Fuenllana

[musicintime]

The 13 Fantasias from Book 4 by Miguel de Fuenllana are now available for free download: http://www.musicintime.co.uk/Fuenllana.htm MP3 files and the usual tab and basic transcription files.

Happy Christmas!

Rob MacKillop
www.musicintime.co.uk

Comments

[calatrava]

The sound you produce evocates remote Eastern fascinations - I cannot avoid, when listening to vihuela, thinking of other, distant worlds. Actually, it is a "treble" instrument, I like especially the G tuning and the sound which comes out when using the higher register. Is it possible to produce an A, on a 13th fret, is does it fall out of range?
I am working at Josquin's "Mille Regretz" for a new Cancion del Emperador...

AG

[musicintime]

I always think the word 'lontano' sums up for me the sound of the vihuela. It seems to be calling me back to a landscape/soundscape I once knew.

I agree that the G tuning is the most engaging. There are only ten frets - so the highest note is f. In guitar tuning, of course, that would be a d.

'Mille Regretz' is my favourite piece, so I am very pleased you have chosen it (Josquin's 'version') to work on. But do you have any particular Emperor in mind?!

[d2a0v0i5d]

Richard Yates' site has an intabulation of the Josquin original:

http://www.yatesguitar.com/lute/MilleRegretsFR.pdf

[calatrava]

Thankyou for the tip. No, I have no Emperor in my mind, but an idea of an Emperor. Let's see what happens...

[d2a0v0i5d]

Very nice, Rob. Thank you for the effort and energy expended in sharing this with the rest of us.

A question: in the PDF's why didn't you connect your quavers and semiquavers with beams? They're all individual flagged notes, which is a bit harder to read (for me!) Small potatoes, of course, but wondering nonetheless...

[musicintime]

As I mention somewhere on my site, the transcription is done automatically with a click of the mouse by the tablature typesetting program, Fronimo. It is not meant to be a professional typesetting job in standard notation, just a quick realisation of the notes. Notice that there are no f sharps: a D major triad is spelled D G flat A - it looks weird, but it sounds correct. And it is free...I really don't have the time to edit every piece for guitarists. I've done 90 per cent of the work - you do the rest!

[matanya]

Actually, there is a complete transcription of the Fuenllana for guitarists. It was done by Richard Jakubowski in New York for his PH.D. dissertation. He once offered it to me for publication, but at the time I was not in the mood to wage another campaign related to transcription methodologies, so I did not accept it. And of course, there is always the Charles Jacobs transcription which Thomas Heck labeled (in his official review of the Jacobs book) as a nice work of wishful thinking...

[musicintime]

Half an hour spent learning to read Renaissance lute tablature will open up access to thousands of pieces that don't require editing. This comment is not pointed at you, Matanya, but at every guitarist.