16th-Century Keyboard Tablature as Performance Notation

Christina Kwon

As a harpsichordist and HIP performer, I was so fascinated with 16th-century keyboard tablature notation on my first encounter some years ago. Since then, I have been inspired to explore playing from original notation as part of my HIP training. This research is a big part of this artistic endeavor, addressing 16th-century keyboard tablature notation from Spanish and German sources and finding answers for what it is, why it was invented, why it is not in practice today, and how one may bring it back to practice. At the beginning stages of this exploration, I noticed that keyboard tablature was not really in practice as performance notation in the current HIP dialogue. I wanted to investigate why and, through this thesis, present it as a relevant, stimulating topic. This research presents historical and theoretical analysis of this notation and the results of an extensive systematic experiment-survey I devised and conducted with 32 non-musicians and musicians of all levels. Personally, the contents of this thesis have greatly deepened my understanding of historical performance of keyboard music in the 16th century and enriched my experience as an Early Music performer.

Research Proposal

The title of my research, which will culminate in a conclusive research presentation, is

16th and 17th Century German and Spanish Organ Tablature:

Performance of Tablature Notation for Today’s Keyboardist

1. What is Tablature?

A good bulk of the research will be on the history of notation to see the notation of keyboard music from the 16^th and 17^th centuries in context. Although my current, yet-to-be-completed bibliography of primary sources mainly comprises of 16^th century sources, the survey of notation will briefly touch on notation from 900-1600, and specifically start with the Das Buxheimer Orgelbuch (1460/1470) for taking a closer look at the tablature notation of keyboard music in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. I have chosen to look at sources from Spain and Germany to have at least two different systems of tablature notation: one section of exploring the history of keyboard notation will be dedicated to the German letter system, which comes in different combinations of letters, notes, or both; another section will be dedicated to the history of the Spanish number system and its development into the partitur system with a very direct and practical link to the current Spanish repertoire (Cabezón, Bruna, Cabanilles) I am playing on the harpsichord. A brief section will also address other tablature systems from Italian, French, and Slavic sources and the influence of the German and Spanish systems

2. Why Tablature?

After a well-informed survey of the history of notation and examining the primary sources of keyboard tablature, Ammerbach Tablaturbuch (Leipzig, 1571), Obras de Música para tecla, arpa y vihuela, de Antonio de Cabezón. (Madrid, 1578), Facultad Organica (1626), and Bernhard Schmid II Tablaturbuch (1607) to name a few, the second part of my research will be an analysis of the purpose of the tablature system, whether it is a very effective or an out-dated system, whether one national system is preferred over another, if so for what reasons, according to authors and publishers of many of the sources mentioned above, who have also left detailed prefaces and treatises to comment on the tablature system. This section will also include a survey of ensemble part books and solo pieces notated in and performed from tablature to defend a claim that tablature notation served actually as performance material and to debunk any claims that it was purely archival and thereby no more relevant for today’s performance practice of early music.

3. Why Not Tablature?

The last section of the research will be about how all the aforementioned information is relevant today. Music notation is a multi-faceted, widely researched topic. Although there is less research specifically about keyboard tablature as a notational system, in the light of studies of music notation and the perception and cognition of notation, whether it be of modern guitar tab-reading or an early music approach to playing from original sources, I would like to address the playability of tablature as a system of notation. If possible, under this section I would like to include results of a try-out I conduct with others (different groups of skilled musicians, keyboardists, and non-musicians) how they might perceive and understand notation—tablature notation specifically—and also reflect on my exposure to learning pieces from the tablature notation. I will gather opinions of contemporary (1900-2000s) musicologists, early music experts, researchers, writers, and performers from their published materials and arrive at a conclusion whether learning this notation is relevant to today’s musicians in the performance practice circle and draw my own conclusion how my experience as a performing artist has changed or improved playing from this notation.

Corrêa de Araujo: Facultad Organica, 1626

Das Buxheimer Orgelbuch, 1460/1470

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