Dear Göran, Antonio, et al, Somehow I don't think "Valencian" would catch on, in spite of its excellent credentials. Milan's system is widely used today, of course, for many different kinds of music. I would be interested to know when it was first used in more recent times. I have a collection of Spanish flamenco music for guitar: Ivor Mairants, _Flamenco Guitar_ (London: Latin-American Music Publishing Co., 1958). The music is presented in staff notation parallel with Milan tablature. Surely there must be earlier examples. Ivor Mairants calls his tablature "Cifra", suggesting that the system was already firmly established in Spain. If so, there may yet be a good case for calling it Spanish tablature.
One book not yet mentioned in the present discussion is Barberiis'_Libro Decimo_ (Venice, 1549), which contains four short pieces for 4-course guitar in Milan tablature. Since these pieces are not as well known as Milan's vihuela pieces, I reproduce the first few bars of the first one. Remember the monospaced font (e.g. Courier). |\ |\ |\ |\ | | |\ | |\ | |. | | | | =3==2=|=0=3=|=2=0=|===2=|=5=======|=2=|= =0==.=|===.=|=3===|=====|=2=======|=3=|= =0====|=====|=0===|=3===|=2===0=2=|=2=|= =0====|=====|=0===|=.===|===4===.=|=0=|= Presumably the first note of bar 4 should be a line higher. The four crotchets in bar 5 look as if they should be minims. the original note values were notated as minims and crotchets, not rhythm flags, as here. My preference is still to call this notation Spanish tablature, but I have an open mind, and would like to know more. Best wishes, Stewart. ----- Original Message ----- From: "G.R. Crona" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, December 15, 2003 12:34 PM Subject: Re: Names of composers (Was: Vihuela) thanks very much for setting us straight with your informative mail. What I'd like to know, is why Milan/Valencian/Spanish tablature, only got famous and completely took over the plucked string theatre in the mid-1900's? Göran ----- Original Message ----- From: "Antonio Corona" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Stewart McCoy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: 15. desember 2003 08:29 Subject: Re: Names of composers (Was: Vihuela) | I believe we should not dismiss the possibility that | Milan`s system of tablature might have been an | offshoot of Neapolitan tab. There were strong ties | between the Aragonese and Valencian courts and Naples | which was also a Spanish possession. Besides, an | Bearing this in mind, and | despite all the differences between the Marineo Siculo | fragment and Milan's tab, a case might be made for | calling tablature with the upper line for the first | string and "0" for the open string "Valencian". | Antonio
