Roncalli doesn't include a table of alfabeto chords. Presumably they were
so well known by then that he didn't think it necessary.
I think this particular chord is meant to be E = D minor. A D major chord
sounds odd to me. If you look on page 55 (if you can) you can see a
similarly shaped E. The shapes of the letters vary a bit because of the
way the music is engraved and printed. The same is true of the D at the
beginning - the Ds vary a bit.
Lettere tagliate have nothing whatsoever to do with leaving out the 5th
course when using a bourdon on that course and do not indicate the method of
string the composer required. This is just a myth. Bartolotti is the one
person who does use lettere tagliate and the reason for this is usually
because it is necesrary to leave out the 5th course and refinger the chord
to accommodate passing notes although he is not entirely consistent.
Best
Monica.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ed Durbrow" <edurb...@sea.plala.or.jp>
To: "vl" <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2011 4:44 AM
Subject: [VIHUELA] Roncali chords
I've been practicing a suite by Roncalli but I only have a zerox of the
one suite and no info about it. There seem to be a few altered chords
(do you call them taglia?) and I wonder what they are supposed to be,
as they sound fine when played as the regular type.
On p. 28 in the Corrente, fourth line, last full measure, there is a
"C" with a curved line that is clearly different than the C five
measures earlier. A regular D major chord seems to work fine. If the
alteration means leaving off the 5th course, that may indicate that the
fifth course had a bourdon, otherwise what would be the point? I would
have to rethink things then. With the French tuning it would still
sound in root position. A sus chord sounds wrong to me.
The "D" in the pickup measure to this piece also looks different from
other Ds. I don't know if this is a special chord or the copyist just
did it differently there.
TIA
Ed Durbrow
Saitama, Japan
[1]http://www.musicianspage.com/musicians/9688/
[2]http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/
--
References
1. http://www.musicianspage.com/musicians/9688/
2. http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/
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