Martina Rosenberger wrote: > Dear all, > Eventually I could reach Pedro to speak for himself: > > Dear Martina, > > Thank you so much for your mails. > I have been too busy lately to reply or come into this somehow useless > discussion. >
I wonder why Pedro says this is a useless discussion. And what is the discussion? A general history of the cittern going back to medieval times (a controversial enough project) or evidence of a uniquely Portuguese tradition of cittern playing - or something else? > I really admire your efforts , together with such respected authorities > ( towards whom I feel indebted and grateful) as , Peter Forrester , > Ron Fernandez and a very few others, to bring to ligth some pieces of > the puzzle that become the history (I am referring to facts) of the > european cittern (I use this term in a precise sense, please see > definition). > These definitions (at the end of this posting) are surely very controversial. Some people, like Doc Rossi, (and sorry if I'm misinterpreting Doc) think that the English guitar (or in Pedro's amusingly contemptuous expression "english" Guittar) just is a kind of cittern. Pedro says (at the bottom of this posting) about citterns, according to his definition: ..The general type in the best models was of light construction (as in Virchi's instruments, followed by folk versions in Portugal, Germany and Swiss) and very good resonance and power... (Pedro) The 'best' models? What are the standards being invoked here? And comparing Virchi's citterns with 19th century folk instruments seems to be mixing very, very different things. Isn't it odd to think that Virchi's instruments have more in common with instruments from four centuries later than citterns of the sixteenth century? Anyway, "english" Guittars (and instruments like them all over Europe - in France, the Low Countries, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Poland and Portugal)) are lightly constructed too - after all they're played with the fingertips not with a plectrum - unlike Virchi's citterns and the 19th century folk citterns. Also some "english" Guittars (and French 'cythres') - have fewer than four bars (if Pedro means bars on the soundboard). Tunings for the Renaissance cittern seem to gravitate around a,d,g,e or b,g,d,e (or octaves) with a variety of lower basses on instruments with more than four courses. Isn't the tuning of the modern Portuguese guitar: d,a, b,e,a,b? (I haven't indicated octaves)and that's not, to quote from Pedro, bottom of this posting): ..The tuning (since the 15th century, on a 4 course instrument) starts (from top to bottom) with a major second, a fifth, and another second, forming an quart to the first, exactly the same basic tune as the actual P.Guitarra... (Pedro) Pedro says some other questionable things about the "english" Guittar. a)I quote: ..The "english" Guittar as an open tuning in C or less often in G based in intervals of thirds.... (Pedro) In the 18th century there were two main tunings for these chordal instruments - in C and in A. The G-tuning was extremely rare, the A-tuning very common. b)I quote: ..This type of tuning is first mentioned by Juan Bermudo, applied to a seven course vihuela... (Pedro) I've heard this idea that the c,e,g,c,e,g tuning was first mentioned by Bermudo a few times now. I contacted Antonia Corona Alcade who wrote an article in 1984 which might have been the source of this. Anyway Antonia now thinks: "Bermudo indeed proposes such a tuning, but we should be very wary of what he says regarding innovations, since he was very prone to put forward his own ideas and inventions, which have been many times misunderstood as reflecting actual practice." and: "Since this is but a proposal by Bermudo, there is no extant music for it, at least to my knowledge, and I doubt very much it was ever used in actual practice." (Antonio Corona Alcade) And even if it were true it would be a vihuela tuning, not a cittern tuning. c)I quote: ..This is the same tuning of the 6 course German Zither of Majer whose music was published in 1650...(Pedro) Isn't the Majer tuning in D (not C, nor A nor G) and NOT d,f#,a but some other inversion? And with no corroboration elsewhere? Pedro does cite evidence of the cittern in Portugal. He says, after quoting bits and pieces from different time periods: ..but I think this is enough to credit my opinion on the presence of citterns in Portugal long before the invention of the "english" instrument... (Pedro) For a start, I'm sure the invention of the "english" instrument (execrable abomination that it is) is German, if the chordal C-tuning is a defining characteristic. But the point Pedro must struggle with is the amount of evidence for the use of the cittern in Portugal compared to other countries. Clearly the cittern _flourished_ in Italy and England and France and the Low Countries at different times in the 16/17th centuries. I don't think we have evidence that the cittern so flourished in Portugal. > So far I