Yes, I do think something as common as the ubiqitous 4,3 cadence would have
been expected: wether they thought merely indicating the root chord was
sufficient and that players would themselves automatically play a 4,3 is
moot; presumably for professional players not required, but for beginners
(the buyers of such books)?
In Marini's Scherzi e canzonette of 1622 he has in fact explained 4-3
cadences and in the music puts a dot beside the letter to indicate where one
should be played.
Regarding the use of 'modern' chord names, they are not, of course, just
used by modern guitar players but more generally employed. The problem with
Alfabeto is also indicating commonly appearing harmonies such as Am7 ie
which are not (I think offhand) covered by such additional systems as
Foscarini's 'alfabeto dissonante', Calvi's 'alfabeto falso'
Foscarini includes some chords of the 7th and chords for introducing 4-3
suspensions. Calvi is actually a plagiarized edition of Corbetta's 1639
book although most people don't seem to realize that. Corbetta's alfabeto
falso also includes some 7th chords and 4-3 which he uses in his alfabeto
pieces.
or Ricci's
'lettere tagliate'.
Ricci's lettere tagliate are something completely different. They are a
form of dissonance created by leaving one course of a chord unfretted
creating a sort of appoggiatura.
However I think the point is that the guitar was not expected to realize the
bass line at all - only strum the relevant chords... At least Marini says:
Note that in some places in this book you will find that the alfabeto does
not match the bass line. It was the Author’s desire to accompany the voice
in as many ways as possible so do not concern yourself with this which is
due to the fact that the guitar lacks many of the correct chords.
There was no need to indicate such refinements as chords of the 7th
because guitarists wouldn't have played them.
Monica
-- On Mon, 21/7/08, Mjos & Larson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
3
From: Mjos & Larson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [VIHUELA] Re: Alfabeto songs and editions
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu, "David van Ooijen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Monday, 21 July, 2008, 7:18 AM
Martyn,
Do you think a 4-3 cadence is always "required"
in this repertoire?
Or do you think a plain major chord might, possibly, be an
element of
the style? O would a plain chord only have been played by
low-level
amateurs?
I actually am happy enough to play from Italian or Spanish
sources
translated in to French tab (my Piccinini arrangements are
in French
tab), but I would wish for enough information in that
"translation"
to have a good understanding of the original.
I think the issue also relates to the purpose of the
edition. Is the
goal to "recreate" a corrected/clearer version of
the original source
-- it might be. I am trying to find a form that will be
useful and
practical for me (and maybe for others) for future
programs. So I'm
experimenting a bit.
-- R
On Jul 20, 2008, at 3:04 AM, Martyn Hodgson wrote:
>
> Like many others I use modern chord names when playing
guitar
> continuo: this enables the underlying harmony (shades
of Rameau) to
> be played without obvious errors. However I play solo
music from
> original tablatures and the many 'mixed'
Italian tablatures enables
> Alfabeto to be learnt. In practice I never confuse the
two systems.
>
> However, I do so agree that generally players ought to
be
> encouraged to play from the original notations and,
like you,
> deprecate the modern practice of transcribing into a
uniform French
> tablature.
>
> Finally, the problem with some of the early Alfabeto
songs is that
> the symbols are not always quite accurate: a good
example is the A
> 4,3 (modern chord notation)cadence which is only shown
as I
> (Alfabeto) in the original.
>
> MH
>
>
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