Batterie & Baroque Guitars

Matthew Xie

The objective of my proposal is to educate aspiring professionals and students of baroque guitar on the history and development of the instrument and the strumming style in France

Batterie & Baroque Guitars

A historical study and analysis of French style batterie-technique in baroque guitar repertoire.

Matthew Xie

Lute/Theorbo Performance M2

Main Subject Teacher(s) : Joachim Held, Mike Fentross

Student # 3247260

March 8th, 2021

Royal Conservatory in the Hague, Netherlands

Advisor: Johannes Boer

Academic Thesis

II. Research Question

What was the origin and significance of the batterie (strumming) lute technique in the French baroque guitar and lute family in solo and chamber repertoire?

1. How did composers throughout the French lute tradition notate this technique in their music and why? How did it change and evolve in the French baroque era in notation and usage?

2. What is the timeline and history of this technique, specifically when did it cross to the baroque lute?

3. What was the political and musical culture like during the advent of this technique? How did the French audiences and critics react to this batterie style of play? Did this contribute to or impede the development of the strumming technique? How did this role change to match the evolving Parisian style.

Introduction

1.1. Strumming?

According to the Grove Dictionary of Music, the act of strumming on a plucked string instrument has coined many names throughout its development: Rasgueado or golpeado from Spain , battuto/battente from Italy and finally batterie from France. While it has many guises, the term is used to describe the technique of strumming the strings of the plucked stringed instrument in a downward or upward direction with the thumb, or other fingers of the right hand. The most commonly played instrument(s) synonymous with the style of play is the guitar. In the 16th century, the four course Renaissance guitar was the predominant instrument for song and dance and was the preferred instrument by the masses. In the 17th century, the five course baroque guitar would come into fruition and succeed the Renaissance guitar as the instrument of the people. ^[1]

1.2. Scope and Perspective

The first sparks of interest of this topic came two years back when I first began studying the music of Gaultier and Mouton on the baroque lute. I noticed how different remarkably different in feel and aesthetic than any other repertore I had played before. What was most remarkable was the ornaments that these French composers used. This ornament I encountered seemed like a typical cadential trill except the RH markings were unusual. Puzzled over this predicament, I set a goal to master this technique. Since that encounter, I have learned that this technique is a common staple in French baroque lute repertory and is called the French slip-stroke or tirer technique. Upon many tireless months I finally practiced the technique enough to be able to successfully execute it in performances. Though I was momentarily elated, something effectively gnawed at the at the back of my mind: Where did this technique come from? The physical motions and tone quality hint very strongly that it could be a kind of derivation of a strumming technique. Armed with this in mind, naturally I concluded that it would be prudent to begin studying from its most likely source in my arsenal: the five course baroque guitar.

Could it be that the French lutenists were composing and experimenting with new techniques that the Italian and even the German lute composers had never seen before? From that point on curiousity pretty much took over. The opportunity to explore, was too great to ignore. Owing to my current status as a pupil of the craft, I believe it to be prudent to approach the study of the sources from the perspective of a prospective student of the baroque guitar in France in order to gain the best understanding of the batterie style and the techniques that their baroque lutenists developed during 17th century France.

1.3. Guitar’s Reputation in France

First and foremost, it is important to understand that by the 17th century the batterie style had already been antiquated and had gained an infamous reputation amongst the Western European countries as the style for the lower social strata. Amongst the French upper echelon, music critics regarded the guitar’s worth was only deemed worthy of folk song and dance accompaniment. Sources have agreed that this opinion came from a biased perspective in favor of the lute, the instrument for high French culture. Notable scholars^[2] claim that this reputation amongst the French music elite seems to have also stemmed from the encounters with the baroque guitar’s predecessor: the Renaissance guitar.^[3] By the time the five course Baroque Guitar made its way onto French shores in the beginning of the 17th century, this damaged association was subsequently inherited as the instrument rapidly overshadowed the Renaissance guitar in popularity.

This troubling inheritance is assumed to be most likely one of the primary reasons why there were so few sources in France for the baroque guitar during this time. It would almost appear that this reputation played a role in deterring publications for this instrument. The French aristocrats would not have allowed such publications as it would directly challenged the status quo set by the lute. As a result, the baroque guitar’s style and technique in France remained stagnant within its Spanish-Italian roots until after the latter half of the 17th century.

Faced with such a complication, it became imperative to look also at the French lute sources in publication to for supplmentary information. This is because it was common for lutenists to be guitar players as well and would be more inclined to publish their knowledge in this medium. One such composer is French music theorist and philosopher Marin Mersenne. Mersenne’s publication Harmonié Universelle (1636) includes relevant and vital instruction on the art of the batterie style.I hypothesize that it was the work of Mersenne and other like-minded French lutenist/guitarists that kept the interest and development of the baroque guitar and the batterie style alive quietly behind the scenes. When Francois Corbetta arrived in France in 1640s, Corbetta would take in this knowledge and culminate into the first real beginnings of a unique French batterie style. Through the efforts of Corbetta and his students Rémi Medard and De Visée, by the late 17th century, the five course baroque guitar would rise from its lowly status to be accepted and even become revered amongst the French aristocracy.

According to Richard Pinnell’s dissertation The Role of Francesco Corbetta (1616-1685) in the History of Music for the Baroque Guitar,^[2:1] Pinnell explains that after approximately 1660, there was a noticeable shift in publication trends with a rapid rise in demand for French solo repertoire for the baroque guitar. This reaction causes a new wave of French guitar composers to come forth with their ideas to develop the French batterie style into its complete state. In order to understand this new style, one must study the significant repertoire of the guitar and lute composers that participated in this fusion of ideals and how it in turn impacted French lute and guitar repertoire.

II. Research Process

In France, the Spanish rasgueado technique is referred to as batterie (strumming) by the French. This technique generally consists of two parts: the down-stroke is called rabattre and tirer, the up-stroke. The focus of this study will be on the tirer half of technique pattern which transformed from a simple rhythmic component to evolve in scope and purpose to become a principal characteristic in French lute and even baroque guitar music. I have decided that the most logical place to begin this research is to essentially figure out why the was this instrument’s social status so low and if their reasons were just in doing so.

To get some more background information, a survey of the history between between these two nations: Spain and France will be explored. The history between the bordering French and Spanish countries is characteristically complicated and bloody with wars fought in the name of religion and politics spanning since the Middle Ages. In 1635, France would become embroiled in a conflict called the Thirty Years War with the Spanish and Hapsburg Monarchy. As a result of this complicated narrative, Spanish and French nationalism grew and festered through the years. Not to mention the grueling and taxing cost of the war which was not helping to ease tensions. Shortly, this would prompt a strict unofficial ban on Spanish literature and art. I hypoethesize that this factor is important variable that may explain their stubbornness to mix styles and and engage with Spanish goods and music.

Earlier, the Renaissance Guitar had made its way to France by Italian guitarists Alberto Da Rippo and Giovanni Paladino. The ease of play and rhythmic nature of the Renaissance guitar allowed the instrument to become a popular instrument for the low-class and middle-class French women in song and dance accompaniments, The five course Spanish baroque guitar would arrive around the turn of the 17th century though traveling Spanish Commedia dell’arte troupes and take over the four course Renaissance guitar as the instrument of the people.

During the early 17th century, the baroque guitar in France also was frequently seen in theatre productions and ballets in the hands of low-class Spanish slaves and prostitutes. The guitar’s strumming style was seen by many as plebeian and did not allow for the high counterpoint of the Renaissance stile antico. In fact, much of the subject of derision by the French music community was due to this style of playing. In contrast, the lute stood on the polar opposite of this spectrum. The lute is regarded by many historical scholars and early musicians as the king of instruments. In their texts, they describe the lute’s superior qualities in expressing feelings of passion and melancholy of the human condition. The only other instrument worthy of comparison according to historical scholars was the voice.

2.1. Parameters and State of Scholarship

In this section, I will go over the research methods and approaches to study the development batterie tradition of the five course baroque guitar during 17th century France. In order to accomplish this, it became imperative to first set parameters on the scope of the research in order to maximize efficiency in the qualitative process. Therefore, a timeline has been established between 1600-1717 with the arrival of the five course baroque guitar in France up until the final publication for the instrument by François Campion. This of course would rule out the research of the Renaissance Guitar in France which prior to the baroque guitar had proliferated and prospered amongst the French common folk. The relatively “easy” to play as described by sources and highly rhythmic nature of the instrument made it an ideal choice in the use of song and dance accompaniment.

2.2. Renaissance Guitar Consideration in this Study

The Renaissance Guitar is the four course predessor of the five course baroque guitar and gains acceptance and popularity amongst the French public through the music of Italian guitarists Alberto Da Rippo and Giovani Paladino in the 16th century. The “ease of play” and rhythmic nature of the Renaissance guitar allowed the instrument to become a popular instrument for the low-class and middle-class French women in song and dance accompaniments, The five course Spanish baroque guitar would arrive around the turn of the 17th century though traveling Spanish comedie d’ell art troupes and take over the four course Renaissance guitar as the instrument of the people.

As this instrument is the predecessor of baroque guitar, the strumming language would have been a critical component to learn if one is to become competent in the craft. Although this would be a vital addition to the research I have conducted, I have come to the conclusion that owing to impracticality of obtaining a Renaissance guitar under the present circumstances and the tuning differences between the two instruments, the technique would be difficult to reproduce effectively the four course renaissance guitar’s RH strumming techniques on the five course baroque guitar. In addition, while the strumming tradition was well received by the French commonfolk and there is a wealth of highly developed repertoire in the batterie and even mixed batterie and pincer styles, my judgement is that the techniques developed on the renaissance guitar are not substantive enough to answer how the role of the batterie tradition change to fit the tastes of French music.

In other words, how did the original intention of the style which was intended for accompaniment, characterized by critics as “wild frenetic strumming” develop by the hands of French musicians into musical rhetoric technique of grace and refinement. If one wishes to learn more about the renaissance guitar in France, Richard Pinnell and Monica Hall are excellent sources to learn more about the development and history of the instrument.

2.3. French Baroque Lute Considerations in this research

Another issue that plagued efficiency was deciding the primary instrument to focus on within this research within the context of the proposed timeline, 1600-1717. While it is true that the batterie language still remains attached to five course baroque guitar, beginning approximately 1670, the music of French baroque lute school shows that lutenists were integrating the technique of the batterié tradition into their repertoire. Baroque scholars coined this period for the French Baroque lute as its “Golden Age”. Concurrent to the rise of the French Baroque Lute school and its publications is also the emergence of solo baroque guitar repertoire publications.Concurrently, it is around this time France would undergo a shift in power structure which allows the baroque guitar to receive a rise in social status and privilege amongst the French royalty. This is in large part thanks to the efforts of Francesco Corbetta and his students whose patronage and performances helped generate interest in learning the baroque guitar as an instrument worthy of serious study. This new interest amongst the aristocracy would lead to a high demand for baroque guitar teachers and solo repertoire.

In the beginning of this research, an important factor that drove my desire to pursue this topic was to access the development of the batterie tradition in France. Across the French Baroque lute/theorbo and guitar literature, the use of strumming is a critical part of understanding how to play this repertoire. It is my opinion that more than any other nation with Spain being the exception, the French plucked instrumentalists were the most successful in the art of integrating the “out-dated” batterie style with the lute’s pincer technique to develop a whole new unique language idiomatic to the French taste. However the core issue arose on how much content should be dedicated to the topic of specific use of batterie across the baroque lute and theorbo repertoire.

Concurrently, with the first publications of solo baroque guitar repertoire in the 1660’s was also the beginning of the “Golden Age” for the French d minor 11 course lute^[4] and its publications from Denis and Enemond Gaultier, Charles Mouton, Gallot and so on. In this “Golden Age” from approximately 1660 to 1692, these lutenists would experiment with the integration of the finer aspects of the batterie style and develop a mixed style was more suited to French tastes. This fascinating topic of research that is underappreciated and worth study, however in the scope and context of the baroque guitar, this derivation would be worthy of dissertation in it of itself and should be treated as such.

Before I can delve into repertoire and techniques of the French baroque lute, I made the decision to first reach a complete understanding of the impact that the batterie style had on the French culture as it developed from its Spanish-Italian heritage into its French identity. By understanding this relationship first, I believe I would reach a deeper understanding and appreciation of the various complexities of the batterié language when I apply what I have learned on the lute. This topic will be explored in the future once this research is completed.

III. Research methodology: History and origins

3.1. Criticisms of the Baroque Guitar

Once the initial parameters were set, the next task was to effectively construct a coherent timeline that accurately explained in-depth the historical and cultural impact of the five course baroque guitar on French culture and music during this era. It was mentioned previously that when the five course baroque guitar first arrived in France, it had inherited a rather unfortunate connotation amongst the music elites as an instrument for "low brow entertainment, an instrument for the common masses. More accurately speaking, the subject of their scorn is centered around the instrument’s most common form of play: the batterie or strumming style. This rather amusing critique on the baroque guitar by French music theorist Pierre Trichet sums up the feelings and attitude held by the French music elite in the 1640s concerning the instrument/style.

“For who is not aware that the lute is what is proper and suitable for the French, and the most delightful of all musical instruments? Still there are some of our nation who leave everything behind in order to take up and study the guitar. Isn’t it this because it is much easier to perfect oneself in this than in lute-playing, which requires long and arduous study before one can acquire the necessary skill and disposition? Or is it because it has a certain something which is feminine and pleasing to women, flattering their hearts and making them inclined to voluptuousness?”^[5]

In this passage, Trichet casts the guitar as a kind of superficial and sinister light in comparison to the lute, effectively mocking the lute students that choose to study this “simple” instrument because it appears to be a shorter route to becoming skilled and winning women’s hearts. According to Trichet’s tone, the lute is the hero of this narrative, requiring “long and arduous study” before one can gain the necessary skill. In essence the criticism is this: the baroque guitar is an impure and barbaric creature that preys upon unwary lutenists, entranced with the instrument’s easier capabilities to seduce a partner/partners. In contrast, the lute was held in high regard across all sources encountered and is always portrayed as the heroic figure in the narrative. Interestingly enough, these criticisms seem to be universal across all Western European countries that have encountered the instrument’s forms. The symbol of the guitar as a kind of instrumental “boogeyman” coming to lure the nation’s youth was a common theme that seemed to come up time and time again. Owing to the numerous accounts with the same common themes leveled against the instrument, I have decided to explore these accounts from each nationality which include Spain, England, and Italy. I would argue that by understanding the common threads that seem to vilify the baroque guitar in the other countries, perhaps I would gain a clearer understanding of why this phenomena occurred in France as well.

