That's very intriguing to hear, Hector. The Dalza book is nothing but catchy, easily digested melodies --again, in a good way. The strambotti, as you describe them, perhaps may have influenced the Italian song away from the Burgundian yoke that made Spinacino so serious (lovely as they are). It's very fortunate that Petrucci published exactly that set of lute books (including the frottole). [Reminds me of the 70's: Prog rock giving way to New Wave]
Dalza doesn't seem to have any problem at all with parallel 5ths, 4ths and octaves either or inversions either and that's why, when you start to disregard those 'laws' the guitar starts to work very nicely. I could easily imagine a lute dance band of multiple lutes of different sizes (playing the alla Ferrarese or alla Venetiana) with a guitar or two strengthening the inner harmonies and rhythm. On the dance floor, what are people really paying attention to? The scordatura of two lower courses in the one Ferrarese "suite" is very interesting, too. He sets it in a group where there are already similar pieces --though shorter-- in again Bb (w/out scordatura) and C and F but, to my eye, it's the template from which the others are taken. If we think of different lute sizes for a trio playing to a common tonic we could simply use Pacalono's lute trio. Ditto, the Venetiana tunings where we get the additional tonics of G and D and here you can build two different Pacalono trios. Here, the one suite in Bb the Piva is very difficult [for none-O'dette humanoids] to play at the speed of the other Pivas with its constant 6-course chords. If you take the chords out and give them to, say, a guitar it gets very easy very quickly. Could these be shorthand duets? The pieces, unfortunately want considerable editing but it would have been far easier for them having had the dance forms well defined in front of them, unlike us. I'm certain there is much more than meets the eye to Dalza, both in his dance forms and his origins. Is he really Italian? All the dances are grouped together except the Caldibi Castiglian(o)which is given the prominant position of very first piece. Could this be a hint to his origin? His given name is Joanambrozio. Is there a place name of Alza in the sense of d'Alza? The Calata on 46r is much like a Romanesca and isn't that dissimilar to Valderrabano's in style --another Spanish connection? And of course, all those Calatas ala spagnolas. Back to Fronimo... Sean On Jan 19, 2013, at 2:34 PM, Hector wrote: There are Calatas in the Thibault MS (BN, Paris, Res. Vmd. Ms. 27) and I believe they are mentioned in 15th c. writings (cannot remember where). The calata de strabotti is probably based on a popular melody (a strambotto). Strabotti are very simple and archaic... in a good way. They are full of parallel fifths and other 'archaisms', and some have great melodies. I believe the texts that survive (I think it is 8 lines per strambotto) are just a theme from which many more verses were improvised. They are very much connected to the oral tradition. Best, Hector On 19 Jan 2013, at 22:22, Monica Hall wrote: Yes - there is no Italian repertoire for the renaissance guitar at all really. It would be nice to have one - so keep building. Another interesting thing is that as far as I have been able to discover there are no other calatas except Dalza's in the 16th century - does anyone know of any? - but the calata re-surfaces in some early 17th century Italian guitar books - notably those of Montesardo and Costanzo. Monica ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sean Smith" <[1]lutesm...@mac.com> To: "lute" <[2]lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> Sent: Saturday, January 19, 2013 6:08 PM Subject: [LUTE] Re: Calata de Strombotti Thanks, Monica. You've saved me search through HMB at any rate. I suspect it's one of the strombotti/ frottole somewhere in the Tromboncino intabulations as are Poi che'l ciel and Poi che volse but he doesn't do us the favor of naming it. It's certainly set up like a frottole w/ its two sections and light approach. While there are just _so_ many it is fun to search through them. Btw, I've been setting some for lute and/or ren. guitar and they can fit very nicely. It's a shame we don't have any extant guitar repertory from the time so I've been trying to build one. Sean On Jan 19, 2013, at 9:39 AM, Monica Hall wrote: Well - Brown doesn't seem to say anything about it but my Harvard Dictionary of Music describes the Strambotto thus- A verse form popular among Italian improvisers in the 15th century and taken over into the repertory of the frottola. It consists of a single stanza of eight hendecasyllabic lines etc.........Musical settings often have only two phrases each repeated four times in alternation....a separate phrase for the final couplet may be included... Perhaps Dalza's Calata is in the form of a strambotto...The Calata is an early 16th century dance form. Hope that information is of some use. Monica ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sean Smith" <[3]lutesm...@mac.com> To: "lute" <[4]lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> Sent: Saturday, January 19, 2013 5:13 PM Subject: [LUTE] Calata de Strombotti Dear folks, In Dalza on 44v there's a Calata de strombotti. Could anyone tell me which strombotti this is? I'm afraid I don't have HMBrown's Instrumental Music before 1600 which would probably tell me. My appreciation in advance, Sean To get on or off this list see list information at [5]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. mailto:lutesm...@mac.com 2. mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu 3. mailto:lutesm...@mac.com 4. mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu 5. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html