Alain:
Yes, I do think the viola da mano is essentially the same instrument as
the vihuela.
---
To address your question about the earliest extant lute, one approach is
to search the Lautenweltadressbuch:
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~lsa/associated/index.html#Lautenweltadressbu
ch
If you enter 152into the date field, you will retrieve all lutes
listed with a date in the 1520s.
There are earlier entries as well, but most of those dates look highly
suspicious.
Regards,
Daniel
---
On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 09:23:17 -0700 Alain Veylit <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
writes:
> Hi all,
> To second Daniel's message (I think): I have been puzzled by the
> debate on
> the vihuela on those same grounds:is there any reasonable evidence
> that the
> vihuela was NOT the same instrument as the viola da mano in use in
> Italy,
> and on which Da Vinci is said to have improvised?
> In that case, it seems that perhaps the vihuela/viola da mano simply
>
> survived a little longer in Spain than elsewhere, a phenomenon that
> is not
> uncommon: the gamba in France or the Baroque lute in Germany, for
> instance,
> perhaps on the strength of a particular school of musicians.
> The connection between vihuela and viola may be strengthened by the
> fact
> that large violas were apparently held horizontal by the players
> until the
> 17th century and possibly later.
> There is plenty of iconographic and literary evidence that the viola
> da
> mano was widely in use until the first couple of decades of the 16th
>
> century - yet, not unlike the vihuela, I don't think there are any
> examples
> of a surviving instrument of that type. Not too surprising given the
>
> frailty of thin wood.
> --BTW, how old is the oldest surviving lute?
> Alain
>
>
> At 07:54 AM 9/25/2004, Daniel F Heiman wrote:
>
> >Since the May 2004 issue of Early Music has been brought up, I
> suggest
> >all who have access to it take a look at the article on page 177,
> "The
> >Spanish plucked viola in Renaissance Italy, 1480 1530," by
> Hiroyuki
> >Minamino. He has compiled a remarkable amount of iconographic
> evidence
> >from all over the Italian peninsula for what may well be the
> "vihuela" of
> >the turn of the sixteenth century. The paintings show a relatively
> large
> >instrumnent (string length perhaps in the low 60 cm range based on
> >proportion to the players' bodies) played with the strings near
> >horizontal. The bridge appears glued to the soundboard; the sides
> are
> >vertical, and the back is flat or nearly so, based on the way the
> >instrument sits against the body of the player. The outline
> consistently
> >has bouts, sometimes smooth, like a "classical" guitar, sometimes
> with
> >sharp ends like the modern violin family, and once mixed. (Gambas
> of the
> >Renaissance and Baroque also show this kind of inconsistency in
> outline).
> >The neck is fairly long, and, when the level of detail provided
> allows
> >for counting, seems to have about 10 tied frets. There are
> apparently six
> >or sometimes five courses. The only significant deviation from the
> >instruments pictured in Milan is that on these instruments pegbox
> has the
> >pegs oriented parallel to the soundboard and is curved like that of
> a
> >gamba or violin (However, one low-detail.engraving shows a
> lute-style
> >pegbox, folded back.)
> >
> >So did the Iberians call these things "vihuelas" in 1480? They
> certainly
> >look as if they could play the vihuela music of the mid-sixteenth
> >century.
> >
> >For those without ready access to Early Music magazine, take a
> look
> >online at:
> >
>
>http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/viewOne.asp?dep=11&viewMode=1&item
=
> >20%2E92
> >(front and near center, angel musician)
> >
> >This is the only one of the examples I was able to find on the
> Internet
> >in a quick search.
> >
> >Regards,
> >
> >Daniel Heiman
> >
> >
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