Dear Bill,
How right you are. In the remote case that the
"Historias de la Conquista del Mayab" proved to be
genuine, I would require more evidence than what this
text alone tells to consider that there might be a
relationship between the vihuela and the charango.
There are certain statements in this text that are not
altogether convincing proof of such an association
but, in order to pose the pertinent questions, perhaps
I should quote all of the relevant text. I apologize
for the length of this post, but there are some points
that require to have as full a story as possible.
First, some historical facts: according to the
website, the text concerns Gonzalo de Guerrero who was
shipwrecked off the coast of Yucatan, arriving to the
island of Cozumel; no further information is provided
as to when this happened. This much is true. Guerrero
was indeed shipwrecked in 1511, and decideed to adopt
the way of life of the natives, marrying the daughter
of a local chieftain. His whereabouts were not known
until 1519, when Cortes learned that there were
Spaniards among the Indians from Yucatan, and tried to
bring him back. Guerrero refused, arguing that he was
married and had daughters. These facts are mentioned
by Bernal Diaz del Castillo in his "Historia Verdadera
de la Conquista de la Nueva Espa�a". The website does
not provide ant details about the date of the
"Conquistas del Mayab", or any other relevant
bibliographical data, and only states that the
"invention of the charango" must have happened c.1512,
without aducing any suporting proof. How did he - or
Joseph de San Buenaventura - arrived at this dating,
we are left to guess.
In order to discuss the various points, I shall
alternate the original text with its translation and
discussion. The text states that:
"..... Y pas� el tiempo en que me estoy yo con el ahau
galel, as� que �l aprendi� muy bien el trabajo de
carpintero, as� como yo dime ma�a para ense�arle lo
que sab�a, que yo aprend�lo en mi mocedad all� en
Badajoz de la provincia de Extremadura, aunque mi
se�or padre don Juan Guerrero y mi se�ora, madre do�a
Rosario de Bahamonde en nada quisieron que yo aprenda
oficio de artesano por tener ellos descendencia de
hidalgos y ser bien nacidos, ..."
.. And the time passed when I was with the "ahau
galel" [these terms should be verified as well, I
claim no knowledge of Mayan], and he [meaning the
"ahau galel"] learned very well the craft of a
carpenter, and I tried as best as I could to teach him
all I know, which I learned in my youth at Badajoz, in
the province of Extremadura, even though my father don
Juan Guerrero and my mother do�a Rosario de Bahamonde
were opposed to my learning any craft since they
descended from "hidalgos" and were well-born.
[According to this, we have a descendant of hidalgos
learning a craft: his parents would no doubt be
opposed. This part of the story is so unlikely as to
cast the first shadows of doubt on this source.
Secondly, from what the website informs us, the "ahau
galel" was the eldest brother of a princess, i.e. a
prince. Was he to learn carpentry as well?]
"yo ten�ale mucha afici�n a la esta arte de carpintero
y lo aprend� en la casa de maese Andr�s de
Piedrasanta, que era un excelente tallador de la
madera y decor�bala de mucho esplendor y m�s belleza,
y era escultor muy bueno para hacer im�genes y m�s en
hacer instrumentos m�sicos, y yo lo aprend� muy
bien... "
I was very fond of this art of carpentry, and learned
it at the house of maese Andr�s de Piedrasanta, who
was an excellent carver of wood, and decorated it with
splendour and beauty, and he was a very good sculptor
making images, and even more in making musical
instruments, and I learned very well.
[Besides the improbable fact of an hidalgo deigning to
stoop down and learn a trade - something considered
degrading for his class - we have another
inconsistency: although the Ordenanzas - craft
regulations - for carpenters and "violeros" were in
the same group, they are separate, each mentioning
aspects relevant to each trade, thereby indicating
each one was considered as separate. Was maese Andr�s
a carpenter or a violero?]
"Y as� hice para el joven galel un gambarrino, que es
una vihuela corta, que as� la hicimos con la caparaz�n
de ese animalejo que hay aqu� y que d�cenle por nombre
wech, que es un animal torpe que en nada es astuto o
listo y que la su defensa es soterrarse en las
cuevecillas o cubiles que para �l mismo abre en la
tierra y m�tese ah� para guarecerse de los enemigos
que tenga, que no es agresivo en nada pero que tiene
un carapacho muy fuerte y se esconde la cabeza y las
cuatro patas adentro de la caparaz�n...."
And thus I made a "gambarrino", which is a short
vihuela, for the young "galel", and we made it with
the shell of an animal found here, which is called
"wech" [something else to verify], which is dull of
mind, not at all cunning or clever, and whose defense
is to bury itself in the small caves or lairs which it
opens in the ground and goes inside to protect itself
from the enemies it has, and it is not aggresive at
all but it has a strong shell and hides its head and
four paws inside the shell.
