The Guitar and Its Music: From the Renaissance to the Classical Era

OXFORD EARLY MUSIC SERIES

THE GUITAR AND ITS MUSIC

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THE GUITAR AND ITS MUSIC FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO THE CLASSICAL ERA

JAMES TYLER AND PAUL SPARKS

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, 0x2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Sao Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto with an associated company in Berlin Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York Parts I and II © James Tyler 2002 Part III © Paul Sparks 2002 The moral rights of the authors have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2002 First published in paperback 2007 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press or as expressly permitted by law, or under the terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organizations. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate the book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tyler, James. The guitar and its music: from the Renaissance to the Classical era / by James Tyler and Paul Sparks. p. cm Includes bibliographical references and index. i. Guitar—History. 2. Guitar music—History and criticism. I. Sparks, Paul. II. Title. ML1015.Gg T96 2002 787.87 '09—dc21 200105 8 231 ISBN 978-0-19-816713-6 (Hbk) ISBN 978-0-19-921477-8 (Pbk) 1 3 5 7 9 1 08 6 4 2 Typeset by Figaro, Launton, 0x26 5DG Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Bookcraft Ltd., Midsomer Norton, Somerset

For Joyce and Tobey, and

in memory of Pauline Geller and Robert Spencer

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PREFACE More than twenty years ago I wrote a modest introduction to the history, repertory, and playing techniques of the four- and five-course guitar: The Early Guitar: A History and Handbook. Since its publication (Oxford, 1980), many performer-scholars of Renaissance and Baroque music have expanded their repertories and research to include early guitar music and topics. Awareness of the guitar's history and repertory has grown appreciably in the Classical guitar world as well, although, as some of the most recent writings on the subject indicate, many guitarists continue to harbour basic misconceptions concerning the nature of the early guitar. Some still think that the vihuela was 'the early guitar', and find it difficult to accept that for musicians and theorists in the sixteenth century the guitar was actually a small, treble-range, four-course instrument. Some find it equally troubling that the later and larger five-course guitar, for much of its most attractive, complex, and virtuoso solo repertory, often requires tunings and stringing arrangements that are radically different from that of the modern instrument. Having significantly expanded my research on the early guitar and its music over the past twenty years, I decided that it was time to publish a new book on the subject. This, in part, to address in a more systematic (and, I hope, more convincing) fashion than I did in The Early Guitar the fundamental issues described above, and to recant or reaffirm certain views that I had previously endorsed; but mainly to share new research and proffer some new ideas on the development of the early guitar and its vast repertory, to amend and expand the annotated lists of primary sources previously published in The Early Guitar, and to furnish additional source lists and information, which performers and researchers may find useful. Since my work has focused primarily on the guitar and its music from c. 1550£.1750 (Parts I and II of the present book), I am deeply indebted to Paul Sparks, my collaborator on other recent writings on the guitar and a prior book for Oxford University Press (The Early Mandolin, 1989), for contributing Part III. Some readers may notice that there is a greater emphasis on organology in his portion of the book than in mine. There are good reasons for this. While essential to a study of the guitar in the second half of the eighteenth century (a period of transition in which numerous instruments survive in their original state), it is not as relevant to a study of the principal guitar type of the sixteenth century, the four-course instrument—no examples of which survive! As for the five-course Baroque guitar, while there are a number of extant instruments, there are also many opinions as to which features of any particular example are original—so many opinions that a separate book on the subject is prob-

viii

Preface

ably warranted. In any case, the richest sources of information on the two main guitar types of the mid-sixteenth to mid-eighteenth century seem to be the publications and manuscripts containing their music and the writings of contemporary theorists. Accordingly, what these sources tell us about the nature of the instruments and their roles in the music-making of their times is at the heart of Parts I and II. James Tyler Pasadena, California September 2001

