Thanks much...
In practice, I'm moving slowly back in time. I will have to come to
grips with the Renaissance sooner or later, in terms of understanding
and practice. Well, that's the goal, at any rate. You open great
areas to explore. In fact, I'm confronted with choosing which
instrument to explore... given a limited budget. R. Guitar, Lute, or
Vihuela? So much beauty, so little time (and money).
Cheers cud
__________________________________________________________________
From: Stewart McCoy <lu...@tiscali.co.uk>
To: Vihuela List <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Fri, November 19, 2010 7:30:48 AM
Subject: [VIHUELA] Valdambrini's evidence
Dear Chris,
I have in mind pieces like this Calata ala spagnola from Dalza's
collection printed in 1508:
[1][1]http://www.gerbode.net/ft2/sources/dalza_intabulatura_v4_1508/50v
.pn
g
The piece is constructed on a simple, repeated bass line giving
root-position chords. In fact, there are slight discrepancies as you
go
through the piece, which suggest either a bar or two missing or a
free
attitude to the chord sequence, but the piece is certainly not
polyphonic, and one could be excused for imagining it had been
written
100 years later.
An example of Newsidler's Durchstreicher - downward strums with the
thumb - can be seen at
[2][2]http://www.gerbode.net/ft2/sources/hnewsidler/1536_1/x2.jpg
Again, the texture is not a strictly polyphonic one.
Filling out chords for lute music played with a plectrum may be seen
in
the Pesaro manuscipt kept at the Biblioteca Oliveriana. I'm afraid I
don't know if any of the music is available on the internet. There is
a
facsimile in print, but unfortunately I don't have a copy. You can
see
some of the music in facsimile in the booklet which accompanies
Andrea
Dammiani's CD of music from that manuscript, CD EL962305. The music
in
this manuscript dates from the latter part of the 15th century. The
trouble with plectrums (as with bows on a viol) is that you are
forced
into playing chords involving notes on adjacent strings. For example,
one piece ends as follows:
|\ |\ |\ |\ |\ |\ |
|\ |\ |\ | | | |
| | | | | | |
_____________1___________1___
_____________1_______5___1___
_4___2___1___2_______1___2___
_____________3___________3___
_________________3_______3___
_________________________1___
That was in Neapolitan tablature. It would look like this in French
tablature:
|\ |\ |\ |\ |\ |\ |
|\ |\ |\ | | | |
| | | | | | |
_____________a___________a___
_____________a_______e___a___
_d___b___a___b_______a___b___
_____________c___________c___
_________________c_______c___
_________________________a___
A strictly polyphonic version playable with fingers may have been
something like:
|\ |\ |\ |\ |\ |\ |
|\ |\ |\ | | | |
| | | | | | |
_____________a___________a___
_____________________e_______
_d___b___a___b___a___________
_____________c___________c___
_________________c___________
_________________________a___
There are so many examples of chord progressions throughout the 16th
century, it is difficult to know where to start. Paccaloni's lute
trios
is a happy hunting ground, as is Diego Ortiz's book of improvisation
on
the viol.
As I understand it, during the 15th century temperament changed from
one which had favoured perfect fifths to one which favoured major
thirds. Composers like Machaut in the 14th century had tended to
avoid
major triads, whereas composers like Dufay in the 15th century made
great use of them. Instrumentalists filling out a polyphonic texture
with triads soon followed. I regard this fundamental change in
temperament a far more significant milestone in the history of music
than the transition from renaissance to baroque.
Best wishes,
Stewart.
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Despopoulos [mailto:[3]despopoulos_chr...@yahoo.com]
Sent: 19 November 2010 07:30
To: Stewart McCoy
Subject: Re: [VIHUELA] Valdambrini's evidence
Dear Stewart...
You say:
"Some of the dance pieces in Dalza's collection of lute music (1508)
are
based on simple grounds or chord sequences, and we have strumming of
sorts on the lute with Newsidler's Durchstreicher in 1536."
I find this interesting. In my reading of 2nd- and probably 3rd-hand
sources (or even further removed), I'm led to believe that grounding
musical structure on chordal progression was an innovation of the
Baroque... if not THE innovation. Of course, drawing distinct lines
between phases of musical development is no easier than drawing
distinct lines between species. But for the unwashed that's a
helpful
distinction. I wonder if you can amplify a little on the above to
shed
light on the transition... For example, was there a gradual build-up
that led away from voice textures to chord textures? Or was this a
punctuated transition -- an explosion of forms and variations, if you
will? The dance pieces you mention, being simple and probably
repeated
cycles (I'm guessing), make sense as examples where musicians would
recognize that voice textures yield repeated patterns (chords or
triads), and can be simplified. Also, I wonder if there's any hope
of
accessing popular music of the time -- was it all modal, or were
there
chord progressions (shifting of modes within the piece, if you will)?
Or have I got it *all* wrong, and the Baroque transition to chord
progression is all in my mind?
Thanks cud
--
References
1.
[4]http://www.gerbode.net/ft2/sources/dalza_intabulatura_v4_1508/50v.pn
g
2. [5]http://www.gerbode.net/ft2/sources/hnewsidler/1536_1/x2.jpg
To get on or off this list see list information at
[6]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
--
References
1. http://www.gerbode.net/ft2/sources/dalza_intabulatura_v4_1508/50v.pn
2. http://www.gerbode.net/ft2/sources/hnewsidler/1536_1/x2.jpg
3. mailto:despopoulos_chr...@yahoo.com
4. http://www.gerbode.net/ft2/sources/dalza_intabulatura_v4_1508/50v.png
5. http://www.gerbode.net/ft2/sources/hnewsidler/1536_1/x2.jpg
6. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html