could not find a way of entering in the discussion, so I ask > you to send this message to the interested people in the list, if you > please. > I will start with my short version of the history: > > The instrument we now call a Portuguese guitar was known until the > nineteenth century throughout Europe as Citra or C=EDtara (Portugal and > Spain), Cetra, Citra or Cetera( Italy and Corsica), Cistre ( France), > Cittern (British Isles), Zither,Zithern, Sitra and Zitharen (Germany, > Sweden and Low Countries). > Directly descended from the Renaissance European Cittern derived in > turn from the medieval Citole, The Portuguese guitar as we know it > underwent considerable technical modifications in the last century > (dimensions, mechanical tuning system, etc.) althoug it has kept the > same number of courses, the string tuning and the finger technique > characteristic of this type of instrument. > There is evidence of its use in Portugal since the thirteenth century > (C=EDtole) amongst troubadour and minstrel circles and in the Renaissance > period, although initially it was restricted to noblemen in court > circles.Later its use became popular and references have been found to > citterns being played in the theater, in taverns and barbershops in the > seventeenth and eighteenth century in particular. > The earliest evidence of the use of the cittern in Portugal come from a > report by Garcia de Resende (Singer, Lutenist, Poet, Politician and > author of the royal chronicles of kings John II and Manuel I, compiler > of the celebrated Cancioneiro Geral),who referred a cittern being > carried to the royal ship, togheter with with 3 viols to enternain the > princess .Beatriz during her journey to meet his future husband the > Duke of Savoy in 1521. > In 1543, the famous poet and humanist Jorge Ferreira de Vasconcelos > include in his play Eufrosina a popular saying: "Words without actions > are like Citterns without strings" > In 1582, Friar Phillipe de Caverell visited Lisbon and discribed its > customs; he mentions the Portuguese people's love for the cittern and > other musical instruments. > In 1649 was published the catalogue of the Royal Music Library of King > John IV of Portugal containing the best known books of cittern music > from foreign composers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in > wich the complexity and technical difficulty of the pieces allow us to > believe thet we had highly skilled players in Portugal. > The angel playing the cittern (c.1680), a sculpture of big dimensions > in the Alcoba=E7a monatery, depicts in detail the direct ancestor of our > portuguese guitar. > In the first half of the eighteenth century (between 1712-15), Ribeiro > Sanches (1699-1783) had cittern lessons in the town of Guarda as > himself mentions in a letter from St.Petersbirg, where he stayed as the > private physician of the tzars in 1735. > In the same period there are other evidence to the use of the cittern > alluding to a repertoire of sonatas, minuets, etc. shared with other > instruments such as the harpsicord or the guitar. > Later in the century (ca. 1750), the so-called "English"guitar made > its appearence in Portugal.It was a type of cittern locally modified by > German, English, Scottish and Duth makers and enthusiastically greeted > by the new mercantile burgeoisie of the cities of Lisbon and Oporto > who used it in the domestic context of Hausmusik practice.This > consisted of the "languid Modinhas", the"lingering Minuets" and the > "risque Lunduns",as they were then called. > The use of this type of Guitar never became socially widespread.It > disappeared in the second half of the nineteenth century when the > popular version of the cittern reemerged into fashion again by its > association with the Lisbon song (Fado) accompaniment. > We find the last detailed reference to the C=EDtara in 1858 in the book > of J.F.F=E8tis "The Music Made Easy".The Portuguese translation includes > a glossary describing the various characteristics (tunings, social > status, repertoire, etc.) of both cittern and "English" guitar of the > time. > Nowadays, the portuguese guitar became fashionable for solo music as > well as acompainiment and its wide repertoire is often presented in > concert halls and in the context of classical and worldmusic festivals > all around the world. > Apart from these notes included in my double CD "Mem=F3rias da Guitarra > Portuguesa" and dedicated to the repertoire of both 18th > century"english" Guittar and modern P.Guitarra, I have collected many > other references to the use and presence of the former cittern model in > Portugal long before the "introduction" of the "english" model. > Here are some: In the 1649 Royal Library catalogue is listed a > manuscript for Cittern (lost in the earthquake of Lisboa in 1755) wich > presumably contained works from portuguese authors , in 1652, on the > inventory of Francisco de Le=E3o is mentioned a cittern bought in Lisboa > for 480 reis