Respectfully, I can't really agree that those are similar since Galileo uses the word intavolare and the other source does not, plus the simple fact is that intabulate had the meaning of score, not tablature, since there was organ tablature and tablature for other instruments as well. dt
At 10:54 PM 2/24/2010, you wrote: > No doubt the lute was part of the compositional process as Jessie Ann > Owens asserts, and it is difficult to draw any definitive conclusion > about the exact role of the instrument from the brief bits of > information in the letters concerning Palestrina. One detail that might > make some difference to the way we interpret the documents, however, is > that the term used in the letter is "porre sul liuto," translated by > Strunk as "to set on the lute" but literally "to place on the lute". In > sixteenth-century Italian usage, this is the common equivalent of what > we now would express as "to intabulate". Galilei, for example, writes > more precisely in his Fronimo and uses the phrase "intavolare sul > liuto" for the same thing. Strunk's translation is misleading inasmuch > as "to set" in English can be construed as part of the compositional > act. Hence, I think it is quite reasonable to conclude that the > wording implies that music composed in some other way was "fitted to > the lute". The phrase at the end of the quote makes it clear that the > process was not a simple linear progression from composition to > intabulation, but that the process involved aural judgment, revision, > correction, etc. the lute very much a part of the composer's toolkit. > > JG > On 25/02/2010, at 12:29, David Tayler wrote: > > I think Howard is right on as far as the process goes. I don't think we > can rule out the lute in any way based on this quote a far as being > part of the compositional process. It may have been used for thematic > material, for harmony, or any number of things, but it looks like a > direct reference. > The lute would not have had to play the full polyphonic web to be used > as a compositional etch-a-sketch. > dt > At 05:09 PM 2/24/2010, you wrote: > > \On Feb 24, 2010, at 4:13 PM, John Griffiths wrote: > > > the evidence about Palestrina and the lute suggests not that he > > > composed on the lute, but that he intabulated his new > compositions and > > > tested them on the lute before releasing them. > > I'm not sure what "tested" or "released" would mean in this context, > but at least in English translation, the letter from Annibale > Capello to Duke Guglielmo Gonzaga of Mantua of 18 October 1578 seems > to say Palestrina was using the lute to compose: > > "Having passed recently through a serious illness and being thus > unable to command either his wits or his eyesight in the furtherance > of his great desire to serve Your Highness in whatever way he can, > M. Giovanni da Palestrina has begun to set the Kyrie and Gloria of > the first mass on the lute, and when he let me hear them, I found > them in truth full of great sweetness and elegance. [] And as soon > as his infirmity permits he will work out what he has done on the > lute with all possible care. > > This seems to say that Palestrina had composed on the lute, and > would expand it into the vocal parts as soon as he got well. The > Duke apparently thought that Capello meant to say that Palestrina > was writing lute music, as two drafts of a letter from a ducal > official to Capello that Jeppeson found in Gonzaga show, or at least > thats how Jessie Ann Owens reads them. The first one says: > > "His Highness [the Duke] commands that Your Lordship [Capello] tell > Messer Giovanni di Palestrina that he should take care to get well > and not hurry to set to the lute the Kyrie and the Gloria with other > compositions, because having at hand many other talented men [i.e. > in Mantua, I think] there is no need for compositions for lute, but > instead for compositions made with great care." > > The second draft says Capello should tell Palestrina that he "not > hurry to set the Masses to the lute, since [the Duke] desires that > they employ imitation throughout and be written on the chant" > > This is all at pages 292-293 of "Composers at work" which I pulled > up on Google books by searching "jessie ann owens" palestrina lute. > > -- > > To get on or off this list see list information at > > [1]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > _______________________________________________________________________ > ________________ > Professor John Griffiths FAHA > Early Music Studio, School of Music, The University of Melbourne 3010, > Victoria, Australia > tel +61 3 8344 8810 > mob +61 421 644 911 > [2][email protected] > [3]www.vihuelagriffiths.com > _______________________________________________________________________ > ________________ > This e-mail and any attachments may contain personal information or > information that is otherwise confidential or the subject of copyright. > Any use, disclosure or copying of any part of it is prohibited. The > University does not warrant that this email or any attachments are free > from viruses or defects. Please check any attachments for viruses and > defects before opening them. If this e-mail is received in error please > delete it and notify us by return e-mail. > > -- > >References > > 1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > 2. mailto:[email protected] > 3. http://www.vihuelagriffiths.com/