3.2. The Baroque Guitar in French Theatre & Art

(Spanish Guitar Players Daniel Rabel, c.1637 )

The baroque guitar first appeared in the French timeline in the early 17th century During this era, the instrument was frequently seen in the hands of Spanish and Moorish gypsies in traveling performances featuring song and dance from the Commedia dell’arte tradition. According to Rebours, these performances were a source of joy and delight for the French public for it was most likely the first time they would encounter Spanish culture and their music.In fact, these traveling shows were so popular amongst the French that French theatre and ballet would often feature scenes depicting these Spanish performers engaging in frivolity and merry-making, often with percussion and guitars. Unforunately, these depictions were often a gross caricature of their cultues. In Lully’s 1625 Ballet des fées des forests de St Germain is one such example of a ballet that features these performers depicted in this unflattering light.

Consequently, I believe that one of the primary variables that shaped the France’s cultural perception of the baroque guitar was due to these mischaracterizations. Therefore, the focus will be on the history and cultural significance of the five course baroque guitar as depicted in French ballet and theatre. The principal objective is to analyze how these caricatured versions of the Spanish players in productions played a role in negatively impacting the social status of the baroque guitar in the eyes of the French aristocracy. In essence, was this propaganda? If so, why?

To achieve this, additional research has been conducted on the the major French artworks of the era depicting the baroque guitar often in the hands of Spanish and/or exotic servant(s). Natasha Frances Miles’ thesis Baroque Guitar in the Accompaniment of Song and Dance^[6] has been an extremely useful aid in understanding the cultural perceptions of the baroque guitar were solidified by the inception of these works and overall negatively impacted the growth and development of the five course baroque guitar in France.

3.3. Publications in France Pre-Corbetta (1626-1640)

(Luis Briceño’s (1626) Metodo mui facilissimo para aprender a tañer la guitarra a lo español (1626, Very Easy Method to Learn to Play the Guitar in the Spanish Style) Title Page.)

This comparison is rather interesting because it also in-directly affected the ratio and competition of French publications of concerning the lute and guitar. In France, lute publications were numerous and in popular demand and had a variety of skill levels to suit the demands of the public. In contrast,the best and perhaps only source is Luis Briceño’s (1626) Metodo mui facilissimo para aprender a tañer la guitarra a lo español (1626, Very Easy Method to Learn to Play the Guitar in the Spanish Style). Published and popularized in Paris in 1626, this source provides basic instruction and introduction into Spanish grounds and dances i.e , pasacalles, españoletas, romances, folias, etc.*^[7]

This disparity between publications presented a rather difficult obstacle in regards to research. How would I gather the necessary information about the history of the five course baroque guitar in France with only one major primary source to go off of?

Pondering this, I began to look at secondary sources done on the subject of the five course baroque guitar in France. The three sources that were the most helpful in regards to providing relevant supplementary information were: Robert Pinnell’s academic dissertation on "The Role of Francesco Corbetta in the history of music for the Baroque Guitar (1976), Monica Hall’s “Francesco Corbetta - The Best of All A study of his life and works” (2020)^[8] and Natasha Frances Miles’ The Baroque Guitar as an Accompaniment Instrument for Song, Dance and Theatre (2011).^[9] While each respective source had its own goals in mind in regards to research on this topic, the compilation of their collective knowledge proved to be very beneficial in understanding and filling in the gaps of knowledge where the primary sources could not provide.

Serendipitously, these sources aided in unearthing some important information, confirming an earlier suspicion. These three muscic scholars agree that although the publications for the five course baroque guitar were few, French baroque guitar players would find alternative ways to adapt. Overshadowed by the lute for the time being, the baroque guitar would develop quietly in the backdrop in small gatherings of lutenists and guitarists to exchange ideas orally on the baroque guitar and the language of the batterie. A similar comparison to aid in understanding can be drawn from the modern age: bebop started in similar small private jam circles as an oral language. Its customary for bebop musicians to use a a jazz chart as a blueprint to improvise. The baroque guitarists of the early 17th century are similar in this respect; taking the simple dances and folk tunes and give it life through the use of the strumming language .

This friendly relationship between guitar and lute players is interesting and inversely mirrors the relationship in regards to publications. This means that despite the negative implications, French lutenists were indeed aware of the capabilities of the batterie style and some like Eitienne Moulinié and Marin Mersenne would include sections in their lute publications dedicated to the study of the baroque guitar. Their benefaction provides a more cohesive understanding in my opinion in understanding the finer aspects of playing the baroque guitar that the Briceño source could not clarify. To that end, a section will be dedicated to each composer and their contribution and impact on the development of the baroque guitar in France. Through a successful and thorough compilation and analysis of these sources, one can gain a deeper understanding of the type of the atmosphere that the baroque guitar became a part of prior to the arrival of Francesco Corbetta.

3.4. 1648-1660 Socio-Political Situation in France:Rise of French Nationalism

In this next section, I will be exploring the “second phase”^[10] of the five course baroque guitar in France which was marked by the first visits by the Italian baroque guitar virtuoso Francesco Corbetta to French courts in 1650’s and this impacted French culture and the development of the baroque guitar’s reputation. During this time, it is still important to take note that for a period of approximately two decades from the last reference to the baroque guitar in Pierre Trichet’s 1640 publication to approximately 1660. The exact cause for this is still debated amongst historians and is still unclear on the nature of events that caused this evident stagnation. Research into the historical archives tells us that between 1648-53 France was experiencing a series of civil wars called La Fronde sparked was sparked and fueled by the consequences of the Franco-Spanish War.

According to Natasha Frances Miles,^[6:1] Miles explains how the consequences of these events sparked an increase in French nationalism and heightened tension against other nationalities, particularly against the Spanish. Based on this information, a logical observation can be made that as a result of the harsh socio-political conditions, French baroque guitar composers felt less inclined more than ever to publish for fear of the public repercussions. Miles explains that as a result, the French government instituted a more severe ban on Spanish publications and imported items.

The subsequent stagnation of publications presents another rather fascinating discussion on the content to research during this period. Although the pool of primary sources is scant, Pinnell^[11] points out that the baroque guitar was still flourishing amongst France’s proletariat for its versatility and ease of play in song and dance. Unfortunately, the criticisms were still not shared by the French aristocracy and subsequently these attitudes rippled throughout French culture. Unlike in Italy, where skilled players of the baroque like Foscarini and Bartolotti were more common, the French have not yet experienced a serious student of the craft. If the instrument is going to experience any sort of major development in its technique and repertory, it first must gain acceptance within the culture, specifically French aristocratic culture. This chain of events would soon come to pass as the French aristocracy would soon encounter Francesco Corbetta and his virtuosic skill on the baroque guitar.

Born in Pavia, Italy in 1615, Francesco Corbetta grew up and studied with the best of Italy’s baroque guitar players including Giovanni Paolo Foscarini and Angelo Michele Bartolotti. With the teachings of these virtuosos, Corbetta would grow to become an international pioneer of the baroque guitar and its evolution from a strum-oriented style into a combination of strummed and plucked textures referred to today as “mixed” style.Thus, in order to understand relevance of the impact that Corbetta had on French culture overall, an overview of the baroque guitar in Italy is necessary in order to illustrate the types of players that Corbetta would have studied from and and would have presented similar repertoire and styles to the French aristocracy. When the French encounter Corbetta and his playing, Pinnell points out a notable change in the attitudes held by the French which opened a metaphorical “window” for acceptance and development.

3.5. Baroque Guitar 1st phase in Italy (1598-1639)

3.5.1 Francesco Corbetta (1615-1685)

Monica Hall states that ^[12], the first phase of the five course baroque guitar in Italy began approximately in 1596 with Joan Carlos Amat’s publication Guitarra Española. This first phase is marked by rasgueado-only repertoire of Amat and his peers and a development and codification of the written notation. By the time Corbetta was born, the notation had grown to include a rudimentary time signature and barlines. ^[13] In his dissertation, Pinnell states that the factors that Corbetta was born in were indeed extraordinary: 1.born in the middle of the first phase of the baroque guitar 2.close proximity to one of Italy’s major music metropolitan areas: Milan This allowed the young Corbetta to experience the full range of Italy’s evolving guitar style and the impressive roster of skilled regional players. These players are but limited to: Girolamo Montesardo,Giovanni Paolo Foscarini and Angelo Michel Bartolotti. The teachings and experiences of gained from their mentorships culminated in Corbetta’s first and second publications in Italy titled: De gli scherzi armonici trovati, e facilitati in alcune curiosissime suonate sopra la chitarra spagnuola(1639) and Varii capricci per la chitarra spagnola(1643).The significance of these sources according to Monical Hall and Pinnell is that this publication marks the end of the first phase of the baroque guitar in Italy and a change in compositional trends for the baroque guitar toward a more integrated “mixed” style of play. For this to happen , developments in the notation to include Italian lute tablature symbols needed made to be made to accomodate the aspect the technical demands of the plucked style or lute stye on the guitar.

The infusion of lute tablature elements in the notation allowed Italian guitar like Foscarini and Bartolotti to move beyond the confines of rapidly aging alfabeto system and faciliate the development the baroque guitar in this new direction of integrated “mixed” style. Previously, it was mentioned that Corbetta had studied with both Foscarini and Bartolotti and subsequently, theirs teachings were very influential to the development of his compositional style as a guitar composer. The range of his studies can be best seen in his second publication Varii capricci per la chitarra spagnola(1643) in which Corbetta incorporates the tenets of their lessons in this publication. Another point of note, since this publication is relatively close to Corbetta’s first travels to France in 1648. It would be practical to devote more research in to to this document as this would best represent the the repertory and skill that Corbetta would bring into the courts of France. For this reason, a discussion on the publication and the respective teachings of Foscarini and Bartolotti will be observed in order to understand to the degree that the baroque guitar style changed as it began influsing elements of lute composition trends including: Uses melodic ornaments such as the vibrato, trill , slur, campanellas, concertato effect, playing in 24 keys, chord inversions stemming from the lute tradition of playing. More on this will be explored in the History and origins section.

3.5.2. Corbetta first travels to the French courts 1648-53)

The exact circumstances of Corbetta’s first travels to Paris,France is a somewhat debated topic amongst scholars. According to Pinnell^[12:1], Corbetta secured the rights to travel based on a" recommendation from a former patron, King Philip IV of Spain, who had been the recipient of the guitar book of "Corbera’’, and fortunately was also the brother of the Queen regent of France: Queen Anne of Austria. After the death of her husband King Louis XIII, Queen Anne shared a “joint” stewardship of the French throne with the Cardinal Mazarin. Pinnell ascribes that this partnership was rather one-sided as Queen Anne was quite happy to delegate all responsibilities to Mazarin. Armed with the power of the French throne, Mazarin was able to abuse his power by importing all manner of Italian goods such as Italian music and its musicians. Incidentally, this included Corbetta. This resulting chain of events sparks the first wave of Italian musicians in France from 1644-1648. This opportunity would allow him to to perform in the courts of France and begin his international career.

One can only assume that news of the young Italian guitar prodigy had fascinated the French courts with his playing to a point that news even spread to the Cardinal’s ears. Mazarin would decide to introduce Corbetta to instruct the interested Dauphin in the art of the baroque guitar. The exact reason is debated between Hall and Pinnell on Mazarin’s intentions for hiring him. Pinnell’s perspective^[12:2] is that it was due to the Cardinal’s intention’s to keep the young monarch to be Louis XIV from engaging in political decision-making. He supports this with a passage from Voltaire on the preferences of Louis XIV for frivolity than attending to his royal responsibilities

“The only thing he (the King) ever learned was to learn and to play the guitar.”^[2:2]

Meanwhile, Hall^[9:1] believes that the reason is due to Corbetta’s connections with the the French royal family that offered this teaching post. Whatever the reason, this chain of events seemed to serendipitously catapult the baroque guitar into the pinnacle of its popularity. Once news spread across court the young Dauphin was taking lessons with the virtuoso Francesco Corbetta, slowly but surely, the instrument would gain acceptance amongst the French aristocracy, most notably the aristocratic women that would take up the instrument for serious study. This trend would lead to a significant rise in the production and demand in baroque guitar publications and teachers for the instrument. Thus in 1660, begins the first solo publications for the French five course baroque guitar.

3.6. First Solo Baroque Guitar Publications and Transitional Figures (1660-1682)

In this next section exploring the first solo French publications, the best sources that were able to provide the most complete information on each publication and its significance in the anthology of French baroque guitar music was Gerard Rebours’ article published in the Michaelsteiner Konferenz Berichte titled: The Baroque guitar in France and its two main figures: Robert De Visée and François Campion (2013).^[14] Rebours remarks in his article that these first publications were particularly significant because similar in the baroque guitar’s second phase in Italy in the 1640’s, the repertoire demonstrates a notable shift in compositional writing, adopting lute elements and techniques to create a kind of proto-French style^[15].

According to Rebours,“proto-French” style represents style represents the beginnings of French guitar composers including but not limited to: François Martin, Rémy Medárd^[8:1], and Henri Grenerin experimenting with the possibilities of the instrument in order to develop its French identity. One thing to point out in the first of solo publications François Martin’s Piéces de guitarre (1660) contains arguably, the best comparison in source material between the “old” batterie focused style and this new proto-French lute-inspired form of play. Corbetta also makes a subsequent return to the French courts around this time and contributes two French publications to this canon. In essence, this proto-French style, with all its inherent possibilities, still had elements inherited from other national styles i.e Italian repicco ornamentation and to that end, needs to keep evolving in order to reach an “authentic” French style. In the next chapter, the focus will be on this “authentic” form and the final phase of the baroque guitar in France, paying attention to the accomplishments and endeavors of Corbetta’s final student: Robert De Visée and François Campion.