and taken to Brazil for the Governor of S.Paulo. > In the BN ms.B.16.23 in our National Library I found de reference to > Father Jo=E3o de Lima, whose knowledge of many instruments listed, > included in the second place the C=EDthara all along with the organ, the > theorbo the arp, etc. > The portuguese language diccionaries of Rafael Bluteau (1719), Morais e > Silva (1789), Fonseca e Roquete (1848), Eduardo Faria (1849) all > published in Lisboa, refer the Cithara and the Guitarra as two > different instruments, sometimes giving details of number of strings, > size, etc. > Some instruments survived and are kept in reserve in the Music Museum, > Lisbon and in private collections. > With time and pacience I could add a greater amount of evidence but I > think this is enough to credit my opinion on the presence of citterns > in Portugal long before the invention of the "english" instrument. > > > Defining a Cittern: > > Cordophone, strung with metal (iron and brass) double or triple > stringing per course, with a pyriform body profile , either carved or > bilt in pieces with a arched belly with 1 to 3 bars inside, very often > a flat back, a movable flat bridge, a comb or end pin tailpiece and a > head with movable pegs placed in frontal, lateral or back position. > It as also a flat fingerboard with fixed metal frets (nailed in early > models with intarsia hard woods such as box and ebony) some being > complete and others incomplete (in many citterns up to the 19th > century) > The most common woods use in citterns were the maple (Acer > pseudoplatanus) for the body, the spruce (Picea abies) or pine (Pinus > sylvestris) for the top, but we can see instruments from the late 17th > c.with tropical woods such as palissander, ebony, etc. > The general type in the best models was of light construction (as in > Virchi's instruments, followed by folk versions in Portugal, Germany > and Swiss) and very good resonance and power. > The playing technique is always with a plectrum (made of a goose quill, > refer the best sources in 16th and 17th centuries) or thumb and finger, > sometimes the 2nd finger, as suggested by Playford. > The tuning (since the 15th century, on a 4 course instrument) starts > (from top to bottom) with a major second, a fifth, and another second, > forming an quart to the first, exactly the same basic tune as the > actual P.Guitarra. > > The "english" Guittar: > > Cordophone, strung with metal (iron and brass) double and single > stringing per course, with a pyriform body profile , bilt in pieces > with a arched belly with 4 to 7 bars, the back being usually bent over > 2 or 3 bars a movable curved bridge, a pin tailpiece and a head with > movable pegs placed in lateral position or, more often, the so-called > Preston tuning machines. > It as an arched fingerboard with fixed metal frets (in many citterns > up to the 19th century this is a composite piece, with light wood, > covered with a hard wood veneer). > The most common woods use in Guittars were the maple (Acer > pseudoplatanus) for the body, the belly being very rarely made from > spruce (Picea abies) or pine (Pinus sylvestris), instead a very soft > and light wood was used whose identification as been very difficult, > perhaps a variety of redwood (Sequoia wellingtonia), or sequoia > (Sequoia sempervirens). > The playing technique was guitar or lute based , with the flesh and > short nail plucking, using thumb and 2 fingers, sometimes the 3nd > finger, as suggested by Silva Leite (1759-1833). > His Estudo de Guitarra (1795) is a masterpiece, dedicated to the newly > introduced "english" Guittar, whose qualities he tryied to promote in > the best society of his town, Oporto, using such fantastic coments as > this: "The Guitarra is such a wonderful musical instrument that avoids > the trouble to engage an orchestra, whenever you need it..." and later > "the Guitarra is as good as a Theorbo, a Citara (Cittern), an > Harpsicord or a Harp for the accompaniment of voices"... > This comment is a revealing one: Silva Leite confirms the common > practice of using the C=EDtara for the accompaniment, and places it in > second, after the Theorbo. > The "english" Guittar as an open tuning in C or less often in G based > in intervals of thirds. > This type of tuning is first mentioned by Juan Bermudo, applied to a > seven course vihuela. > This is the same tuning of the 6 course German Zither of Majer whose > music was published in 1650. > The tunings used by german musicians and makers such as , Joachim > Tielke, Johann Gottfried Klemm and Andreas Ernst Kram were basically > the same with small adjustements due to the distribution of the double > and single courses and the bass strings (usually single and diatonic). > > That all for now.I beg you to send this message to the members of the > list as I could not find a way to do it myself. > > Best regards, > > Pedro Caldeira Cabral > > > ------ > > -- > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > >
