Given the lack of simple solution for intabulating this particular piece on vihuela, the final decision to place it in vihuela de Desolre seems to be the most appropriate choice.
Points of interest in my own intabulation process:
- Re-striking of dotted notes of notes of longer values
- The singing line
- Embellishment
- Musica ficta
- Re-striking of dotted notes of notes of longer values
In the intabulation of the Benedictus de la Missa Tristezas me matan I decided to follow the combination of advices given by Bermudo and Galilei. In the case of longer values and longer values with augmentation dot (brevis and semibrevis) I am re-striking the note after the bar line. In the case of other time indications I decided not to repeat the strike unless it was necessary in order to maintain dissonances.
In the third and fourth bar of the aforementioned example, I placed the second re-struck note on a different string in order to maintain the dissonance between the bass and tenor voices.
- Musica ficta
In order to keep the dissonances and imitative voice leading, there were not so many options in which the application of musica ficta would be appropriate within this intabulated piece. As my intention was not to make the music sound even more “Spanish” as was the common practice in 16th-century Spain, the reason for my minimal use of musica ficta is most likely due to the Europeanized aural customs that I have been trained with within my own performance practice.
It is important to mention that this intabulation exemplifies the use of instructions contained in the previous chapters. Some elements may differ in actual performance practice. The main point of discussion is the re-striking of the note, which may work differently when performing the intabulation as a solo piece as when collaborating with a singer.
The whole intabulated piece Benedictus de la Missa Triztezas me matan can be found in the Appendix.
This intention of maintaining as many open strings as possible and using simple fingerings in the left hand was quickly disproven by the inability to maintain the dissonances. In order to keep the sonority and understanding of the voice leading it became required to place the intabulation in a high position (7th fret up) on the lowest strings. Because the fingering became too complicated, I then decided to change the instrument for which the piece should be intabulated.
Instead, I followed another of Bermudo’s suggestions to place the intabulation onto the vihuela according to the number of notes in the composition. As Benedictus de la Missa Tristezas me matan has a total of 16 notes, we should place the lowest note on the second or third fret of the sixth course. This allows us to follow the drawn example of vihuela de Desolre. In this case the first tone of the tenor part would be placed on the third fret of the second string.
- The vocal line
As this intabulated piece is equally balanced in the polyphonic voicing, I was able to choose any voice as a vocal line without any technical limitations for the vihuela (contrary to the process of intabulating Benedictus de la Missa L’Homme Armé by Cristóbal de Morales intabulated by Miguel de Fuenllana). I decided to select the bassus as a vocal line largely due to the fact that I am collaborating with a bass-baritone singer and this intabulation will be later performed with him.
In order to use the intabulation in practice, it was important to correctly allocate the text of Benedictus.135 The facsimile offers only an approximate suggestion, and therefore the placement of the text may be up to the performer’s interpretation. Following the guidelines of strong and weak syllables, it was necessary to decide several options with which to repeat the text, especially in the places with long melismas. This is the first step of the intabulation in which I relied on the use of my own vihuela to play the intabulation. The placement of the text in a comfortable manner required practical examination with the singer. The knowledge of the text setting is essential in my understanding and practice of the piece in order to collaborate successfully and convey the meaning of the text using the vihuela.136
- Embellishments
Benedictus de la Missa Tristezas me matan is a piece containing many dissonances and very clear polyphonic lines. Following the instructions by Miguel de Fuenllana and Juan Bermudo, I decided to ornament only one cadential point in order to maintain the sound of the vihuela. It should be mentioned that during the performance, small unwritten ornaments such as trills, modest diminutions within the cadences, etc additionally may be added.
Following the instructions by Juan Bermudo, the first step will be to decide which of the seven drawn vihuelas the intabulation will be for. My first decision was based on Bermudo's recommendation to determine the position according to the lowest note of the composition, which is F in this case. According to this information, I will intabulate the Benedictus de la Missa Tristezas me matan for vihuela de Fefaut.
At this point it is important to put the music from vice parts into the score for better orientation. The placement of bar lines also serves this purpose.
In the case of the intabulation for vihuela de Fefaut we can observe that the first tone in tenor would be placed on the first open string. This is a promising start for this instabulation, given that it allows for the player to maintain as many open strings as possible, following the advice of Bermudo.
ntabulation in my Own Practice
In order to test the acquired knowledge contained in the aforementioned chapters, I decided to intabulate Benedictus de la Missa Tristezas me matan by Cristóbal de Morales. It is a three part polyphony setting for altus, tenor and bassus. The vocal original can be found in MS Capp.Sist.17 available in digitalized form by Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.134
Fragment of trascription of Benedictus de la Missa Tristezas me matan by Cristóbal de Morales (MS Capp. Sist.17) - cadential point without ornamentation.
Fragment of Benedictus de la Missa Tristezas me matan by Cristóbal de Morales (MS Capp. Sist.17) - re-striking the notes of values with augmentation dot
Fragment of bassus from Benedictus de la Missa Tristezas me matan by Cristóbal de Morales (MS Capp. Sist.17) - the lowest tone
Transcribed fragment of Benedictus de la Missa Tristezas me matan by Cristóbal de Morales (MS Capp. Sist.17)
Fragment of intabulation for vihuela de Desolre from Benedictus de la Missa Tristezas me matan by Cristóbal de Morales (MS Capp. Sist.17)
Fragment of intabulation of Benedictus de la Missa Tristezas me matan by Cristóbal de Morales (MS Capp. Sist.17) - cadential point with ornamentation
Fragment of intabulation of Benedictus de la Missa Tristezas me matan by Cristóbal de Morales (MS Capp. Sist.17) - re-striking the notes of values with augmentation dot
Fragment of intabulation for vihuela de Fefaut from Benedictus de la Missa Tristezas me matan by Cristóbal de Morales (MS Capp. Sist.17)
Transcription of fragment of bassus from Benedictus de la Missa Tristezas me matan by Cristóbal de Morales (MS Capp. Sist.17) - the lowest tone