3.7. Final Phase of the Baroque Guitar in France (1682-1705)

The third and final phase of the five course baroque guitar in France is marked by the final development of the proto-French style into a true French style.^[16] This change is best illustrated in the music and techniques of Corbetta’s student and King Louis XV’s private guitar instructor Robert De Visée. The other younger figurehead of this phase is François Campion who worked for the Royal Academy of Music between 1703 to 1719 as the official Master of Guitar. Between the two, Robert De Visée and his théorbe/guitar compositions is more commonly known and played amongst today’s lutenists and guitarists.

Born approximately 1732 in France , De Visée is reported to have studied with Corbetta and is regarded as his last and most prolific student. According to Grove Dictionary, De Visée is regarded as the French lutenist that “exploited the instrument to the fullest extent”. He became the chamber lutenist to Louis XIV in 1680. Concurrently he also publishes his first volume for the baroque guitar: Livre de Guitarre(1682) and later, Volume II in 1686. In 1719 he rose to be named “Guitar Master of the King” (Maître de Guitare du Roi) to Louis XV the ten-year-old great-grandson of Louis XIV who succeeded to the throne in 1715.

These two volumes: Livre de Guitarre I & II contains over fifty French dance movements inspired by the teachings of his late alleged mentor Francesco Corbetta. According to harpsichord player and musicologist Antoine Geoffroy-Dechaume, Dechaume regards De Visée’s compositional style as “unmistakably French Lullian sense in of composition”. De Visée use of mixed batterie and pincer styles in his music represent the final step into a truly “authentic” French baroque guitar style. Though lesser known, François Campion is regarded as being the being the younger and more “flamboyant” side of French baroque guitar music spectrum. Rebours remarks in his article that:

“while De Visée used campanellas, arpeggios, slurs, imitation, indeed all of the resources available to him on the guitar, but quite parsimoniously, avoiding all kind of italian-like extravagance. More than once, Campion indulged in technical fireworks.”^[17]

Basically, Campion can do everything that De Visée is able to do but with a “flair of Italian-extravagance”.

Since these two clearly demonstrate contrasting personalities in the French baroque guitar medium, it would be very useful to analyze the music, paying attention to the purpose and variation of batterie techniques used to examine their compositional stances on the subject. In order to accomplish this, a more thorough analysis through the use needs to be prescribed to the comparison of their music than the other composer on the timeline. To aid in my task, Rebours has provided in his article a list of the most commonly played pieces for the baroque guitar compositions across his two volumes. Fortunately, these pieces also contain De Visée’s most extended use of the batterie technique. Campion was definitely a trickier opponent to deal with. With over fifty pieces in his repertoire most containing the extended batterie technique, the question of focus over generality was often on my mind. In the end, I decided to focus on Campion’s Allemande a La furieuse pg. 41 Nouvelles découvertes Sur la Guitare* (1705). Through much analysis of the techniques used in comparison to the other pieces, this Allemande represents Campion’s most advanced use of the batterié technique in which he employs a technique that has never been seen before in the baroque guitar cannon known as the French slip-stroke. Incidentally, this French slip stroke or tirer has been one of many goals of this research and it is bittersweet moment personally to finally see the integration of this technique at the end of the history for the French baroque guitar. . This raises several questions between the lute and baroque guitar in regards to technique “cross-pollination”. It is well regarded amongst baroque lutenists and musicologists that the tirer technique is seen across all the French baroque lute repertoire and its use even permeated onward to be included the German lute technique called Rückschlag. ^[18]. The physical motions produced and the fact that this technique appeared principally after the 1670’s in French lute repertoire, a period where the cross-fertilization between the two instruments would have been at its height, all point to this technique deriving from the technique of the baroque guitar. The very fact that this technique that I have been looking for presents another interesting challenge and question that at the end of this research, I will like to examine further in the future of the significance and impact of the batterie technique within the French Baroque lute’s “Golden Age”.

IV. Research Methodology: Technique

4.1 Tablature and Alfabeto

It is important to take note at this point that in order to adequately understand the materials presented in this material, one must have a sufficient proficiency in reading and French and Italian tablature notation systems as well as have knowledge of the most commonly used Alfabeto chord symbols. Since it would be impractical to educate a general audience in the time allotted to the proficiency recommended, a rudimentary overview of each respective system and their function in the music will be provided. In addition, since the topic of this research is French baroque music, a more in-depth discussion on the complexities of French tablature in comparison to Italian tablature will be done.

4.1.1 On the subject of Alfabeto

Although it is widely supported amongst scholars that Alfabeto is an important notational system for Italian and Spanish baroque guitar repertoire, it is a rare phenomena in the case of French baroque guitar music. Generally, the exception of Briceño and Corbetta (both not French in origin). From their perspective, French lutenists and guitarists gravitated toward utilizing the same system of notation for chordal harmonies for practical efficiency. Therefore the discussion will be notably shorter than the other sections for practicality and efficiency. A noted focus will be on Briceño’s “alternative” Aflabeto will be a topic of interest as this type of notation is likely what a French baroque guitar student would encounter from his 1626 publication to study from.

(Briceño’s Castilian Alfabeto Chart)

4.2. Technique Guide Methodology

In this chapter, the focus will be a critical guide and analysis into the execution and performance of the batterie style in 17th century French baroque guitar music. A methodical analysis into the historical guitar and lute sources in publication in France and Spain will be consolidated to develop this method in order to teach my audience about the performance practice of this technique.

In addition to the discussion on the batterie technique, an overview of the extended techniques developed during and after the crossover into the lute style will be discussed in greater detail. These techniques initially derived from the Spanish and Italian baroque guitar tradition such as the repicco will be explored in addition to the French strumming techniques. Special attention will be given to the techniques that the French lutenists developed from this technique and how this development influenced French baroque guitar style.

Before an in-depth discussion of the subsequent development of the technique in the French baroque guitar tradition, a discussion of the placement of the right hand when executing the technique will be important to this research. Extensive research in Spanish and Italian composer guitar treatises and even paintings will be vital in the performance of this technique to disseminate the optimal tone and sound that these musicians would have heard during the era. Unfortunately, within the French baroque cannon prior to the 1660’s, the only major French publication is Briceño’s source which does not contain any descriptions or models to study from on how to reproduce the optimal tone and technique.

To circumvent this obstacle, a consultation in the French lute sources particularly Mersenne’s Harmonié Universelle (1636) would be beneficial to this research as mentioned before Mersenne is one of the few composers who dared to put baroque guitar material in his lute publication. I must admit that as a non-French speaking person, the source presents an issue with translation as do much of the sources in my research, but holds more urgency and creedence to translate in order to understand the French sound aesthetic. Therefore, a French-English translation of the major relevant passages of Mersenne’s source will be provided in the Index section of this research.

Continuing onward to the discussion, the next focus will be the development of the technique from a rhythmical component of the Spanish and Italian guitar tradition to a harmonic and articulative French device. In the Spanish and Italian guitar tradition, the up-strum is predominantly a weak beat in baroque guitar technique. In many historical guitar/lute sources the down-strum is executed by striking all the required strings available for the harmony in a downward toward the floor motion. Subsequently, the technique of the up-strum is executed with an upward motion toward the ceiling by striking some of the courses. This effect of down and up motion in an unequal distribution of force creates a strong-weak emphasis that is favored and frequently emulated by other instruments. For more information on this, Betty Bang Mather’s “Dance Rhythms of the French Baroque” is a quite an excellent source to consult.

In relation to the history and relevance of the baroque guitar in France, the next subsequent sections will focus on the batterie techniques that were most common in each phase of the baroque guitar. Please note that again that the techniques demonstrated in the next sections represent a basic guideline in performance practice and in no way reflects the inherent possibilities that could occur when a skilled performer handles the instrument. In each section categorized chronologically, the major French publications and its repertory of the era will be discussed and scrutinized over, focusing on the use and purpose of the batterie style in relation to the time period and overall in the chronology of French baroque guitar.

The first piece that will be examined represents the 5 course French baroque guitar and 10 course French lute prior to 1650. This is best represented in Etienne Moulinié’s third volume of Air de cours in which he includes twelve airs for the baroque guitar along with 26 for the French lute. ^[19] Within these 12 air de cour for guitar, Moulinié included 1 French, 1 Gascon, 5 Italian and 6 Spanish songs This style in French lute and guitar music is characterized by its use of the batterie primarily as the accompaniment to the voice. Meanwhile the lute engages in a more refined plucked style with more opportunities for diminution and ornamentation. In this style, the guitar is regarded by French lute composers as a simple instrument. Therefore only simplistic rhythms are seen in the music The music is often set to song with strophic text in regular quarter and half note rhythms.

The second publication in essence is not an analysis of the music but a study of the descriptions and models related to batterie seen in Marin Mersenne’s publication Harmonié Universelle(1636).^[20] In essence, these descriptions and models provide the player with information on proper placement of the RH and LH. proper RH tone production, RH arpeggiation etc.

Owing to the limitations of being a non-French speaker, a translation needs to be done of the manuscript and/or find a secondary source that has already translated it. After surveying the options, an earlier translation has been discovered to have been done by Roger E. Chapman in 1957 titled: Mersenne, Marais Harmonié Universelle, the book on instruments,translated to English by Roger E. Chapman (Hague 1957).^[21] Even though this source is a lute source, this information would be vital to any serious student of the baroque guitar for tone and RH capabilities. Incidentally Mersenne’s descriptions is also orroborates with Spanish and Italian baroque guitar sources such as Amat and Montresardo. A serious study and application of these techniques in practice of the ensemble and solo repertoire is perhaps the only way to truly understand the technique and their function in the music. A more academic approach in this is simply not enough. However, this source still provides valuable hints that should not be ignored on the performance practice on how to execute various technique capabilities of the batterie style and will be used as an overall guide to the optimal RH sound production on the baroque guitar.

The third item on the agenda will pay tribute to the Spanish and Italian guitar tradition by examining how French guitarists such as Francesco Corbetta utilized the extended technique in their music. This strumming technique is called extended respectively because this technique is only executed and taught orally to only a select few of most talented Italian guitar players. It is important to take note that these techniques are inherently Italianate in origin and thus will not be seen in the final third phase of the baroque guitar in France.

It is however to illustrate these important techniques because these types of ornaments are very likely what the French and international audiences would have heard and marvel at as the sources describe. This technique was cited and misunderstood by many scholars as simplistic to play and may have contributed to its reputation as a loud brazen instrument. In regards to French guitar publications, the most information about this technique can be found in Corbetta (1671) La Guitarre Royalle I. In Corbetta’s preface he gives the following explanation: You shall see the example of a reppico in a chaconne titled Caprice de Chaconne, where the note with the extended stem is played with the thumb.

“Having begun first with the fingers , thumb then plays the same and this is repeated as upbeats. Notice that the four tied beats indicate that one must play the first with the second finger, and the next with the first, and so again in upstrokes, all at a faster speed, and then continue with the fingers and thumb.”^[22]

Therefore, this Chaconne will be the representative piece piece that will be covered in this section to illustrate this technique in practice. In his treatise, Corbetta defends the versatility of this technique in French baroque music for its effectiveness in varying tone and dynamics in musical expression. Worth noting, Corbetta is the only baroque guitar player in France to use this technique. Even his later “alleged” pupils Médard and De Visée do not engage with this technique. More later will be covered on this topic on why exactly that is.

After the power change of Mazarin to King Louis XIV in 1660, the political change also created a subsequent surge in French nationalism within the French culture and the arts. Prior to the first half of the 17th century, French lute/guitar composers were hesitant to utilize the technique beyond its initial rhythmic purpose. After this change in power, a noticeable change in the compositional trends in French guitar/lute composers began to appear.

The next piece that will be discussed and concurrently the first technique that is an original French lute/guitar development change from strumming style to a melodic pincer (plucking) style of writing. The first noticeable change can be seen in Francois Martin’s guitar publication (1663) Pièces de Guitairre å pinser(Guitar Pieces for strumming and plucking)^[23]. In this section, two short Sarabandes pg. 6 & pg. 17 of similar nature will be covered. The interesting aspect of the comparison is that Martin includes these pieces, the former is in the "old strumming style and the latter demonstrates the new "proto-French guitar style with passing notes, slurs, ornaments and plucking.^[24] These pieces are instrumental to the research into development of the batterie technique and will be an important precursor to the use of the batterie technique because it is the one of the first shifts in guitar sources from a simple rhythmic accompaniment to a more solo instrumental role.

The next group of pieces that will be examined will explore the use of the batterié technique as an anti-cruxis to a downbeat chordal harmony From the previous composer Francois Martin, a shift to a pincer style of compositional writing can be seen in guitar publications. In Paris 1676, Rémy Médard published his book Pièces de Guitarre where it is he composes in a mixed style, using both the old guitar batterie strumming style with the new pincer plucking styles in a now highly stylized French Courante in d minor pg. 18 to great effect. In 1682, less than a decade later, Robert DeVisée would expand upon this development a very similarly composed d minor Courante pg. 20 in his guitar publication Livre de Guitarre I (1682).^[25]

Although Robert DeVisée was regarded as one of the finest baroque guitarists of French baroque music, it has been remarked by scholars such as Gérard Rebours that his style of writing is notably more conservative in respect to his talent on the instrument. According to Grove Music, DeVisée’s is described to have achieved a full mastery of the five course baroque guitar,"

DeVisée utilizes the full range of the guitar… avoiding all kind of without the Italian-like extravagance"^[26].

To put it very simply, Campion likes Italian-ate exhuberence, DeVisée prefers the traditional French Lullian style. Though a thorough examination of his guitar compositions in both of his books, one is inclined to agree with Rebours’ description of DeVisée’s conservative nature. François Campion on the other hand in his guitar publication in 1705 Nouvelles découvertes sur la guitarra (1705) ^[27] engages with the mixed style of Médard and Corbetta to the fullest extent, even engaging with batterie techniques developed from French baroque lutenists like Denis Gaultier and Charles Mouton.

