Exactly. And Bermudo (1555) confirms that Ludovico played a diatonic harp. He is likely to be the same Ludovico who was in Ferrara in the 1480s and who then went to Naples, and finally to Valencia when the Aragonese were expelled from Naples. He appears to have been in the service of Fadrique, the last of the Aragonese rulers of Naples, and then of his son Fernando in Valencia. For more details on the piece as one retrospective impression of how fantasias were improvised at the beginning of the sixteenth century, you can download my 1986 article "La 'Fantasia que contrahaze la harpa' de Alonso Mudarra: Estudio historico-analitico" from my website: [1]http://www.vihuelagriffiths.com/JohnGriffiths/Publications_ files/GRIFFITHS%201986%20mu%20fantasia.pdf
The article shows how the piece is constructed as three variations on the folia. You can also find a briefer discussion in my dissertation, p. 223 ff, also downloadable from my webpage [2]http://www.vihuelagriffiths.com/JohnGriffiths/Publications.html (down the bottom of the page). But you also need to read Egberto Bermudez's article "Sobre la Identidad de Ludovico" in Nassarre 10 (1994): 9-16 which clarifies much of the identity of Ludovico in Ferrara, Naples and Valencia. Egberto corrects the mistaken conclusion made by Barbieri in the 1890s (which I didn't question in my 1986 article) that the documentary references to "Ferdinand" were to Fernando el Catolico, rather than to Ferdinand of Aragon from Naples. One of his jobs in Valencia was to sing Ferdinand to sleep at night, accompanying himself on the harp. I don't think this article is available on the web. If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll see if can put it on my website. Good wishes, John On 06/03/2010, at 8:48, Leonard Williams wrote: G Crona pretty much has it. A further note on the harp piece (quoting Stewart McCoy): From: "Stewart McCoy" <[3]...@wollaton55.freeserve.co.uk> Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999, and Jan 16, 2003 Subject: Mudarra's pastiche of Ludovico. There is a caveat in Mudarra's fantasy that some notes which might appear wrong are actually meant to sound as they are written. However, it is really a very special case, because the piece is a pastiche, an attempt to make the vihuela recreate the distinctive sounds of the harpist, Ludovico. Michael Morrow has argued convincingly in Early Music, October 1979, p. 503, that Mudarra's Fantasia suggests that Ludovico's harp was diatonic, i.e. without the option of additional chromatic notes available. Since so much 16th-century music requires F natural in the bass, and F sharp in the treble, Morrow argues that it was normal to tune the harp that way, i.e. with the lower octave at F natural, and the higher octave at F sharp. Mudarra wanted to recreate the special discordant effect arising from this way of tuning the harp, but felt he had to explain to his readers that the resultant harmonic clashes were intentional. No doubt he feared that a vihuelist, playing a chromatic instrument, might otherwise try to iron out such false relations. Regards, Leonard Williams /[ ] / \ | * | \_=_/ On 3/5/10 1:38 PM, "G. Crona" <[4]kalei...@gmail.com> wrote: He writes at the beginning of the piece: "Es dificil hasta ser entendida." Its difficult until understood. "Algunas falsas, tanendo se bien no parecen mal." A few dissonances, well played they don't seem bad (my translation) G To get on or off this list see list information at [5]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html _______________________________________________________________________ ________________ Professor John Griffiths FAHA Early Music Studio, School of Music, The University of Melbourne 3010, Victoria, Australia tel +61 3 8344 8810 mob +61 421 644 911 [6]jag...@unimelb.edu.au [7]www.vihuelagriffiths.com _______________________________________________________________________ ________________ This e-mail and any attachments may contain personal information or information that is otherwise confidential or the subject of copyright. Any use, disclosure or copying of any part of it is prohibited. The University does not warrant that this email or any attachments are free from viruses or defects. Please check any attachments for viruses and defects before opening them. If this e-mail is received in error please delete it and notify us by return e-mail. -- References 1. http://www.vihuelagriffiths.com/JohnGriffiths/Publications_files/GRIFFITHS%201986%20mu%20fantasia.pdf 2. http://www.vihuelagriffiths.com/JohnGriffiths/Publications.html 3. mailto:s...@wollaton55.freeserve.co.uk 4. mailto:kalei...@gmail.com 5. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 6. mailto:jag...@unimelb.edu.au 7. http://www.vihuelagriffiths.com/
