Dear Vance, At present three instruments are considered officially as authentic vihuelas but in my opinion the Belchior Dias 1581 instrument (Royal College of Music, London) deserves to be added to this list. The main body of music for the vihuela is in the seven books which were published between 1536 - 1576. It is difficult to give a general view of the quality of the vihuela music (as it largely depends on one's personal taste) but for me personally it is one of my favourites.
Does it deserve the instrument - yes, very much so! Is there a market for it? I never thought of conducting a market research in this area, I just make what I like most. Alexander Batov www.vihuelademano.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Vance Wood" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "lute list" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2004 11:36 PM Subject: Re: fluted ribs > Dear Alexander: > > Just how many authentic Vihuelas are actually still in existence? Is the > existing music for this instrument of fine enough quality to warrant making > the instrument? In other words, is there a market for it? > > VW To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