This comparison between these two last guards of the French baroque guitar illustrates two different respective schools of the evolved “authentic” French style. To this respect, a side by side comparison of their music would be advantageous to compare and contrast their respective approaches in regards to implementing the batterie style . Upon further consideration, I have decided that the best types of pieces that have the highest proportion of batterie to pincer use in the music are in order: Pasacailles/Chaconnes and Allemandes. This makes sense in context because historically these types of dances which the guitar was frequently used for its rhythmic harmonic motion outlining strong downbeat motion. In order to conserve time and efficiency in scholarship, a focus and analysis of the RH batterie techniques on the Allemandes will be conducted.

The next topic in discussion would be both of these composer’s approaches to the topic of Allemandes. The Allemande in d minor from the same suite serves as a sufficient comparison to study and compare from. It is important to note that while De Visée’s Allemande is a remarkable piece in it of itself and of course presents a wealth of study for a baroque guitar student, in the context of extended batterie techniques, De Visée represents the conservative side of the metaphorical coin. This is not the case with Campion that finally employs an extended batterie technique that is not seen in French or in any other national baroque guitar publications: the French tirer or slip-stroke technique*.*

Campion book Nouvelles découvertes sur la guitarra occurs toward the end of the book in a rather passionate title Allemande la Furieuse p. 41. The composer uses a technique most commonly seen in French baroque lute repertoire known as the cadential trill tirer in the penultimate measures of the A section. This technique is an extension of the slip-stroke technique with speed and the precise articulation of dissonance and consonance of the anti-cruxis to the downbeat as the key factor in the success of execution in practice. In the music, Campion exercises this technique in a cadential trill. This revolutionary use is only seen once in the entire book and currently in my research, the only source of baroque guitar music that contains this specific technique. As to why this technique appears in this one rare instance is a matter that will need further research and study into the subject.

V. Critical Analysis of Sources and Techniques

5.Historical Overview of Baroque Guitar Publications in France

5.1. Criticisms of the Baroque Guitar

The Spanish called it Rasgueado, The Italians battuto/battente. The French call it batterie and later, codifies the technique by its physical motions: tirer & rabattre. All of these descriptions describe the strumming style that was assumed to be developed in the early 15th century to be used on portable plucked stringed instruments such as the Renaissance guitar. The historical sources that describe the advent of this technique and the guitar give descriptions of the instruments qualities such as: “ease of play” and its highly rhythmic nature, making it an ideal instrument to accompany folk dances and tunes of the era. In 1516, the Renaissance guitar was first brought over to France by Italian musicans and popularized by the talent of Giovanni Paladino Jean Paladin and Alberto da Rippo/Alberte de Rippe. Of the two musicians, Paladino/Paladin is more widely recognized among the 16th century French audiences for the composer’s intabulations of popular tunes and dances featuring the use of strumming rhythmic notation and alfabeto.

As the instrument’s popularity grew amongst the common folk, the French aristocracy however,were harsh toward the instrument and the style of play. In the French Treatise La manicure de biene & justement entoucher les lucs & guittternes (Poiters, (1556)) , the author offers a stereotypical attitudes of the French aristocracy on the comparison between the lute and the guitar:

“In my earliest years we used to play the lute more than the guitar, but for twelve or fifteen years now everyone has been guitaring,and the lute is nearly forgotten in favour of Heaven Knows what kind of music on the guitar, which is much easier than that for the lute.” ^[28]

The author of this passage offers his opinion on the guitar in favour of the lute, citing that instrument’s “ease of play” and more accessible music notation has made the author forget the music of the lute. He laments how he and his peers have fallen prey to this trap after twelve-fifteen years. It is worth noting that other nationalities such as Spain, England and Italy also cite similar criticisms about the guitar’s ease of play and more accessible notation system has spread and thus diminishing the popularity of other once prominent instruments. In Madrid, Spain for example, in Sebastian Covarrubias publication Tesoro de la lengua castellana o espanola(1611, Madrid), Covarrubias laments on the future of the once noble vihuela in Spain known for intabulations of Mille Regretz, in favour of the low class baroque guitar.

“Since the invention of the guitar there has been very few who have devoted themselves to the study of the vihuela, It has been a great loss, because all kinds of notated music was played on it, and now the guitar is nothing more than a cowbell, so easy to play, especially in the rasgueado there is not a stable-boy who is not a musician of the guitar.” ^[29]

In Italy, Michael Pratorius offers his criticisms on the strumming style and how the instrument’s accessibility has caused a noticeable dip in art song in favor of simpler “foolish” song forms. He does offer a hopeful remark at the end where he remarks that a good singer can still create art with the instrument.

“In Italy, the charlatans and mountebanks, (Ziarlatini and Salt’ in banco) who are like our comedians and clowns, strum them, singing their villanelles, and other foolish songs, Nethertheless,good singers can sing fine and lovely songs with it.”^[30]

Amongst the numerous biting remarks of its harshest critics cite the instrument’s loud and chaotic nature and frequently depict the instrument in folk dance and song circles.

By the time the Baroque guitar came to France in the early 17th century, the strumming style and instrument(s) was cemented in the French minds as the In contrast the lute was still considered the "king of instruments, sources cite the instrument’s superior qualities in expressing all the dynamics and intentions of the human voice in addition to its ability to create florid high Renaissance counterpoint.^[31] As a result in the French lute music scene, the two instrument families were clearly divided in techniques and style until the latter half of the 17th century. In addition, the five course baroque guitar France would not see solo music publications until the latter half of the century.

5.2. The Baroque Guitar in French Theatre & Art

Still, the baroque guitar in France progressed in prominence in the form of accompanying popular ballads and dances. Guitar players can be frequently seen on stages,within ballets and theatre productions reflecting the Spanish exoticism. Ballets such as Ballets des fees les forests de St. Germain (1625)^[32], frequently depicted an ensemble of guitar players or a solo guitar with rhythm section accompanying singers. In each scene, the composer sets the instrument’s music and atmosphere to reflect its humble place in French music. The scenes would generally depict the instrument in the hands of exotic characters such as gypsy girls and Moorish servants with castanets singing and dancing to a chaconne or folia ground. Based on frequent depictions of the baroque guitar in exotic lower-class entertainment leads to the assumption that French composers also contributed to this stereotype, thus cultivating the instrument’s image for French audiences as a product of Italy and Spain; not for the French connoisseur.

“The situation was similar in the theatre: the guitar appeared in “charivaris”, in comical and grotesque situations, associated with Spaniards or Italian characters like Harlequin, Brighella, Pantalone, the Ziarlatini and Salt’in banco18. And that was not all: the guitar players sometimes came down amongst the public, moved, sang, and danced. The instrument was, in fact, perfectly adapted to these situations: light, not too big, transportable, generally flat-backed and so more stable and easier to handle than the viola da gamba or the theorbo”^[33]

According to Rebours, the depiction of the guitar in the hands of known figures of ridicule such as Harlequin, Brighella, and Pantalone in Italian and Spanish culture did little to aid in the image rehabilitation the instrument surely needed. It is also an interesting point that Rebours also remarks about how the instrument’s small and portable quality made it particularly useful to handle upon moving, singing and dancing in comparison to the viola da gamba and theorbo. It is an interesting comparison to make as these instruments were ideal instruments for the refined French gentleman of the aristocracy.

Naturally the lute still reigned supreme, but if one could not have access to one, the sources say that the theorbo and the gamba were adequate substitutes. Rebours goes on in his article with a painting supporting his thesis titled Spanish guitar players, attributed to Daniel Rabel, c.1637, from the era depicting the instrument as the ideal partner for the rowdy and ridiculous.

(*Spanish Guitar Players* Daniel Rabel, c.1637)

“And the guitar players were doing more, as we can see on a famous drawing of the Spanish guitar players from the 1625 Ballet des Fées des forests de Saint- Germain: a tambourine, with metal discs, is hanging just under the guitar, ready to be hit or shaken (Fig. 1). We can imagine it was fun and exciting, for both players and public, to play the guitar in a band, and walk, dance the sarabande, sing, and dress with extravagant costumes, probably making such body movements that Pierre Trichet described as “ridiculous and grotesque” and - to crown it all - striking a tambourine while strumming the guitar, or making it jingle by jumping or shaking one’s body, and maybe tapping one’s foot as well.”^[34]

For all these reasons described contributed to the overall lack of development in baroque guitar technique in France until the later half of the 17th century. Until then, the style and technique of the instrument stagnated as French guitarists had primarily Briceño’s publication for reference,The music that the French people heard did not match what was notated on the page. Thus, without a knowledgable teacher in Spanish/Italian rasgueado, French guitarists could not replicate the techniques of their Spanish and Italian counterparts. This is because the strumming tradition is a closely guarded oral tradition taught by a few guitar masters privy to the guitar’s secrets.

Strumming instructions from both Spanish and Italian sources such : Guitarra espanola by Joan Carles Amat (1596) and Montresardo (1606) offer at best cursory study of the topic in the prefaces geared to teach amateurs. These prefaces include only how to execute the basic down and up strumming pattern as well as alfabeto and rhythmic notation basics. In the actual music, the notation features only the basic alfabeto chord pattern and a basic rhythm line. The basic rhythms and patterns provided by the composer are meant to serve as a blueprint for the player’s discretion to add tasteful passagi and rhythmic complexity to the music.

Prior to Corbetta’s second publication in 1643, the diverse capabilities of the strumming tradition remained privy to only a few. In France especially due to strong nationalism sentiments fueled by the consequences of the Franco-Spanish War, a French student of the baroque guitar would most likely have a difficult time to come across these documents. Due to this information privacy, very few French audiences and even composers had the chance to see a competent guitarist until Corbetta and therefore reserved the baroque guitar for only the most simplistic of accompaniment positions.

5.3. Publications in France Pre-Corbetta (1626-1640)

The Curious Case of Luis de Briceño’s 1626 Metodos mui facilssimo publication

During the first few decades, baroque guitar music publications were scarce,with some stemming from Spanish and Italian sources that emigrated and circulated to the French public through traveling international musicians. The first publication for the five course baroque guitar was actually in 1596 in Barcelona Spain titled Guitarra espanola by Joan Carles Amat. Other publications from Montresardo (1606),Giovanni Ambrosio Colonna and Pietro Millioni (1620-1637 publications) would follow soon after in Italy and Spain.

In France, the first publication of baroque guitar music was Luis de Briceño Metodos mui facilssimo (1626). This source’s background is particularly interesting as it sheds light in to the socio-political state of France during this time. According to a dissertation by Natasha Frances Miles “The Baroque Guitar as Accompaniment Instrument for Song, Dance and Theatre” (2011). She notes that this is notably later in development than other Western European countries like Spain or Italy, for instance. In the paper, the author explains the reasons why publication took so long was due to a censorship by the French government to police and confiscate all books and publications of Spanish origin^[6:2]. This ban on Spanish imports is assumed to be due to increasing resentment and hostility between the two nations since the Spanish Inquisition. These tensions would continue to spiral upward when France would become embroiled in a conflict with Spain known as the Franco-Spanish War (1635) Miles asserts that because of this censorship,the earlier guitar publications of Amat, Montresardo, Colonna would have all been subject to confiscation or heavy censorship of the information.

To circumnavigate this circumstance, Briceno’s manuscript is notated in Castilian cifras.^[35] The source contains several dances and Spanish songs to be played in the chordal strumming accompaniment style. This publication does not contain a Preface nor helpful batterie RH instruction. One observation is that the reason why this is the case is because Briceño’s target audience is meant to be for the French amateur who would already know the basics of baroque guitar technique and just wants to play the popular tunes and dance tunes of the day. Remarkably, this practice is similar to today’s trend of pop chord songbooks. Briceño does include a rather unique numeric-Alfabeto chart in comparison to any tablature seen. This tradition would live and die with him. The notation is primitive with the use of the unique “Briceño” alphabet and rhythmic notation. The omission of bar lines and time signatures is especially interesting as it is reminiscent of pre-Montresardo Italian and Spanish guitar accompaniment.

Even in the eyes of an amateur, the intention of Briceño’s publication was intended to for novices. The accompaniment features simplistic half and quarter note rhythms of chordal strumming with slow root position harmonic motion. Half note motion is exclusively a down-stroke rabattre motion done with the thumb and/or fingers. The basic strumming pattern roles of rabattre equals strong beats and tirer for weak beats is used in quarter note divisions. This source somewhat lackluster in content for a serious student. Briceno is still important in the canon for being the first and the only source in publication French baroque guitar players could learn about Spanish music and the batterie style.

Consequently, judging from the simplicity of the notation in comparison to the lute tablature could serve as a reason why French critics thought this instrument was so easy to play. Amusingly, they misunderstand that the strumming tradition was an oral tradition. Experienced guitarists would have known to fill out the simplistic rhythms with strumming ornamentation i.e repicco and trillo. It’s a pity that they did not have the publications of Montresardo, Abtessa, and Millioni for study. These banned Italian publications would have provided more of a wealth of information in the style and advanced techniques in comparison. If this literature been on hand, perhaps the baroque guitar’s social status would have taken a different direction in history.

Etienne Moulinié: Air de cour for the French baroque guitar

Amongst the first descriptions of the strumming technique in a lute source is in 1629 with Etienne Moulinié (1600-1669) Air De Cour Volume III, 12 Airs for Guitarre.^[36] Born in 1600 in Languedoc and worked in service of the Gaston of Orléansas the director of music. Moulinié is most known in the lute repertory for his contribution to the art of the air de cour. In context the air de cour was a term used by French composers and publishers from 1571 to the 1650’s to designate many secular, strophic songs sung at court often with a solo plucked string accompaniment.^[37] In many of Moulinié’s airs there are often two parts which are similar to Italian recitative-aria structure: a dialogue i.e recitative and the aire i.e aria. In this specific source, Moulinié chooses to include 26 air de cour for lute and most importantly, 12 airs for guitar. Within the twelve airs, one is in French, five in Italian, five in Spanish, and the final one is in Gascon. This unusual source presents a rather interesting challenge worth studying if one wishes to learn more about the art of air de cour on the baroque guitar. It is also important to take note that across these volumes of air de cours is not a single description or model that a student can study technique from. In this sense, it is believed that the target audience of Moulinié was also intended for amateurs like Briceño’s intentions.

