> > In the > > original manuscript the arpeggiation pattern is not indicated and so this is > > left to the performer to invent.
> As I noted in another post that I haven't seen on the list yet, Kapsberger > gave examples of how to arpeggiate in the introductory part of the book, so > the arpeggiation is not left to the performer. You assume that Kapsberger's example implies that he considered it to be mandatory rather than just to illustrate the sequence that would give an ascending chord. Also, if his example was intended to be prescriptive, why does it give no clue about chords of more than four notes? The Toccata Prima from Libro Quarto has a long series of chords with his arpeggiation symbol under them and that freely mixes chords of four, five and six notes. In the absence of instructions, these are de facto left to the performer. To imagine that he prescribed a strict pattern ignores the whole purpose of the Toccata in the hands of Kapsberger (and others). It is a loose structure that imitates, and provides opportunities for, exploration, rubato, improvisation, ornamentation. > > The two recordings that I have heard each > > use a different pattern. Paul O'Dette plays a simple pima-pima-pima-pima for > > each chord while Hopkinson Smith uses the more complex pimi-aimi-paim-paim. > > I take it you meant that O'Dette used a pattern that would translate to pima > in your guitar transcription. I meant that he used a fixed finger pattern of arpeggiation from the string closest to the ceiling to the string closest to the floor. Because of the reentrant tuning this means that many of the chords do not consist fo ascending pitches, but some do. >It is decidedly not what Paul actually did > with his fingers. It is decidedly what is on the CD that I have. Richard Yates