Information about the guitar during the second half of the eighteenth century has been conspicuously absent from the standard histories. The period has usually been dismissed in a few curt paragraphs as a time when the old five-course Baroque instrument had fallen into widespread disuse throughout Europe, when the low E string had not yet been added (except by a handful of experimental makers), and when very little guitar music was being written or published. In short, the guitar between 1750 and 1800 has generally been presented to modern readers as a musical Sleeping Beauty, lying dormant and unloved as it awaited the onset of the nineteenth century, when Fernando Sor and Mauro Giuliani would finally arrive to breathe new life into it. As Part III of this study will demonstrate, those widely held perceptions simply do not correspond to the facts. Far from falling into disuse, the five-course guitar remained very popular until the early years of the nineteenth century, above all in France. Guitars with a sixth course tuned to E were being manufactured in Spain prior to 1760, and they became the standard form in that country long before the eighteenth century ended, remaining so well into the nineteenth century. Furthermore, an enormous amount of guitar music was published between 1750 and 1800, mainly accompaniments to vocal music, but also a considerable quantity of instrumental pieces. Admittedly, the guitar was seldom heard in the formal environs of the concert hall at this time; neither were many solo virtuoso showpieces being composed for it (as they had been for guitars in the Renaissance and Baroque). Far from being a Sleeping Beauty, however, the instrument was a vital and indispensable part of music-making in France, Italy, the Iberian Peninsula, and South America throughout the second half of the eighteenth century. In Part II and Appendix III of this book James Tyler has recommended new sources of guitar repertory from his period to players of the modern instrument. I hope that my contribution will persuade players of both the modern guitar and the five-course Baroque guitar that many pieces from the latter decades of the eighteenth century deserve rehabilitation and can become a legitimate and meaningful part of their

Prefaix

ix

instrument's repertory. Whether they play an old or modern type of instrument, I am confident that musicians will want to explore this little-known repertory, especially some of the fine duets, trios, and songs, which, if played with sensitivity and an awareness of the appropriate style, will help to illuminate yet another side of the multifaceted personality of the guitar. Paul Sparks Leven, Beverley, East Yorkshire September 2001

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many friends, colleagues, and mentors have helped and encouraged me over the years. I am grateful to the late Robert Spencer for his extraordinary kindness in allowing me access to his rich private library; the late Howard Mayer Brown and the late John M. Thomson for encouraging me to write about the instruments I play; Professors Brown, John Ward, and John Walter Hill for their innovative, thought-provoking research; and NinaTreadwell and Rogerio Budasz for bringing much relevant information in their own areas of research to my attention. I thank Dr Daniela Fattori, Associate Director of the Biblioteca Civico in Verona; Dr Rudolf Hopfner, Director of the Musical Instrument Collection at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna; Dr Andre P. Larson, Director of America's S Music Museum at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion; Ingrid Leis of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna; Jenny Nex, Assistant Curator of the Royal College of Music's Museum of Musical Instruments in London; Frank and Leanne Koonce of Phoenix for helping me to secure and permitting me to reproduce illustrations; Bonnie J. Blackburn for copy-editing; Bruce Phillips for his support of the project; and Sophie Goldsworthy, Jacqueline Smith, Michael Wood, and Julia Bryan Chukinas of Oxford University Press for seeing the book through to publication. Most of all, I thank my greatest source of inspiration, my wife Joyce.

J-T.

I am indebted to many people who, during my research for this book, have offered me their help, advice, and encouragement. In particular, I should like to thank Alex Timmerman for drawing my attention to several guitars of the late eighteenth century, and for providing me with photographs; Laurence Libin and Stewart Pollens for supplying me with a photograph of the Alonso guitar; and James and Joyce Tyler for drawing my attention to various source materials, and for helping to keep me enthused throughout this book's lengthy gestation period. I should also like to thank Kathy Adamson, librarian at the Royal Academy of Music, London, for allowing me access to items from the collection of the late Robert Spencer; Ephraim Segerman, Mimmo Peruffo, and Barry Pratt for sharing with me their expertise on string-making; David Roberts for his critique of the first outline of my work; Jorge Felix for his help with locating research materials in Portugal; Jeremy Montagu for advice about eighteenth-century strings and guitars; John Mackenzie

xii

Acknowlegementts

for many useful discussions; Luis Gasser and Brian Jeffery for information about Fernando Sor; and everybody at Oxford University Press who helped with the publication of this book. Lastly, I should like to thank my wife, Tobey Burnett, for everything.

P.S.

CONTENTS List of Illustrations List of Tables List of Musical Examples List of Abbreviations

xv xviii xix xx

PART I: THE GUITAR IN THE S I X T E E N T H CENTURY by James Tyler 1. Spain: La Guitarra de quatro ordenes

5

2. France: The Creation of the Repertory

12

3. England:'... yused of gentilmen, and of the best sort...'

24

4. Italy: La Chitarra da sette corde

30

5. Italy: The Role of the Guitar in the Rise of Monody

37

PART II: THE SPANISH GUITAR (c.I 6oo- c.1750) by James Tyler 6. Italy: The Creation of the Repertory