(Air de cour for the baroque guitar)

(Air de cour for the lute)

It is interesting to note the differences between the two instruments in regards to accompaniment. The twelve air de cour guitar appear after the lute airs and is marked by the text Pour la Guitarre. The air de cours for the guitar are very simplistic in comparison with simple half and quarter note rhythmic motion in 4-3 voice strumming accompaniment very similar in style to Briceno’s accompaniment. Although Moulinie does keep the same dialogue-aire structure like in the lute airs, the simplistic vertical harmonies of the guitar airs which of course cannot be anything but strummed. More will be discussed on why this is the only following option will be discussed further in the Tablature section regarding Moulinié.

The lute air de cours are subsequently found at the beginning of the can easily feature a number of musical possibilities such as but not limited to: interchange of one to three voices, fugal and counterpoint, melodic bass, and diminutions. That is not to say that the lute air de cours do not feature the same slow harmonic motion that occurs in the guitar compositions. Since these volumes were intended to be marketed toward amateur musicians, Moulinié has not included any passage work that an intermediate lute student could not learn in a short period of time. Naturally, giving the a full and strong accompaniment for the singer is still the primary focus for the lutenist. However, unlike the guitar, the possibilities for diminution work were noticeably larger.

Mersenne’s Harmonié Universelle’s Pedagogical approach

Next up is Mersenne 1636 Harmonié Universelle^[38] Mersenne’s manuscript is largely in part a continuo manuscript for theorbos on the basics of continuo and the French style of accompaniment. Born in La Soultière (1588-1648) Marin Mersenne was a French philosopher and music theorist that was according to sources^[39], Mersenne was very interested in the distinction of national styles and creating a practical pedagogical method for teaching young musicians.Due to limitations in the language barrier a secondary source was consulted titled Mersenne, Marais Harmonié Universelle, the book on instruments,translated to English by Roger E. Chapman (Hague 1957).^[40] The source efficacy is complicated to say the least due to the fact that Chapman does not seem to understand that Mersenne intended the manuscript to be for the lute/theorbo family and not for the harpsichord/keyboard instruments. It becomes very evident in the source of this confusion and the frustration for the reader when Chapman continues to try to connect the concept of fretting and the harpsichord tuning together. It is supported by French Baroque continuo scholar Robert Zapulla that prior to the early 18th century, the majority of continuo sources from this era were primarily designated for the lute and the plucked string family.^[41] It seems rather obvious from a lutenists perspective given that the manuscript frequently depicts tablature systems, references by the title signaling the specific use of theorbo i.e Accord du Tiorbe. (Tuning of the Theorbo). One can go on. If the reader understands this distinction that Chapman is trying to translate in a lute-centric perspective, the instructions become much clearer. This source is clearly the French theorbo, not the harpsichord and most interestingly judging by the tablature, not for the baroque guitar. Mersenne means to teach the batterie tradition on the theorbo; an instrument of the lute family.

In the manuscript Mersenne gives a more thorough explanation of baroque guitar strumming technique than his predecessors Briceño and Moulinié. Mersenne’s more pedagogical approach to explanation of the instrument’s techniques as opposed to providing a series of personal compositions is due Mersenne’s background as a theorist and unlike his predecessors on this topic, one can infer that Mersenne’s primary objective is not to make sales, but to educate.

Mersenne’s publication first begins with the preface which outlines the main objectives of this document is to educate the student in how to produce the best sound and tone for the lute and other other plucked string instruments.

"Expliquer la manière de toucher le Luth en perfection, et de poser ou de mouvoir chaque main, et chaque doigt comme il est requis pour bien ioüer.

Explain how to touch the Lute in perfection, and how to place or move each hand and finger as required for a good performance."

Upon further examination, it was found that these topics can also conversely be applied to the technique of the five course baroque guitar as well. Therefore a detailed translation has been done on the relevant major passages related to RH tone production and chordal block chord/arpeggiation. These passages include:

*Article I Des conditions requises à celui qui veut apprendre à toucher le Luth\ Requirements for the one who wants to learn how to touch the Lute.

Article II De la situation de la main droite, et comme il s’en faut servir. The situation of the right hand, and how to use it.

Proposition X: EXPLIQUER LES SIGNES, ET LES CARACTÈRES DE LA TABLATURE, ET PLUSIEURS REMARQUES ET OBSERVATIONS PARTICULIÈRES. EXPLAIN THE SIGNS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TABLATURE, AND SEVERAL SPECIAL REMARKS AND OBSERVATIONS.*

Take note that the LH descriptions have been purposely left out of the focus due to the focus during this phase of the baroque guitar is based on the batterié style. Naturally, an more in depth explanation on how each Article relates to the RH batterie technique will be given in the Techniques section. However, it would be prudent to understand in context what each Article entails and more significantly, how efficiently it translates to the baroque guitar.

Article I. Des conditions requises à celui qui veut apprendre à toucher le Luth.

La plupart de ceux qui ont traité des arts & des science , requiererent trois conditions pour en acquérir la perfection, å sçavoir la Nature, la Discipline et L'Exercice, sans lesquelles on ne peut arriver au but que l'on s’est proposé. Or il faut entendre par le mot de Nature, l’inclination, à la disposition naturelle que nous auons å des certaines sciences, & å des Arts particuliers , comme il arrive que les uns font portez å la peinture, ou å la Sculpture, & les auture å l’Architecture ,å la Géométrie & c. La discipline signifie la Methode, & L'Instruction des bons Maîtres: & Exercice n’est autre chose que la Pratique de leurs préceptes. Or ces deux dernières parties peuvent suppléer le défaut de la première , car comme la terre la plus stérile est rendue fertiles par le soin à la diligence du laboureur , ainsi ceux qui croyaient être incapables d’apprendre cet art, doivent s'assurer qu'ils peuvent surmonter les défauts de la nature, & l’inclination, en mettant en pratique les enseignements que nous allons donner. Er s’ il estoit necessaire d’en apporter des exemples, i ‘ en fournirons un grande nombre , mais cette vérité se recognoistre sans contredit par les expériences qui l’on en voit tous les jours, c’est pour quoy ie viens aux choses qui sont les plus utiles, & dis premièrement qu’il est nécessaire que celuy qui se veut addonner å ce noble exercice pour en recevoir un parfait cóntentement, sache un peu de Musique, afin qu'il entende la valeur des mesures contenues en sa tablature, encore qu'il se trouve des hommes qui ont l' oreille si délicate, qu’ils peuvent( estant enseignez) accorder, & toucher le Luth auec autant de justesse que les meilleurs Musiciens du monde: mais il ne faut pas que ceux qui fonte pour eux de ces rares qualités naturelles, méprisent cet art, sans le quiella nature est imparfaite & aueugle.

L'adaouste néanmoins qui le seule délicatesse de l’oreille ne suffit pas, parce qu’il est encore nécessaire qui l'égalité des deux mains soit conforme å la justesse; afin qu’elles partent toutes deux en mesme temps, autrement l'on remarque de grandes imperfections au toucher; ce qui arrive des mauuais préceptes de celuy qui touche le Luth, mais ceux qui ont les deux mains légales, & si adroites qu’elles sont capables d'exécuter tout ce que l’on peut s’imaginer, ravissent les auditeurs, & me font souvenir de l’opinion d’Anaxagore qui confittouit la sagesse humaine dans les mains, encore que les hommes ne soient pas lages parce qu’ils ont des mains, puis qu’ils les ont plustost parce qu'ils doivent estre sages, fins d'exécuter ce que leur dicte l’art & la raisón.

Article I. Requirements for the one who wants to learn how to touch the Lute.

Most of those who have dealt with the arts and sciences require three conditions to acquire perfection, namely Nature, Discipline and Exercise, without which one cannot achieve the goal one has set for oneself. Now, by the word Nature, we mean the inclination to the natural disposition that we have to certain sciences, and to particular arts, just as it happens that some of them lead to painting, or sculpture, and others to architecture, geometry, etc. Discipline means method, and the instruction of good masters: Exercise is nothing but the Practice of their precepts. Now these last two parts can make up for the defect of the first, for as the most barren land is made fertile by the diligence of the ploughman, so those who thought they were incapable of learning this art, must make sure that they can overcome the defects of nature, & inclination, by putting into practice the teachings we are about to give. And if it is necessary to give examples, we will give a great number of them, but this truth is undoubtedly recognizable by the experiences we see every day, so that we can come to the things that are most useful, and say first of all that it is necessary for those who want to add to this noble exercise to receive a perfect agreement, knows a little of Music, so that he can hear the value of the measures contained in his tablature, although there are men who have such a delicate ear, that they can (while teaching) tune, touch the Lute as accurately as the best Musicians of the world: but it is not necessary that those who melt for them these rare natural qualities, despise this art, without which nature is imperfect and blind.

The sound, however, which is not sufficient only by the delicacy of the ear, because it is still necessary that the equality of the two hands be in accordance with the rightness; so that they both leave in the same time, otherwise one notices great imperfections to the touch; what happens to the mauve precepts of the one who touches the Lute, but those who have both hands legal, so skillful that they are able to perform everything imaginable, delight the listeners, make me remember the opinion of Anaxagoras who confits the human wisdom in the hands, although the men are not wise because they have hands, then they have them plustost because they have to be wise, in order to carry out what the art the reason dictates to them.

In Article I. Mersenne speaks in length about the importance of having the right mindset and goals in mind when it comes to taking on the serious craft of learning the lute. He ascribes that taking up the lute is not for the faint of heart and requires three vital ingredients to mastering the instrument: Nature, Exercise, and Discipline. The first requirement: Nature refers to the requirement for the student to have a natural inclination and curiosity for the sciences and arts. Mersenne explains earlier that the lute is an instrument of the highest culture and thus it is only through this tireless curiously, this insatiable need to know, is one of the necessary requirements to fully master the instrument

“Or il faut entendre par le mot de Nature, l’inclination, à la disposition naturelle que nous auons å des certaines sciences, & å des Arts particuliers , comme il arrive que les uns font portez å la peinture, ou å la Sculpture, & les auture å l’Architecture ,å la Géométrie & c.” ^[42]

Now, by the word Nature, we mean the inclination to the natural disposition that we have to certain sciences, and to particular arts, just as it happens that some of them lead to painting, or sculpture, and others to architecture, geometry, etc.

According to Mersenne, the next tenet(s) Exercise and Discipline can be grouped together as a symbiotic union

La discipline signifie la Methode, & L’Instruction des bons Maîtres: & Exercice n’est autre chose que la Pratique de leurs préceptes. Or ces deux dernières parties peuvent suppléer le défaut de la première , car comme la terre la plus stérile est rendue fertiles par le soin à la diligence du laboureur , Discipline means method, and the instruction of good masters: Exercise is nothing but the Practice of their precepts. Now these last two parts can make up for the defect of the first, for as the most barren land is made fertile by the diligence of the ploughman,"

In this passage, Exercise requires the student to endeavor to seek out the best methods and masters of the instrument to learn from. Mersenne asserts that this is not enough and Discipline is an important variable in learning their concepts. If one has the best teachers and instruction methods available but lacks the will of Discipline to practice their precepts, what in essence would be the point? This is the rhetorical question that Mersenne implies with this passage.

Interestingly, Mersenne also points out that if one has diligent Discipline of a “ploughman” and the best instructors of the craft, it can often be enough to overcome the need for the first Tenet: Nature. It could be implied that Nature could also mean “talent” as Mersenne writes a " natural disposition to science and the arts" which could mean that if one has the discipline and good teacher, it can be enough to overcome “talent”.

Within Article II, Mersenne focuses on the RH position and the proper technique in achieving the most optional tone striking the courses. First Mersenne explains the importance of achieving the proper balance of support of the right hand that should essentially act as an anchor supporting the weight of the lute. Speaking of balance, he also speaks in length about the importance of having the Medius/Medicus or little finger balanced on the bridge of the lute. Mersenne also specifies a warning not to put the little finger behind the bridge which is a bad habit formed from childhood. This is due to the fact that as the student gets older, the habit will inhibit their respective growth when confronted with a larger instrument. In addition to the trials of a larger instrument comes the arrival of more lower diapasons, requiring the balance of the Medius in order to comfortably reach the bass notes. In the final paragraph of this Article , Mersenne explains in detail on the importance of keeping the RH close to the strings when playing and to practice finger independence and ergonomics as much as possible, keeping the hand and fingers as loose and flexible to allow the facilitation of melodic lines.

II. De la situation de la main droite, et comme il s’en faut servir.

Après avoir parlé l'excellence, et de l'égalité des mains , il faut montrer le lieu oú l’on doit les poser sur le Luth, car cette situation nous sert de premier fondement, å raison que l’on ne le peut toucher sans de grandes contraintes, et sans mauvaises contenances, si les mains ne sont bien potemps, & dis en premier lieu, qu’il faut que le Luth appuyé contre une table, ou un autre corps soit soutenu par le poids du bras droit: quoy qu’on le d'ouate: en second lieu, que le dessus de la main droite estre autant veu du cofté du petit doigt qui suit, et que l’on nomme Medius, & Medicus, doivent estre fort proches du premier, & s’incliner le plus près qu'il sera possible du petit doigt. En.4 lieu, le petit doigt doit être appuyé sur la table du Luth proche du chevalet, & de la chanterelle , car ceux qui le mettent derrière ledit chevalet, contractent une mauvaise habitude, qui se change par après en nature: de sorte qu’il est difficile que les enfans, qu'on accoutume å cette mauvaise pratique, la changent quand ils font plus grands, C’est pour quoy il leur faut faire construire de petits Luths, afin que les espaces des cordes soient conformes å la grandeur de leur main, & qu’ils la posent tout d’vn coup comme les grands.

