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Chord table developed by Juan Carlos Amat,
Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum |
The polychordal lute, vihuela,
and guitar, as in the historical development of the piano,
were used in playing not only compositions especially prepared
for them, but transcriptions of all types of music. For the
student, this expansive musical period would be meaningless
without a knowledge of the interpretations for the lute and
vihuela, such as have been put into modem notation byjuan
Vasquez, Morales, and Guerrero.
With the culmination of the vihuela in the 16th century, a
great generation of vihuela players appeared during the reigns
of Carlos V, and his son, Felipe II. This was a unique generation
of extraordinary musicians who succeeded each other without
interruption between 1535 and 1578. Emiio Pujol states: "They
were famous not only for transmitting to us works of the celebrated
polyphonists from the Franco-Belgian and Venetian schools,
but also their own personal, primitive works, which were filled
with noble lyricism, dominating technique, and the intense
emotional inventiveness that was the base of all Spanish spiritual
manifestation, reflecting in its aesthetics the Neoclassic
enslavement of the Renaissance."
In 1535, Luis Milan from Valencia, wrote a treatise entitled
"El Maestro." It was the first music book ever written for
the vihuela. In its fantasies and pavans, we find phrases
and modulations that comprise a notable advancement in relation
to the music of the period. Two years later, Luis de Narvaez,
another excellent composer and teacher of the vihuela, published
his "Los Seis Libros del Delphin", which constitute a
model of musical invention and justify his fame. Following
these men came Alonso de Mudarra of Seville in 1546 with "Three
Books of Music in Cifra for the Vihuela," Enriquez de Valderrabano
with "Silvade Sirenas" (Valladolid, 1547), Diego Pisador with
"Book of Music for the Vihuela" (Salamanca, 1552), Miguel
de Fuenilana with "Orphenica Lyra" (1554), Fray Juan Bermudo
with "Statement of Musical Instruments" (1555), Luis Venegas
with "Book of New Cifra" (1557), Fray Tomas de Santa Maria
with "Art of Playing Fantasy" (1565), Esteban Daza with "El
Parnaso" (1576), and Antonio Cabezon with "Musical Works for
Tecla, Harp, and Vihuela" (1578). Such a profusion of eminent
musicians and excellent treatises suited a large musical cult,
and pervaded every class of society.
By the last third of the sixteenth century, as has already
been stated, the vihuela began to lose ground to the surging
advancement of the guitar, and from this time on, the new
musical treatises and compositions were dedicated to it. The
first of these compositions were by Juan Carlos Amat, who
was followed with works by Luis Briceno (1626) and Nicolas
Doizi (1640). It was thirty four years, however, before another
treatise on guitar appeared. This was entitled "Musical Instruction
for the Spanish Guitar and Elementary Exercises Toward Playing
It Skillfully" by Gaspar Sanz, from the town of Calonda.
Of
the guitar, for which Sanz composed or transcribed
gallardas,
villanas, jacaras, pasacalles, pavanas, espanoletas, folias,
fugues, fantasias, chaconas, zarabandas, etc., he states,
"it is neither perfect nor imperfect, but rather, it depends
on what you do with it. Therefore, the perfection or imperfection
of the guitar is in the person who plays it." Regino Sainz
de la Maza says of this treatise that "it is the most far-reaching
of the 17th century. Its documental, historical, and artistic
value is great because of the suggestions it presents in learning
how to play arpeggios, because it shows how to perform on
the treble strings for maximum effect, and because of the
beauty and interesting quality of the musical selections found
in it." The book contains a novel use of illustrations showing
finger positions for the strings and frets to graphically
assist the student in learning to play.
