tablature is not really similar to Sanz.  Sanz's pieces are essentially in two parts. They are also rather old fashioned for the period in which they were published.   Some of Calvi's pieces do have 4-part chords - but none are marked to be strummed.  The tablature is not combined with alfabeto which is usual by 1646.  There are hardly any 5-part chords - I can only spot one - and all the D major chords are omit the 5th course.   If you play them they do sound rather old fashioned too compared with Corbetta, Granata, Bartolotti etc all of whom published books around the same time.  Foscarini does include a number of pieces in tablature only - but these are known to be arrangements of lute music.   He says of these "I will not say much about the pieces to be played pizzicato [i.e. in lute style}.   I have included them as an embellishment although they are more suitable for the lute than the guitar".   What more can I say...

I was looking for a different kind of difference. I thought you meant it was a different style of intabulation, different like French tablature differs from Italian, or something along those lines.
As for compositional style, the whole baroque guitar idiom is so new to me that I have not the got the necessary baseline from which to judge....
So you are saying that the alfabeto is based on corbetta, the punteado is from some other source, and neither was really meant for the 5 course guitar?

Not quite.  Corbetta's pieces are really meant for the 5-course figure of 8 shaped Spanish baroque guitar.   But the punteado pieces in tablature were not originally for our beloved baroque guitar.  It is always difficult to define different styles but Spanish sources tend to be more conservative than Italian or French.   Sanz does tend to separate the two styles of playing, punteado and rasgado until he gets to Book 3 where the passacalles are in a more mixed Italian style.   It's an interesting topic.  

RSS

© 2024   Created by Jelma van Amersfoort.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service