51

7. France: The Royal Guitarists

100

8. England, the Low Countries, and Scandinavia

121

9. Germany and the Austrian Empire

139

10. Spain, Portugal, and the New World

148

Appendices to Part II I. A Brief Guide to Reading and Interpreting Baroque Guitar Tablatures 11. Sources of Specific Information on the Tuning and Stringing of the Five-Course Guitar III. TheMandora

165 184 187

Contents

XIV

PART III: THE ORIGINS OF THE CLASSICAL GUITAR by Paul Sparks 11. 1750-69: The Emergence of the Six-Course Guitar Spain, Portugal, and South America France Britain

193 193 198 206

12. 1770-89: The First Six-String Guitars A Short History of String-Making Spain, South America, and Portugal Italy France England, Germany, and Austria

209 209 212 217 220 227

13. 179010 the Early I8oos: The Triumph of the Six-String Guitar

229

Spain and Portugal Britain Italy France Germany, Austria, and Russia

229 239 241 243 249

14. The Guitar 1750-c.1800: Practical Information

254

The Instrument Strings Playing Positions Specialist Techniques and Ornamentation

254 258 259 263

Appendices to Part III IV. Guitar Music Published in Paris, 1750-c. I 800 V. Selected List of Songs with Guitar Accompaniment Published in Paris, 1750-c. I 800 VI. Guitar Methods, 1750-c. I 800 VII. Non-Parisian Guitar Music, 1750-c. I 800 viiii. A selection of Pices for Giutar , c. 1750-c1800

Bibliography Index

271 275 282 284 287

297 311

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1.1. Small five-course guitar by Belchior Dias (Lisbon, 1581) 1.2. Five-course guitar attributed to Belchi or Dias, c.I 590 2.1. A typical four-course guitar illustrated on the title page of Guillaume Morlaye, Le premier livre . . . (Paris, 1552) 2.2. First page of La Seraphine from Guillaume Morlaye, Quatriesme livre . . . (Paris, 1552), fo. I5v 16 2.3. J'ay le reboursby Pierre Certon from Adrian Le Roy, Second livre . . . (Paris, 1556), fos. 2 V– 3 3.1. Four-course guitar illustrated in Marin Mersenne, Harmonie universelle (Paris,I 636), copied from Pierre Phalese (1570) 6.1. Alfabeto chart from Girolamo Montesardo, Nuova inventione. . . (Florence,I 606), fo. 3V 6.2. Portrait of Giovanni Paolo Foscarini from / quatro libri della chitarra spagnola, n.p., c. I 63 2 6.3. Prelude by Angelo Michele Bartolotti, from Libra secondo . . . (Rome, c. 1655/6), pp. 69-70 6.4. Two settings of the Tenor di Napoli on the alfabeto letters C and G by Francesco Palumbi (I-VEc MS I 434-82.3, fo. I 7v) 6.5. Chitarrino by Giovanni Smit (Milan,I 646). Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, SAM 49 7.1. Opening of O stelle homicide by Estienne Moulinie, from Airs de cour. . . (Paris, I 629), fo. 26V 7.2. Diagram from Marin Mersenne, Harmonie universelle (Paris, 1636), Book II, fo. 95V 7.3. Allemande and Sarabande by 'Monsieur Martin' from Mersenne, Harmonie universelle (Paris, I636), Book II, fo. 97r 1 7.4. Placement of the bourdon string in the fourth course of a Spanish guitar 7.5. Five-course guitar by Domenico Sellas, Venice, c. 1670. America's Shrine to Music Museum, University of South Dakota, Vermillion 8. i. Conclusion of Passacaille dite Mariana by Lelio Colista (B-BcMS 5.615),p. 117 10. i. Page possibly from Francesco Corbetta, Guitarra espanola ... (n.p., c. 1650)