[Things begin to get interesting: in the first place,
what on earth is a gambarrino? This name does not
occur in the literature of the period, is absent from
all lists or inventaries and, as far as I know -and
many other organologists as well, judging from their
works- there is no other reference to any such
instrument. Now, the text tells us that this
"gambarrino" is a "short vihuela", that is, not a
normal or common vihuela. If we are to credit the text
that follows, the "shortness" implies a short neck: a
trait notably at variance with the vihuela iconography
of the period. It might be tempting to establish some
kind of relationship between the term "gambarrino" and
viola da gamba, but the Castilian term for the latter
instrument -and let us not forget that Guerrero was
Castilian- was vihuela de arco. In any case, in the
whole of the text there is no mention whatsoever of
the playing technique, so the possibility that it may
have been bowed -like a small rebec- must not be
dismissed. Finally, does the fact that this instrument
was made from an animal's shell imply something about
the building techniques of Spain, or does it reflect
merely the improvisation forced by lack of materials?
I suspect that, in any case, the most likely
explanation would be the second; hence, an instrument
made with a shell was not a vihuela, but a makeshift
one with some similarities with the latter: a string
instrument with a neck.]
"Y tomaron a uno de estos de su cueva en el campo y
traj�ronlo y le quitaron el carapacho y lo prepararon
muy limpio, y yo hice el gambarrino, que es en todo lo
que complace m�s a este joven ni�o, el ahau galel, y
le puse su brazo corto de madera fuerte y tapa con
boquill�n y cuerdas de las tripas de ese animal que
dicen och, que es arisco muy astuto y fiero, pero que
es chico..."
And they took one of these from its cave in the
countryside and brought it and took off its shell and
prepared it and cleaned it, and I made the
"gambarrino", which is what pleases most this young
child, the "ahau galel", and I put on its short neck
of strong wood and soundboard with "boquillon" and
strings made of the gut of the animal caled "och",
cunning and fierce but little.
[Here we find the short neck, plus another interesting
bit: "boquillon" sounds suspiciously like "boquilla",
the modern term for the marquetry inlays that surround
the soundhole of a guitar; even from the early years
of the sixteenth century the usual term for a rose was
"lazo".]
"Y as� suena muy bien el gambarrino y aprendi� el
mozuelo algunas tonadillas que yo le ense��; y como
mocillo lo ta�e bien t�caselo a el se�or su padre, que
le gusta o�rlo y a la madre y a las mozas sus
hermanas, y a todos les maravilla mucho el este
r�stico instrumento..."
And thus the "gambarrino" sounds very well, and the
young lad learned some melodies that I taught him, and
since the lad plays it well he plays for his father,
who likes to listen to it, and to his mother and all
the girls his sisters, and all are amazed by this
rustic instrument.
[Little to add, except for the fact that here the
"gambarrino" is dubbed a "rustic instrument", thereby
supporting the suggestion above that its peculiar
construction was more the produc of necessity that of
an established tradition, and that it played melodies,
surely implying single melodic lines.]
*****
The rest of the text concerns Guerrero's service at
his father-in-law's house in order to be able to marry
the latters's daughter, and that perhaps he would make
further instruments.
As it can be seen, all this text can tell us -if
genuine- is that a marooned Spaniard improvised an
instrument from the shell of an animal, probably an
armadillo. It does not tell us what kind of instrument
it was; it does not establish any relationship with
the vihuela "de mano", but with another obscure
variety -the "gambarrino"- of which we don�t know
anything save the fact that its construction was
atypical for the vihuelas od the time and, most
important: there is nothing here to suggest a charango
other than the shell. I could equally make the
suggestion that this instrument is the ancestor of the
"guitarras de concha" used nowadays in Mexico, but
even this connection -albeit more close geographcally-
seems equally unprobable. In any case, it would remain
to be explained how this instrument might have
travelled from the island of Cozumel to Bolivia, Peru
or Argentina, especially taking into account the fact
that Guerrero remained there for the rest of his life.
To make the leap from an isolated instrument of
improvised construction in an rather unimportant
island, of whose playing technique we know nothing,
and which was probably used to play single melodic
lines, to a instrument of widespread use in the Andean
region, more related to the Baroque guitar in its
rasgueado style of playing and re-entrant tuning
requires, in my view, an act of faith. This evidence
cannot provide such a link.
In conclusion, even though this story -if true-
undubtedly posseses some value as an anecdote, it
cannot be taken as serious proof of any direct
relationship between the vihuela and the charango,
especially if we take into account that the instrument
mentioned there is neither of the two.
With best regards,
Antonio
--- bill kilpatrick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
> antonio -
>
> in fairness, i never got an answer in the 1st round
> of
> correspondence; you said the charango was different
> to
> the vihuela de mano but never explained why or how.
>
> be that as it may, in order to prove that "charango"
> is merely a quechua name given to the vihuela de
> mano
> i'll have to: (a) verify the existence of the San
> Buenaventura book (b) and the Don Gonzalo de
> Guerrero
> reference c) and convince you that the gentleman
> knew
> what he saying when he called his "creepy crawly"
> instrument a vihuela.
>
> off hand i'd say that was impossible. even if i
> convince the luthier i was in contact with earlier
> to
> loan you his copy of the book, i don't think you
> would
> permit this historic, documented but uncollaborated
> statement to stand on its own.
>
> this correspondence, sir, makes me appreciate just
> how
> fickle the process of recorded of history can be.
>
> amicably (abbastanza) yours - bill
>
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