Indeed, although "vihuela" is a rather antiquated equivalent to "viola"; no
modern orchestras refer to their bowed altos as "vihuela." I don't know
that there are substantial gaps in the application of the term "vihuela" or
its equivalents to various things. Regarding plucked things, it seems to
me that the term was simply absorbed in reference to guitars with their
burgeoning popularity at the end of the 16th c. "Viola da terra" still
refers to an instrument remarkably similar to baroque-era 5-course guitars
in modern Portugal. ...But I'd rather read the input of somebody who
actually may have studied the etymology, Antonio perhaps.
Best,
Eugene
At 03:05 AM 12/5/2005, gary digman wrote:
>Am I mistaken in thinking that the word "vihuela" is equivalent in Spanish
>to the word "viola" in Italian and was used to refer to any stringed
>instrument, plucked or bowed ("vihuela de mano" and "vihuela de arco")?
>
>Gary Digman
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Roger E. Blumberg" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: "EUGENE BRAIG IV" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Cc: "bill kilpatrick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "LUTELIST"
><lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
>Sent: Sunday, December 04, 2005 9:02 AM
>Subject: [LUTE] Re: For Bill -- Small bodied vihuela-viola-guitars come
>charango? -- was Re: Bad translation
>
> >
> > Out of curiosity, do you (or anyone here) know approximately when the word
> > vihuela dropped completely out of usage and consciousness in Spain, and
>then
> > also in the New World lands? Did it ever, in fact? Current Mexican
>Mariachi
> > bands employ a 5 course Vihuela (their name) but I think that tradition
> > dates back to the early 1900's (only). Is there a few hundred year span
>and
> > gap where the word essentially disappears from usage and application to
> > guitar-like instruments?
> >
> > Roger
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