Dear Vance,
You are right to be puzzled; the vihuela is one of the
most polemic and puzzling instruments from the
Renaissance. All I can provide is my own opinion,
based on the available facts being fully aware that
other scholars might differ in certain aspects.
A rough definition of the vihuela could run in these
terms: a "guitar-shaped" (a polemic description, I'm
aware, but also a practical one) instrument used in
15th- and 16th century Spain and areas of Spanish
influence, strung with 5 or 6 courses of strings,
played by plucking with the fingers (in the same
fashion as the lute), and fulfilling similar functions
as the lute elsewhere in Europe (the lute was also
played in Spain, but that is a diferent story).
>From what we know we cannot be more specific than
that; iconographic sources show a variety of shapes,
so this aspect cannot help us to narrow the
definition.
The guitar, on the other hand, had a similar shape, at
least from the middle of the century onwards
("guitarra" meant a small lute-shaped instrument -
gittern - during the middle ages, 15th century and
probably during the early part of the 16th); its
distinguishing feature is that it was strung with four
courses. According to sources from the late 16th and
17th century this was the instrument that served
Vicente Espinel as the base for the creation of the
five-course baroque guitar (guitarra española) with
the addition of a fifth course. This probably happened
in the late 1570s.
I have mentioned several times an article that gives
fuller details for considering this as the taxonomy of
vihuela and guitar:
"The Vihuela and the Guitar in Sixteenth-century
Spain: a critical appraisal of some of the existing
evidence", The Lute, Vol. XXX, 1990, pp. 3-24
As to the genuine vihuela issue, we have three: one
the Jacquemart Andrée Museum in Paris, a second in
Quito and a third in the cité de la musique museum
(you may consider the Dias instrument as a five-course
vihuela, which would be a fourth, I prefer to consider
it as a five-course guitar). The problem here is not
about their authenticity as vihuelas, but of
determining how adequate they were to play, and what
kind of music could be played on each, if possible.
The Jacquemart-Andrée one was probably an apprentice´s
examination masterpiece, the Quito one, dating from
the early seventeenth century was used (there is
evidence) to accompant songs and it was probably
played by strumming. The third one, from the cité de
la musique, is the best example we have so far of an
instrument adequate to play the poliphonic music of
the vihuela books.
With best wishes,
Antonio
--- Vance Wood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> escribió:
> Dear List:
>
> I have been following this string on the
> Vihuela/Guitar and have become
> puzzled. Does anyone really know for sure what a
> Vihuela is. It seems to
> me that one man's Vihuela is another's
> ________(insert preference here).
> From what I have been reading it seems that all we
> really have to go on is
> one academic's opinion as opposed to another
> academic's opinion, not
> pointing fingers at anyone in case someone thinks
> that I am. There seems to
> be no real clear choice or definition. Am I wrong
> in assuming that there is
> no real "Genuine Vihuela" still in existence? I
> keep hearing this credible
> source sighted and quoted and that credible source
> sighted and quoted, both
> disagree with each other. When it comes down to
> arguments about the number
> of courses it seems the argument is desperate and
> perhaps rhetorical,
> understanding there is no correct answer attainable
> with the information we
> now have.
>
>
> VW
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Roman Turovsky" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: "Antonio Corona" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2004 5:07 PM
> Subject: Re: vihuela vs guitar
>
>
> >
> > >>> Not a bad idea altogether. Batov renames his
> > >>> instrument a five-course
> viguela/vihuela/biguela
> > >> (and
> > >>> there are further variations on the spelling),
> and
> > >>> makes it as a five course instrument and we
> can
> > >> all
> > >>> get on with our lives; Roman as well.
> > >> Not quite. BIGUELA UNIVERSAL as opposed to
> > >> ORDINARIA. Any number of courses
> > >> he sees fit, as he is a practitioner rather
> than a
> > >> methodologist.
> > >> RT
> >
> > > Go ahead, be practical and create your own
> categories,
> > > as long as you don´t pretend they are based on
> > > historical fact there is no objection.
> > > AC
> > Why? Mainstream scholars of history do it all the
> time, with relative
> > impunity.
> > RT
> >
> > ______________
> > Roman M. Turovsky
> > http://polyhymnion.org/swv
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > To get on or off this list see list information at
> >
>
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>
>
>
>
> To get on or off this list see list information at
>
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