Or j'ai remarqué qu'on doit autant voir le dessus de la main du côté du petit doigt, que celui de devers le pouce, lorsqu'elle est située comme nous venons de le dire, parce que les doigts doivent être aussi proches des cordés les uns que les autres.

C’est pourquoy ie viens å l'usage des doigts, & premièrement å celui du pouce, dont il ne faut pas sleschir la jointure proche de son extrémité, parce qu;il faut qu'il soit tout estendu comme s’il estoit san pointure , a raison qui l’on ne pourrait pas aisément touche la dixième chorde en mesme temps qu'on a touché la quatrième, å cause de la grande distance que se troutot du pouce jusques å la dixième, si on la voit slouchy en touchant la quatrième. Le premier doigt voisin du pouce, & qui en doit néanmoins être fort éloigné lors que l'on s’en sert, doit toucher les cordes du coin de la pointe qui est devers le pouce, plustost que de son milieu; ce qu'il faut soigneusement remarquer, afin que son action soit libre pour roller, ou pour doigt, il la faut enlever par dessous en tenant la pointe du doigt bien ferme: mais lors qu'on en touche trois, ou quatre, comme il arrive souvent ,il faut tenir ladite pointe plus lasche, afin que le doigt puisse couler plus aisément sur les cordes que l’on veut relever, ou rabattre.

Quant au second et au troisième doigt, il en faut aussi enlever les cordes par dessous; alors que l'on ne s’en sert point, il les faut tenir négligemment appliquées auprès du petit doigt. La main restant ainsi disposée, il faut prendre garde qu’en faisant agir les doigts, le dessus de la main ne se mette pas en dehors, afin qu'on ne puisse apercevoir qu’elle soit travaillée par le mouvement des doigts.

II. The situation of the right hand, and how to use it.

After having spoken about excellence and the equality of hands, we must show the place where we must place them on the Lute, because this situation serves as a first foundation, because we cannot touch it without great constraints, and without bad capacities, if the hands are not well poised, say first of all, that it is necessary that the Lute leaning against a table, or another body is supported by the weight of the right arm: secondly, that the top of the right hand should be as close as possible to the side of the little finger which follows, and which is called Medius, Medicus, should be very close to the first, lean as close as possible to the little finger. En.4 Instead, the little finger should be placed on the lute table close to the bridge, & the chanterelle, because those who put it behind the bridge contract a bad habit, which is later changed in nature: so that it is difficult for children, who are accustomed to this bad practice, to change it when they are older. It is for this reason that they must have small lutes built, so that the string spaces conform to the size of their hand, that they suddenly lay it down like the older ones.

Now I have noticed that one must see as much the top of the hand on the side of the little finger, as on the side of the thumb, when it is located as we have just said, because the fingers must be as close to the strings as the others.

That is why it is necessary to use the fingers, and first of all the thumb, whose knuckle must not be torn close to its extremity, because it must be stretched out as if it were of no size, which is why it would not be easy to touch the tenth course at the same time as the fourth one, because of the great distance between the tip of the thumb and the tenth one, if it is seen slouchy when touching the fourth one. The first finger close to the thumb, which must nevertheless be far away from it when it is used, must touch the strings from the corner of the point which is in front of the thumb, more than from its middle; what must be carefully noticed, so that its action is free for skating, or for finger, it must be removed from underneath by holding the point of the finger very firm: but when touching three, or four, as it often happens, it is necessary to hold the said point more lazy, so that the finger can flow more easily on the strings that one wants to raise or lower.

In the last relevant passage of this publication, Proposition X describes the signs and characteristics of the French tablature symbols and their relative function in the music. Mersenne explains this by providing sixteen observations as well as notational models and descriptions to illustrate his points. Due to the length of this chapter, a specific focus was paid to the descriptions and examples related to RH tablature and chordal arpeggiations versus block chords. Mersenne begins this chapter by praising late great lutenist Adrian le Roy for writing down his methods of instruction for public reference.

"Encore que plusieurs habiles hommes ayent cultiué cet art avec tant d’adesse & dexdexterité, dans lequel il y en a qui reüssissent auiourdi’huy si heureusement en nostre France, il n’y a neantmoins qui’Adrian le Ruy qui ayt donné par escrit quelques preceptes de son instruction, ils ont peut-estre creu acquerir plus de gliore a tenir cet Art cache, qu a le divulguer: de la leur intention,

Although many skillful men have cultivated this art with such adroitness and dexterity, in which some of them have succeeded so fortunately in our France, there is none the less Adrian le Roy who gave in writing some precepts of his instruction, they may have acquired more glory in holding this hidden art, than in divulging it: of their intention, if first they have not been heard, or learned from them themselves."

In this passage, Mersenne berates the practice of lutenists like Albert de Rippe who was infamous for burning his personal compositions and forbidding any transcriptions of his instruction for fear of plagiarism. He asserts that due these unfortunate series of events, the “art” of reading tablature is not taught in common practice and only a few are privy to the knowledge. The next area of focus would be points four through sixteen which explain now in relation to the model example provided on what each RH tablature symbol means. Due to complexity wording of this topic which requires a level of proficiency of the tablature symbols already, the topics expressed in the next subsequent point would be best explained in the Techniques and the Tablature section of this research.

The last point of interest of this publication concerning history and relevance is point thirteen.

"13. Les Tenuës, dont i’ay parlé au commencement de ces Articles, & dont i’at promis l’exemple a la fin, sont si necessaires que sans elles l’harmonie est du tout imparfaite: outre que l’on a mauvaise grace de lever si souvent les doigts quand il n’en est point de besoin; il les faut donc remarquer & pratiquer exactement, & quand mesme il n’y en auroit point de maqueés , il ne faut pas laisser de tenir les doigts sur les chordes le plus long-temps que l’on pourra. Plusieurs les marquent seulement aux Basses, mais il est aussi nécessaire d’en user aux autres parties, spécialement ou l’on désirera qu’ elles soient observées. Or il faut remarquer que ces tenuës se sont sur toutes sortes d’instruments, & que tout ce que nous disons du Luth se peut, et se doit appliquer a la Mandore, au Titre, & c.

13. The Tenuës, of which I have spoken at the beginning of these Articles, & of which I have promised the example at the end, are so necessary that necessary; it is therefore necessary to notice & practice them exactly, & when there are none at all, one must not allow one to hold the fingers on the strings for as long as one can. Many mark them only on the Basses, but it is also necessary to use them on the other parts, especially where you want them to be observed. Now it should be noted that these holds have been used on all kinds of instruments, & that everything we say about the Lute can, & must be applied to the Mandore, the Theorbo, & c."

Mersenne illustrates in this passage the importance of diligent practice of his tenets and to practice them exactly such as the practice of holding notes for long as the rhythm requires. He points out that most lute students have the unfortunate habit of only holding the bass only and this technique can be also applied to the tenor, alto and soprano parts respectively for the best and fullest harmony.

The last and arguably the most important point that Mersenne makes is that the tenets learned can also be applied to other instruments of the lute family such as the Mandore, Theorbo etc. This possibility implies that the baroque guitar supports an earlier theory that these lessons can also be translated to the baroque guitar. Since baroque guitar share similar characteristics with the lute in construction and string physics, it makes logical sense for a baroque guitar student to learn from this source in order to achieve the best possible sound from the instrument.

Proposition X

EXPLIQUER LES SIGNES, ET LES CARACTÈRES DE LA TABLATURE, ET PLUSIEURS REMARQUES ET OBSERVATIONS PARTICULIÈRES.

Encore que plusieurs habiles hommes aient cultivé cet art avec tant d'adresse & de dextérité, dans lequel il y en a qui réussissent aujourd'hui si heureusement en nostre France, il n’y a néanmoins qui Adrian le Roy qui ait donné par écrit quelques préceptes de son instruction, ils ont peut-estre creu acquérir plus de gloire à tenir cet Art caché, qu à le divulguer: de la leur intention, Si premièrement elles n’ont esté ouïes, ou apprises d’eux mesme. Or puisque cet art ne s’est jamais enseigné qu’en particulier, l’on liés, quoy que retiennent les généraux tant qu'il m'est possible, puis qu’ils font visiter par les plus entendus en cette profession.

Et pour ce sujet il faut premièrement considérer les lettres de la Tablature, le lieu ou elles sont posées. En second lieu, que les nombres qui les précèdent représentent les doigts de la main gauche, qu’il faut poser sur le manche du Luth: l’on pose ordinairement le premier doigt sur le , c’est pourquoy il n'y mets point de chiffre, si ce n’est qu’il faille et se servir d’un autre doigt. Or après avoir posé les doigts de la main gauche, il faut remarquer le tremblement & son espèce, lorsqu'il en faut user. En troisiesme lieu il faut considérer de quels doigts de la main droite l’on doit toucher, & s’il y a des tenues représentées par de certaines lignes droites ou courbes , qui enseignent à tenir les doigts de la main gauche depuis le commencement des lettres , ou lesdites lignes commencent jusques à ce qu’ elles finissent : ce qui sert pour faire durer plus longtemps le son de la chorde, dont on verra des exemples a la fin de ce discours, divisé en plusieurs préceptes qui suivent.

1. Précepte. L’ <a> se touche tousiours a l'ouvert , ce que les autres, appellent à vide, ou à corde avalée; ce qui se fait de la seule main droite, san l’ayde de la gauche, si ce n’est lors qu’il faut faire quelque tremblement, ou que les lettres qui sont vis à vis l’une de l’autre se doivent toucher ensemble, comme il arrive aussi que celles qui sont les unes après les autres se touchent selon le rang qu’ elles tiennent.

2. Lors qu’il y a un point souz une lettre seule, il la faut toucher du premier doigt de la main droit, & s’il n’y en a point, il la faut toucher du second, ce qu’il faut seulement observer depuis la chanterelle jusques a la quatriesme, car les autres cordes doivent être touchées du pouce: ce que l’on void dans le premier exemple.

3. Le manche du Luth est ordinairement divisé en neuf touches, dont la première est appelée, c’est à dire que s’il y a un marque sur la chanterelle, ou sur la seconde dans la Tablature, qu’il y faut poser le premier doigt de la main gauche au dessus de la touche : s’il y a plusieurs bés, qui fassent un accord, qu’il faut coucher le premier doigt sur les cordes depuis la première lettre jusques à la dernière: quoy que l’on se serve quelques-fois du 2. doigt avec le 1, comme l’on void dans le second exemple. Mais il faut remarquer qu'après avoir posé les doigts de la main gauche, qu’il faut toucher autant de cordes de la main droite, qu’il y en a de masquées dans la Tablature. Or la Second touche représente le cé, la troisiesme le dé, & ainsi des autres, jusques a la neusy me touche marquée par la lettre <k>, outre laquelle on peut encore poser les doigts; ce qui ne se fait que rarement, d’autant que les chordes n'en parlent pas si nettement.

4. Le qui se rencontre sous une lettre toute seule, signifie qu;il le faut toucher du pouce, encore qu’elle n’en soit pas touchée ordinairement, comme enseigne le troisième exemple.

5.Le qui suit l’accord, & dont la iambe traverse les chordes , enseigne qu’il faut toucher du pouce toutes les chordes qui sont touchées par ladite iambe, comme l’on void au quatriesme exemple.

6. Quand l' amiable du a un point en haut, il faut toucher plusieurs cordes ensemble du pouce & du premier doigt, mais en touchant un accordéon , le pouce doit toucher une seule corde, & le premier doigt toutes les autres: comme enseigne le cinquiesme exemple.

7. Le pouce & le premier doigt servaient encore ensemble pour toucher, après lesquels il n’y a qu’un trait & un point au dessus: ce qui arrive lorsqu'on laisse quelque chose touché entre le premier doigt & le pouce. Par exemple, s’il faut toucher la 2, 3, 4, & 7 ensemble, il faut toucher la 7 du pouce, qu’il faut laisser appuyé sur la 6 , & avec le premier doigt il faut les relever depuis la 2 jusques a la 4, comme l’on void au 6 exemple.

8. Il n’y a point de signe pour signifier le toucher que l’on appelle ordinairement pincer: ce qui se fait quand on touche un accord avec trois ou quatre doigts, comme il arrive lors que l’on pince la 4, 3, & 2, dont la 4 se touche du pouce, & les 2 autres dès 2 doigts suivants consécutivement: & s’il y a 4 lettres a l’accord, on y emploie le 3 doigt, comme l’on void dans le 7. Exemple. Mais s’il faut pincer cinq lettres, qui n’ont aucun signe après, le pouce en touche 2, & les autres doigts 3; & 3; & s’il y a 6 lettres, le pouce en touche 3, comme ancien le 8. exemple.

9. Le trait qui suit l’accord, et qui a un point dessu du costé de la chanterelle, signifie qu’il faut toucher 2 ou 3 cordes du premier doigt tout seul en relevant : mais quand le point est dessous du costé de la 6, il faut rabattre les chordes du mesme doigt, comme l’on oid au 9. exemple.

10. Lors qu’il faut toucher deux cordes ensemble, éloignées ou prochaines, il faut tousiours, les toucher du pouce & du second doigt, si ce n’est qu’il y ait un trait après l’accord , qui signifie qu’il les faut relever du premier doigt, ou qu'il y ait un point à l'une des deux lettres, pour montrer qu;il les faut toucher du premier & du second doigt, comme l’on void au 10, exemple.

11. Quand il faut toucher trois cordes de trois doigts sans l'aide du pouce, il y a un point à la lettre qui est vers la sixiesme, le quel monstre qu;il faut toucher la lettre ou il est posé, du premier doigt, & les deux autres des doigts suivants, comme il se void dans l'ont ziesmer exemple.

12.Encore que j'aie dit dans le seconde Précepte, que les chordes qui sont au dessous de la 4, se doivent tousiours toucher du pouce, néanmoins s’il y a un point sous quelque chorde que ce soit, il la faut toucher du premier doigt, s’il y en a deux, du 2, & s’il y en la trois, du 3, comme l’on void dans le douzième exemple.

