There seems to have been a transmission error in the last message I sent, so here it is again.
> -----Original Message----- > From: Leonard Williams [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2004 4:37 PM > To: LuteNet > Subject: Vihuela? > > At the website Wayne led us to for information on hide glue, I > found > the folowing reference to what > is being called at the site "The World's Oldest Guitar." Anybody have > anymore useful information about this > critter? > > http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/History/Diaz1590/diaz1590.html > > Regards to all, > Leonard Williams > [] > (_) > ~ Hello, I acquired this instrument from Robert Spencer, who was my friend, not long before his death. He is the one who found the instrument and supervised its restoration. A brief description is given below: This 16th Century Five-Course Guitar has been very well documented, having been described and/or pictured in many books, including (among others) The Early Guitar by James Tyler (pp.35-37), The Guitar and Its Music by James Tyler and Paul Sparks ((pp. 9-11), Guitares: Chefs-d’oeuvres des collections de France (pp.56-57), Guitars from the Renaissance to Rock by Tom and Mary Evans (p.27), and The Ultimate Guitar Book by Tony Bacon (p. 12). Formerly in the collection of Robert Spencer, England, this is an extremely rare and unique five-course guitar attributed to Belchior Dias of Lisbon, Portugal. It is one of only two guitars known to survive from the 16th century, the other being what is sometimes called a chitarriglia, a small treble version of the baroque guitar. The smaller instrument, now in the collection of the Royal College of Music, London, has a label bearing the name of Dias and is dated 1581. These two guitars share stylistic characteristics not found on any other early guitars and have been designed with such similar decorative features, construction methods and materials to suggest they likely came from the same workshop and within ten years of each other. This larger instrument is considered by many experts to be the oldest known full-size guitar still in existence. The fingerboard and headstock are made of ebony with a latticework ivory and/or whale bone inlay consisting of many hundreds of different pieces and representing a considerable labor by an experienced craftsman. The headstock is unusual in so far as the thickness tapers over the head length, and the detailing of the V-joint differs slightly from that on other early guitars. Of special significance is the Brazilian rosewood that is used for the back and sides. This is very unusual and rare for baroque instruments, and its availability in the Dias workshop is attributed to the fact that Portugal then had absolute control over European trade with Brazil. Many of the other design features are consistent with those of other early guitars. There are 10 tied gut frets and the fingerboard is flush with the soundboard. The soundboard is supported by two transverse bars, one above and one below the soundhole. The strings are tuned by friction pegs set in a flat peghead. At one point during the baroque era, this instrument had been converted to become a chitarra battente. It was restored to the original baroque guitar configuration and playing condition under the supervision of Mr. Spencer. At this time, the soundboard, which had been bent and damaged in the original conversion to accommodate a heavier bridge, was replaced with fine book-matched quartered spruce. (This original soundboard still exists and is kept with the instrument; the baroque-era conversion itself being a matter of some historical interest.) A multi-layer geometric parchment “rose” covering the soundhole was found intact with the original soundboard but it cannot be determined whether it is from the initial date of the instrument’s construction or from after its conversion. This rose is now attached to the new soundboard. Exhibited: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Dangerous Curves: Art of The Guitar, 2000-2001, and featured on pages 22-25 of a beautiful hard-cover book published by the museum and bearing the same name. Frank Koonce Arizona State University School of Music Box 0405 Tempe, AZ 85287-0405 http://www.frankkoonce.com