10 11 15 16 19 28 53 64 71 79 h82 h10 104 105 112 113 132 150

xvi

List of Illustrations

App. 1.1. Alfabeto chart from Giovanni Paolo Foscarini, I quatro libri della chitarra spagnola (c. 1632), p. i App. 1.2. Cifras chart from Luis de Briceno, Metodo muifacilissimo (Paris, 1626), fo. 4V App. 1.3. Cifras chart from Pablo Minguet y Yrol, Reglasy advertencias (Madrid, 1774), plate 2-2 11. i. Guitar bearing the label 'Francesco Sanguino, me fecit. En Sevilla afio de 1759' 11.2. Opening theme and variations 8,13, and 28 from Giacomo Merchi's Folia da Spagna 12. i. Guitar bearing the label 'Por Lorenzo Alonso en Madrid afio de 1786' 12.2. The correspondence between tablature and staffnotation, from a Mexican manuscript by Vargas y Guzman (1776), 50 12.3. Tuning of the viola toeira, from Nova arte de viola by Manoel da Paixao Ribeiro (Coimbra, 1789), Estampa I 12.4. A late depiction of a 'lyre nouvelle', and of the hand positions on the guitar, taken from the Nouvelle methode de lyre ou guitarre a six cordes\)j Lemoine (Paris, 1810), 2 13.1. Minuet by Charles Doisy(iSio) 14. i. A six-course guitar Spanish guitar by Josef Benedid (Cadiz, 1794) 14.2. A six-string Italian guitar by Giovanni Battista Fabricatore (Naples, 1791) 14.3. A five-course French guitar by George Cousineau (Paris, c. 1795) 257 14.4. Indication of right-hand fingering, from Pierre Joseph Baillon(i78i) 14.5. Variations, Op. 6, var. viii, by Mauro Giuliani 14.6 . Tirade from Francesco Alberti( 1786) 14.7. Chute from Giacomo Merchi (1777) 14.8. Martellement from Merchi (1777) 14.9. (a) Cadence in E Major from Baillon (1781); (b) Exemples du trill from Merchi (1777); (c) Exemples du trill from Ferdinando Carulli (1825) 14.10. Fremissement from Alberti (1786) 14.11. Plaints from Antoine Bailleux (1773) 14.12. Glissades and Doubles glissades from Merchi (1777) 14.13. Ah vous dirai-je Maman, en sons harmoniques from Alberti (1786) 14.14. Roulades from Baillon (1781): (a) ascending; (b) descending

170 171 172 197 203 213 215 217

221 247 255 257 257 262 263 265 265 266 266 266 266 268 268 268 270 270

List of Illustrations App. VIII. i. First movement of Duetto IV for two guitars by Merchi (Quatro duetti a due chitarre... Op. 3, Paris, 1757) App. VIII.2. Chasse de M. De Lagarde for violin and guitar by Baillon (Nouvelle methode deguitarre, Paris, 1781) App. VIII.3. Gigue for two guitars by Alberti (Nouvelle methode deguitarre, Paris, 1786) App. VIII.4. Les Remords de David for voice and guitar by Jean-Bap tiste Phillis (Paris, c. 1800)

xvii 288 290 292 293

LIST OF TABLES Sources of Guitar Music c.i6oo-c. 1750 6. i. Italian manuscript sources of vocal music in staffnotation with alfabeto 8 6.2. Italian printed sources of alfabeto solos 6.3. Italian printed sources of solos in mixed tablature 6.4. Italian manuscript sources of alfabeto solos and songs, and solos in mixed and lute-style tablature 6.5. Italian printed songbooks with alfabeto 96 7.1. French sources of Spanish guitar music 8.1. English sources of Spanish guitar music 8.2. Sources of Spanish guitar music in the Low Countries 8.3. Scandinavian sources of Spanish guitar music 9.1. German and Austrian sources of Spanish guitar music 9.2. Bohemian sources of Spanish guitar music 10. i. Sources of Spanish guitar music in Spain, Portugal, and the New World to £.1750

85 86 88 90 96 118 135 137 138 145 147 161

LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES 1.1. Juan Bermudo's guitar tunings (1555) 1.2. Bermudo's vihuela tunings (1555) 2.1. Jacques Cellier's tuning chart (c. 1585 2.2. Interpretation of Cellier's tuning 3.1. James Rowbotham's tuning chart (1568-9) 4.1. Scipione Cerretto's tuning chart (i 601) 4.2. Cerretto's example of an intabulation for guitar (1601) 5.1. Example of alfabeto notation 5.2. Luca Marenzio's Dicemi la mia Stella with canto line and alfab chords from I-Bu MS lyy/IV 6.1. Ballo di'Napoliby GirolamoMontesardo(i6o6) 6.2. Tuning chart from F-Psg MS 2344 6.3. Tuning chart from A-Wn MS S. M. 9659 6.4. Tuning chart from FrancescoValdambrini, Libraprimo (1646) 8.1. Realization of the bass part to Barbara Strozzi's Rissohetevi o pemieri fromUS-LAuc, MusicMSfC69yM4 9.1. Tuning chart for the four-course guitar from Michael Praetorius, Syntagma m micum (1619) 10.1. Final section of Caspar Sanz's Pavanas (1674) 13. i. Antoine-Marcel Lemoine, Nouvelle methode de lyre ou guitarre a six cordes (181 o) 246 13.2. ^0«^