13. Les Tenues, dont j'ay parlé au commencement de ces Articles, & dont j'ai promis l’exemple a la fin, sont si nécessaires que sans elles l’harmonie est du tout imparfaite: outre que l’on a mauvaise grâce de lever si souvent les doigts quand il n’en est point de besoin; il les faut donc remarquer à pratiquer exactement, et quand mesme il n’y en auroit point de maqués , il ne faut pas laisser de tenir les doigts sur les cordes le plus longtemps que l’on pourra. Plusieurs les marquent seulement aux Basses, mais il est aussi nécessaire d’en user aux autres parties, spécialement ou l’on désirera qu' elles soient observées. Or il faut remarquer que ces tenues se sont sur toutes sortes d’instruments, & que tout ce que nous disons du Luth se peut, et se doit appliquer à la Mandore, au Titre, & c.

14. Les Barres qui traversent les six règles sont la division, et la séparation des mesure, & les notes ou les autres signes que l’on met ordinairement au dessus de la première règle qui représente la chanterelle, servent à mesme dessein, car les notes blanches a queuë monstrent qu’ il faut faire durer le son de la lettre le temps d’une demie mesure, la quelle dure pour l'ordinaire partie d’une heure ou’ d’une minute, c’est à dire durant la diastole du cœur: cette règle s'entend aisément par le quatorzième exemple, qui montre que quand il n’y a qu’une note pour sept ou huict lettres, qu’il les faut faire toutes de même valeur, c’est à dire qu’il les faut toucher aussi viste, ou aussi lentement les unes que les autres depuis cette note jusques a la rencontre d’une autre.

15. Lors qu’il y a une crochue sur une lettre suele, & qu’il suit un accord après, il faut disposer la main droite & la gauche a faire cet accord, avant que de toucher la lettre ou est la crochue; par exemple s'il faut toucher un a sur la 3 . qui a une crochue, puis un accord qui ait une noire dessus, il faut appuyer sur la 9 avant de toucher l’a de la 3 sur lequel est la crochue: ce qui sert pour aller plus vite.

16. Finalement, quand il faut faire un passage du pouce ,& du premier doigt, je mets un pé dessous la première lettre du passage, depuis la première crochue jusques a la rencontre d’une noire, se doivent toucher du pouce, & puis du premier doigt réciproquement; de sorte que le premier doigt touche incontinent après le pouce, & le pouce après le premier doigt, jusques a la fin du passage, comme l’on void dans le seizième ou dernier exemple. Voyons maintenant les différentes manières d’accorder le Luth, afin que l’on puisse jouer et mettre dessus toutes sortes de pièces de Musique.

Proposal X

EXPLAIN THE SIGNS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TABLATURE, AND SEVERAL SPECIAL REMARKS AND OBSERVATIONS.

Although many skillful men have cultivated this art with such grace and dexterity, in which some of them have succeeded so fortunately in our France, there is none the less Adrian le Roy who gave in writing some precepts of his instruction, they may have acquired more glory in holding this hidden art, than in divulging it: of their intention, if first they have not been heard, or learned from them themselves. Now, since this art has never been taught in particular, let the generals be bound to hold it for as long as it is possible for me, and let them be visited by the most heard in this profession.

And for this knowledge it is necessary to first consider the letters of the Tablature, & the place where they are placed. Secondly, let the numbers preceding them represent the fingers of the left hand, which must be placed on the handle of the lute: one usually places the first finger on the string, that's why there is no number, except that another finger must be used. But after having put the fingers of the left hand on the , you have to note the tremor its kind, when you have to use it. In the third place it was necessary to consider with which fingers of the right hand one should touch, if there are holds represented by certain straight or curved lines, which teach how to hold the fingers of the left hand from the beginning of the letters, where the said lines begin until they end: this serves to make the sound of the course last longer, examples of which will be seen at the end of this speech, divided into several precepts which follow.

1. Precept. The "a" is always touched with the green or green, what the others call "a guide", or "guide finger"; which is done with the right hand alone, without the left hand, except when it is necessary to make some trembling, or when the letters which are opposite each other are likely to touch each other, as it also happens that those which are one after the other touch each other according to the rank they hold.

2. If there is a dot under a single letter, it must be touched with the first finger of the right hand, if there is none, it must be touched with the second, which is only to be observed from the chanterelle moves to the fourth, because the other chords must be touched with the thumb: what we see in the first example.

3. The neck of the lute is usually divided into two keys, the first of which is called the first key, i.e. if there is a mark on the chanterelle, or on the second key in the Tablature, the first finger of the left hand must be placed above the key: if there are several beats, which make a chord, that the first finger must be placed on the strings from the first letter to the last: so that we can use the 2 a few times. finger with the 1, as we see in the second example. But it should be noted that after placing the fingers of the left hand on the strings, you have to touch as many strings with the right hand as there are mapped in the Tablature. Now the Second stroke represents the middle, the third the dice, and so on, as well as the others, except for the ninth stroke marked by the letter, in addition to which one can still place the fingers; which is only rarely done, especially since the strings do not speak about it so clearly.

4. The dot which is found under a letter alone, means that it is necessary to touch it with the thumb, even though it is not touched in a normal way, as the third example teaches us.

The dot that follows the chord, & whose leg crosses the strings, means that one must touch with the thumb all the strings that are touched by the leg, as shown in the fourth example.

6. When the preamble of the dot; has a point at the top, it is necessary to touch several chords together with the thumb ; first finger, but when touching a chord in this way, the thumb must touch only one chord, the first finger all the others: as shown in the fifth example.

7. The thumb and the first finger are still used together to touch, after which there is only one line and one dot above: what happens when you let some chord be touched between the first finger and the thumb. For example, if you have to touch the 2, 3, 4, & 7 together, you have to touch the 7 with your thumb, which you have to leave pressed on the 6, with the first finger you have to lift them from the 2 to the 4, as you can see in the 6 example.

8. There is no sign to signify the touch that is usually called pinching: this is done when you touch a course with three or four fingers, as it happens when you pinch the 4, 3, & 2, of which the 4 is touched with the thumb, & the other 2 of the 2 following fingers consecutively: & if there are 4 letters in the course, you use the 3 finger, as you can see in the 7. Example. But if there are 5 letters, which have no sign, the thumb in key 2, & the other fingers 3; 3 if there are 6 letters, the thumb in key 3, as in 8. example.

9. The line that follows the chord, which has a dot on the side of the chanterelle, means that you have to touch 2 or 3 strings of the first finger alone while lifting: but when the dot is off the side of the 6, you have to fold the strings of the same finger, as in the 9. example.

10. When you have to touch two strings together, distant or next, you have to touch them with your thumb second finger, except that there is a line after the course, which means that you have to lift them with the first finger, or that there is a dot in one of the two letters, to show that you have to touch them with the first and second finger, as shown in 10, example.

11. When you have to touch three strings of three fingers without the thumb, there is a point at the letter that is around the sixth, which is the monster that you have to touch the letter where it is placed, with the first finger, the other two of the following fingers, as it is seen in the example above.

12 Although it is said in the second precept that the courses which are below 4 must always be touched with the thumb, not withstanding that if there is a point under any course, it must be touched with the first finger, if there are two of them, from 2, if there are three, from 3, as is shown in the twelfth example.

13. The Tenets, of which I have spoken at the beginning of these Articles, of which I have promised the example at the end, are so necessary that without them harmony is imperfect: besides the bad grace of lifting the fingers so often when it is not necessary; it is therefore necessary to notice practice them exactly, when there are none at all, one must not allow one to hold the fingers on the strings for as long as one can. Many mark them only on the Basses, but it is also necessary to use them on the other parts, especially where you want them to be observed. Now it should be noted that these holds have been used on all kinds of instruments, that everything we say about the Lute can, must be applied to the Mandore, the Title, c.

14. The Bars which cross the six rules are the division, the separation of bars, the notes or other signs which are usually placed above the first rule representing the chanterelle, serve my purpose, for the white notes in the tails show that the sound of the letter must be made to last for half a bar, which lasts for the ordinary part of an hour or a minute, that is to say during the diastole of the heart: this rule will be understood asymmetrically by the fourteenth example, which shows that when there is only one note for seven or eight letters, that all of them must be evaluated, that is to say that they must be touched as viste, or as slowly as each other from this note to the meeting of another.

15. When there is a bracket on a single letter, that it follows a course afterwards, you have to put your right finger to make this course, before touching the letter where the brackets are; for example 'you have to touch an a on the 3 . which has a bracket, & then a chord that has a quarter note on it, you have to press your thumb on the 9 before touching the a of the 3 on which the brackets are: this is used to go more viste.

16. Finally, when you have to make a thumb passage , with the first finger, put a pen under the first letter of the passage, from the first hooked letter to the meeting of a quarter note, you have to touch with your thumb, then with the first finger reciprocally; so that the first finger touches incontinent after the thumb, the thumb after the first finger, at the end of the passage, as we see in the sixteenth or last example. Now let's see the different ways of tuning the Lute, so that one can play put on it all kinds of Music.

It is important to still take note that there was a clear division between the lute pincer style and the guitar strumming style which Mersenne takes into account. Even with theinclusion of more complicated rhythms, Mersenne still believes like Briceño and Moulinié that the guitar’s primary emphasis is to achieve root position, harmonic motion and rhythmic clarity within the music.The lute/theorbo continuo examples and parts feature use of separé ( arpeggiating) and use of the pincer style to achieve suspensions and melodic passage work.

Pierre Trichet on the Denigration of Lute Culture

Pierre Trichet and his manuscript Traite des instruments de musique (1640) is a source worth mentioning because his passages reflect the cultural attitudes of French concerning the baroque guitar. The source spans about four pages and consists of Trichet’s philosophical musings on teaching the superior French lute style over the guitar. Trichet affirms that the assumption that the guitar and the batterie strumming style is indeed from Spain and offers additional lamentations on the instrument’s contribution to the denigration of French lute culture.

“For who is not aware that the lute is what is proper and suitable for the French, and the most delightful of all musical instruments? Still there are some of our nation who leave everything behind in order to take up and study the guitar. Isn’t it this because it is much easier to perfect oneself in this than in lute-playing, which requires long and arduous study before one can acquire the necessary skill and disposition? Or is it because it has a certain something which is feminine and pleasing to women, flattering their hearts and making them inclined to voluptuousness?”^[43]

From these remarks and the timeline, Trichet is echoing the current French sentiments and critiques about the guitar and its continuing denigration of French music. The remarks are interesting and a tad ironic because of how close the publication date is to the timeline when Corbetta first travels to France between 1644-1648 and the glowing accounts by the French aristocracy that followed after.

5.4. Francesco Corbetta (1615-1681)

In order to discuss the breadth of the baroque guitar development in France, Francesco Corbetta has to a main subject of discussion when it comes to his contributions for the proliferation of the baroque guitar into the French solo music scene, development of technique, as well as changing the Parisian aristoricacy’s attitudes toward the instrument. In the span of a generation, Corbetta and his peers brought the guitar’s artistry and musical possibilities to a high level that French royalty such as King Louis XIV “The Sun King” himself began taking lessons with the maestro.

5.4.1. Brief overview & Life before France and first publication (1615-1639)

First, a short overview of his life before his travels to France is needed to understand his musical influences and the impact of his playing on the French audiences and musicians. Francesco Corbetta is described by his biographical work: The Role of Francesco Corbetta (1615-181) in the History of Music for the Baroque Guitar by Robert Pinnell (1976), Corbetta scholar Pinnell as “always being at the right place at the right time”^[2:3] in the development of the baroque guitar. Pinel begins this account by describing that by being born near the cosmopolitan Milan, Italy the young Corbetta would have witness and absorbed the Italian styles of guitar maestros: Montresardo, Colonna, and Sanseverino.heir music and notation systems would serve as an important framework that would guide Corbetta’s compositions throughout his life. In fact, Pinnell credits Corbetta as being a “prodigal son” figure to these three composers, in Corbetta’s first publication De gli scherzi armonici trovati, e facilitati in alcune curioussime suonate sopra la chitarra spagnola (1639), Corbetta culminates the teachings of these three composers in regards to tablature notation and develops a new system of tablature with all of their aspects.

While this work is revolutionary for numerous reasons Pinnell would continue to describe, for the purposes of this study, the focus will be on the preface and the changes in compositional focus. Following the footsteps of his role model Foscarini, Corbetta placed a particular emphasis on the use of a melodic top line that was accompanied by the strummed alfabeto accompaniment. In the tablature system, this would be a smaller tablature letter in proportion on top of the larger alfabeto letter which signifies the top melodic line. In his Preface, Corbetta writes: “…numbers written under the stroke-signs are understood to be on the top course/ Wherever necessary, finding C or an M or other chord-letter with numbers below, as it is said , hold firm the letter and sound the melody until one arrives at the next chord letter.”^[44]

(Corbetta’s Preface La Guitarre Royalle (1671))

The stroke signs that Corbetta refers to is the rhythmic mensural notation on top of tablature lines to indicate rhythmic duration. The second passage is quite interesting to disseminate. The passage translates to keep the chord sustained while the melodic line moves until the next chord change.

Another point on the importance of this source is that Corbetta is one of the few baroque guitarists that puts in strumming technique instructions for repicco ^[45], offering some instruction on execution and performance practice. Although his predecessor Millioni in 1627 includes a more complete instruction of the repicco and trillo technique, Corbetta’s publication and execution of the technique would have been more in circulation later in France and thus one of France’s few connections to the strumming style in the hands of a virtuoso.

The final note of importance of Corbetta’s first publication is that according to Pinnell, Corbetta represents the end of the first phase of baroque guitar music composition which was characterized by the use of chordal harmony and rhythmic improvisation. In the second stage,the baroque guitar language becomes more melodically diverse with gradual shift to a “mixed” style of play.

