Ralf makes a great case that we can't assume "chitarrino" means "guitar" (I must try that pasta sometime), but maybe there's a bit of evidence here in what Lex says that shows the 4-course guitar was still active in the 17^th century, even in printed music.
Jocelyn Well, Oliver Strunk writes "chitarrino". As far as I know, chitarrino, 4 course "renaissance guitar", was not at all unknown in Italy in times of Agazzari... Hmm, as if there where a fixed terminology at that time ... Thank's to those silly humanists writers, from the end of the 15. century on writers started to use 'chitarra' for all sorts of stinged instuments (plucked). So we have chitarra for 'lute' (Tincoris), harp (Glarean), (renaissance) guitar etc. Not to forget chitarrone (literally: huge chitarra). It might even be that Sgn. Agazzari wants to make a distinction between the chitarrone and smaller (treble) lutes here. To limit the translation of 'citarrin[a/o]' to "renaissance guitar" seems bold. But I have never heard about "chitarrina", but of course that does not exclude its existence... ;-) Then you missed something - yummy italian pasta!! [1] And not even totally off-topic here since the name probably refers to the production process: pressing some pasta dough through a wired frame (somehow like an oversized egg-cutter) that might remind one of a harp (->chitarra) :-) Cheers, Ralf Mattes From: Lex Eisenhardt <[1]eisenha...@planet.nl> Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:54:32 +0100 To: Vihuelalist <[2]vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu> Subject: [VIHUELA] Re: Agazzari guitar [was Re: Capona?] In the anonymous collection Conserto vago (published in Rome in 1645) there is a part for a chitarrino a quatro corde alla napolitana, here probably used for lute type, in plucked textures. Its tuning, with a fifth between the third and fourth courses, is essentially different from that of the chitarra spagnuola. On the other hand, in Pietro Millioni's Corona del primo, secondo e terzo libro d'intavolatura di chitarra spagnola (1631) a four-course guitar is mentioned, the chitarrino, overo chitarra italiana, tuned like the first four courses of the common chitarra spagnuola. To be able to play the chords of alfabeto (from the tablature examples at the alfabeto chart) on this four-course instrument, one has to leave out the figures of the fifth course. By its tuning, the chitarrino napolitana from Conserto vago does not link up with the alfabeto tradition, as does Millioni's chitarrino Italiana. If Agazzari had a chitarrino napolitana in mind--hand plucked or played with a plectrum, then there is more reason to suppose that melodic improvisations were played on it, as they were on the violin and pandora, which are mentioned in the same breath. best wishes, Lex ----- Original Message ----- From: "wikla" <[3]wi...@cs.helsinki.fi> To: "Martyn Hodgson" <[4]hodgsonmar...@yahoo.co.uk> Cc: "Vihuelalist" <[5]vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu>; "Lex Eisenhardt" <[6]eisenha...@planet.nl> Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2011 4:03 PM Subject: [VIHUELA] Re: Agazzari guitar [was Re: Capona?] Well, Oliver Strunk writes "chitarrino". As far as I know, chitarrino, 4 course "renaissance guitar", was not at all unknown in Italy in times of Agazzari... But I have never heard about "chitarrina", but of course that does not exclude its existence... ;-) best regards, Arto To get on or off this list see list information at [7]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. mailto:eisenha...@planet.nl 2. mailto:vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu 3. mailto:wi...@cs.helsinki.fi 4. mailto:hodgsonmar...@yahoo.co.uk 5. mailto:vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu 6. mailto:eisenha...@planet.nl 7. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