5.4.2. Corbetta’s second book and the beginnings of the 2nd phase of the Baroque guitar 1639-1643

The second phase of the baroque guitar marked a noticeable change with the publication of Corbetta’s first book in terms of compositional approach as guitar composers began exploring the solo-istic possibilities of the instrument. Before we begin, it is important to take into account that kind of tolerance that Italians had with the mixing of instrumental styles in contrast to France’s policies. It was not uncommon for Italian plucked string players to play and study both the lute and guitar. This contrasts with the French critiques that discouraged learning the lowly guitar in any degree as it took away from practicing and studying the far superior lute.

In Italy, musicians such as Foscarini and Bartolotti could become well renowned at both instruments. Despite some criticisms and in general, Italy had a much more welcoming attitude toward the cross-pollination between the two instruments and styles. This more-liberal atmosphere is what allowed the development of the baroque guitar and its possibilities to flourish.

Shortly after Corbetta’s publication, a wave of guitar composers interested in his ideas and playing began earnestly working on using a mixed style approach to the guitar. This new mixed style of playing the guitar involves using the old strumming style for harmony and rhythmic accompaniment while writing one to two voice counterpoint to be plucked. This new “mixed” style of play was quite revolutionary for its time because it allowed baroque guitarists to engage more with the music and offered a chance for these musicians to step into the spotlight. Among these guitarists are two of Cobettta’s mentors: Foscarini and Bartolotti.

According to Pinnell, their publications and teachings guide much of his musical teachings and their influences can be seen in his works. Both these men were also both fine lutenists in tandem to the guitar and thus were able to easily integrate within the new style with their new publications. In 1643, Corbetta would incorporate these two men’s teachings and ideas into his second publication: Varii capricci per la chitarra spagnola (1643)^[46]. To name a few amongst the many lessons Corbetta learned, from Bartolotti: using melodic ornaments such as the vibrato, trill , slur, campanellas, concertato effect, playing in 24 keys, chord inversions stemming from the lute tradition of play. From Foscarini, Corbetta learned how to properly make use of ornamentation to draw attention to voice leading and counterpoint.

I will return to the discussion of the political atmosphere and its influence on music in France around the period of 1648-1660. This period is marked by a complete stagnation in the publication of any sort for the French baroque guitar This is assumed be due to the internal civil strife within France between the ruling class and the common folk.^[2:4] Prior, Corbetta’s benefactor Cardinal Mazarin continues to abuse his “partnership” with the Queen regent, ordering more and more luxurious exports and musicians to suit his expensive tastes. This does not bode well for the French common folk and even the aristocracy whom were already angry to begin with the Cardinal for his gambling^[47] and abuse of power. To make matters worse, France was just recovering from the Thirty Years War against Spain and the Habsburg Monarchy.

Pinnell cites that it was not uncommon for the both ruling and lower-class citizens to place the Cardinal as the “scapegoat” to all the financial problems and natural calamities. Mass propaganda publications such as the infamous Mazarinades pamphlets regularly slandered Mazarin and fed to the mass tension and hysteria felt by the French public. The resulting tensions would eventually lead France to civil war in 1649 and the Cardinal temporary exile to Cologne. Mazarin would return from exile before 1654 and rule as “caretaker” for King Louis XIV until his subsequent death in 1660.

In the 1660s, France saw a notable change in political and musical atmosphere. The country had recovered financially and the young King Louis XIV was finally ready to take the throne. This shift in power was felt in the music culture, with resurgence of French nationalism and a reappropriation of Spanish instruments such as the baroque guitar to suit the French musical tastes.^[48]

5.5. The first French baroque guitar solo publications

The Baroque guitar in France also saw a considerable change in terms of status with the French aristocracy. Since King Louis XIV enjoyed and played the instrument under the tutelage of Corbetta, other members of the ruling class, especially wealthy French women sought out teachers to learn the instrument. It is of the opinion of Pinnell and Hall that it was due to the efforts of Corbetta’s virtuoso capabilities and his mentorship of the Dauphin that changed the minds of the French. The baroque guitar was no longer an instrument of the common folk, but an instrument fit for a king- in the same stratosphere as the lute. The resulting events that follow see the first baroque guitar publications and the same infusion of the batterie and pincer styles as seen in earlier in Italy, but specified according to “authentic” French taste.

According to musicologist Gérard Rebours’s article published in the Michaelsteiner Konferenz Berichte titled: The Baroque guitar in France and its two main figures: Robert De Visée and François Campion (2013), Rebours affirms that the first publications for solo repertoire in France begins around 1660 with the first publication in 1663 with François Martin’s publication Pièces de Guitare å battre et å pincer (Guitar pieces for strumming and plucking). This publication consists of two main sections, notable for its demonstration of the old batterie strumming style and the new plucked styles in its pure forms. This is interesting because a different approach from the Italian approach that gradually phased the strums to an intermittent effect as seen in the first publication of Corbetta.

An example of this can be found in Martin’s treatment of the similar Sarabandes in melodic material. In page six of his publication Martin composes a Sarabande in a minor in the old batterie style. Later in page 17, Martin composes in a pure pincer style of the Sarabande now in the key of d minor. The first Sarabande is indeed in the batterie-dominant style, however it does contain elements of a melodic tone line but it is less refined and has several voice-leading violations attributed to the placement of the chord positions. This Sarabande is still interesting because it is reminiscent of the Corbetta’s first attempts with the mixed playing style. The second Sarabande on the other hand, is completely in the plucked lute style, “without the slightest hint of batterie” ^[49] The voice leading errors prevalent in the batterie version are gone and the composer adds trill ornaments to the bass and top line to accentuate the lines. The result is a smoother and refined melodic two voice texture in the French style.

By the 1670s Corbetta had made quite a name for himself amongst Western European courts and would return to Paris to publish his last publications respectively, La Guitarre Royalle Volume I (1671) dedicated to the king of England and II (1674) dedicated to King LouIs XIV. It is a point of contention in Pinel and Rebours discussions on whether Corbetta should be included in the research of the baroque guitar in France. They both cite that his attempts in the French style, particularly in the dance music still have strong Italian elements such as the use of repicco strumming techniques. Coupled with the knowledge that Corbetta learned the elements of lute secondhand from the lutenist Foscarini, they describe his process in mixed playing “very awkward”. Rebours subsequently leaves all of Corbetta’s publications entirely in his article.

To this, I would argue that Corbetta’s influences with the popularization and acceptance of the instrument within the French aristocracy make him worthy of research into this subject. Even though his first two publications are indeed Italian, he represents the direct connection between the two nations that brings Italian baroque music to France in a long while. Judging from the time period of his second publication and his first travels to the country, French court guitarists such as Henri Grenerin and François Martin would have most likely heard the Italian mixed style and compositions and would have been inspired to try his techniques for themselves.

That being said, it is true that Corbetta’s music in this publication still has Italian influences and passages where his weakness due to learning the plucked style secondhand becomes apparent. The introduction of this publication is relatively sparse in instruction in comparison to his previous publications. After a lengthy dedication to the king of Britain, Corbetta includes a short one page description of each guitar technique i.e batterie (strumming) , pincer (plucking) , vibrato, etc., an alfabeto chart titled Alphabeth François & Italian, and two tables for cadential formula improvisation in a mixed and pure batterie style. The inclusion of an alfabeto chart is notably odd in placement, the entire book utilizes French tablature for chords without a single hint of Alfabeto. Corbetta puts Alfabeto system complete with its own Italian tablature against its French counterpart to show the similarities between the two. The inclusion of the cadential tables in French tablature is very interesting from a strumming perspective as it allows the student to see how the melodic line fits within the chord and how the accompaniment enhances the melodic improvisation above.

(Corbetta’s Preface Guitarre de Royale (1671))

A final point about the tables is the inclusion of the Italian strumming ornament: the repicco in its list for ornamenting a cadence. This technique is later demonstrated in the arguably Corbetta’s most famous piece in the baroque guitar repertory titled Caprice de Chaconne on page 72^[50] and its second section autre Chaconne on page 75. As seen in the tablature, the section is characterized by a chord followed by larger down and up rhythmic notation. In both sections, Corbetta utilizes the technique to ornament a tonic- dominant relationship between a C major and G major harmony.

(*Caprice de Chaconne, repicco section (p.72))

An interesting point for a student to consider is to consider the inversions of the chords in order to create the melodic C-B-E-F-B-C bassline pattern that Corbetta intended. Basically, this means that the player must take care not to strike unnecessary strings and concentrate their movements to conserve energy for speed.

In addition to the contentious use of repicco in a French publication, critics also affirm that a fault of Corbetta’s writing is his insistence on using heavy chordal passages in which voice-leading in chordal changes arise. The rhythmic and “clumsy” full chordal voicings is commented by Thomas Christiensen:

“Although Corbetta notates his accompaniments in precise tablature, the resulting realization is still heavily chordal, showing the same disregard for the bassline that is seen in Kapsberger accompaniment and displaying many of the same issues of parallel perfect consonances and doubled or unresolved dissonances. The chordal texture and clumsy voicings of Corbetta’s accompaniment are all the more striking when compared to the sophisticated contrapuntal solo pieces tabulated in the rest of the collection from which the example is drawn.” ^[51]

In this critique, Christensen comments on the harmony errors seen in Corbetta’s last four pieces of the publication which are accompaniments to French songs. While these concerns are valid, Miles affirms in her dissertation that the reasons behind these issues is not a new concept across baroque guitar sources and was just the most practical solution for players as a rhythmic and harmony delivery system in song and dance accompaniment. This is because baroque guitar lacks a strong bass and , range^[52] and a rapid decay in sound after attack, rhythmic division is used to sustain the harmony. This is supported in the later treatise of Robert De Visée who was aware of the the issues and the practical solutions by guitarists has this to comment on the topic:

“I beg those who understand the art of composition well and are unfamiliar with the guitar not to be scandalized if they find that I sometimes break the rules, The instrument calls for it and it is necessary above all to satisfy the ear.”^[53]

The common thread that connects both Miles and De Visée’s defence of the instrument’s pitfalls is that the instrument was born out of a necessity for a facilitation of harmony and should not be judged within the same standard of keyboard and the chitarrone instruments. At least, not without first acknowledging the practical considerations that past players used to combat these issues.

5.6. The Transition Figures

The next publications in discussion is Rémy Médard and Henri Grenerins respective publications Piéces de Guitarre (1676) and Livre de Guitare et autres pièces de musique (1680) are important sources to consider for their transitory role in influencing the music and tablature considerations for the final phase of the Baroque guitar school in France: Robert De Visée and François Campion. It is important to note that while there is one other noteworthy guitar composer in France Antoine Carré De LaGrange, I am hesitant to put him in to research for his lack of contribution in the development of the baroque guitar. Rebours comments on Carrré saying that his pieces are Italian influenced similar to Corbetta but less refined in comparison.

Médard and Grenerin on the other hand are described by Rebours and Pinnell as written as being the closest to an “authentic” French style, prior to the third phase of the baroque guitar. Specifically, their music had characteristics of " pure contemporary French music" at this time which is characterized by “simple and clear-cut, straightforward melody, harmony and the rhythm.”^[54] Musicologists such as Betty Bang Mather in her publication French Dance Rhythms describe the clear divisions between the French and Italian music in regard to form and function.^[55] She affirms that true French music is governed principally by the direction of the bass while Italian music, the top soprano line is the primary focus. Mather explains that due to this focus, the top melodic line is often a very simple melody in comparison to Italian music to accompany the bass-line which is far more active.^[56]

According to Rebours^[14:1], Médard is the more important figure to discuss in this section because he personally studied with Corbetta and smoothed over the Italian connections discussed by Christensen for an overall thinner chordal texture with two-three voices. Grenerin’s 1680 publication is an important source in the French baroque guitar’s history, however, Grenerin was noted as being more proficient on the theorbo in performance and writing. His guitar music is very humble in comparison, much of it being derived from Corbetta’s work^[2:5]. In the example above, a comparison on similar Courantes in d minor by Martin, Médard and DeVisée is given to demonstrate the line of growth of the “authentic” French mixed style In the comparison between Martin’s pincer models and Médard’s compositional style. Médard adds to the tradition by re-integrating the use of batterie style learned from his mentor. Despite studying with Corbetta, he was evidently not a fan of the Italian use of strumming, writing this warning in his Preface on the subject:

"j’avertis ceux qui ayment le bruit qu’ils ne trouveront pas icy leur compte. “I do warn those who enjoy “noise” in that they will not find any satisfaction here.”^[57]

The batterie style is notably more refined in part writing with Médard’s more careful attention to voice-leading when connecting the chords to single lines. The change in writing as result also eliminates the unnecessary accents caused by the changing between batterie and plucking styles. Martin’s Courante is lute-like in writing with 1-2 voice textures. Due to the re-entrant tuning and rapid decay in sound of the baroque guitar, this style is not ideal for the instrument for its lack of lower bass support. The lute in contrast, has a larger bass range overall that provides more lower dynamic support and overtones to sustain the upper sounding partials. Therefore, Médard’s integration of batterié strums on the half beats is a welcome and practical solution that provides the needed dynamic variation. Médard’s models serve as an important model in French baroque guitar history and in turn sets the final stage for the baroque guitar school in France (1681-1705)

5.7. Final Baroque Guitar School in France

As we progress in to the final phase of the baroque guitar in France from 1681-1705, we will begin to see the influences of French lute composers interested in the baroque guitar first seen in Mersenne in 1636 come front and center arguably the greatest development for the French batterie style in terms of musical role and articulation. The final phase of the baroque guitar is characterized by the two last great figureheads of the baroque guitar: Robert De Visée and François Campion. Robert De Visée (1655-1732) was a chamber musician for King Louis XIV and later became the private “Guitar Master of the King” Maître de Guitare du Roi to the next King Louis XV, the great grandson of Louis XIV. De Visée’s compositional contributions featuring the five course baroque guitar are two volumes titled Livre de Guitarre I (1682) and II (1686) featuring over twelve suites in various keys and even a rather gorgeous, but haunting tombeau for his alleged ^[58] late master Francesco Corbetta.

( De Visée table of ornaments in his first baroque guitar publication Livre de Guitarre I (1682))

In terms of descriptions and instruction of technique, De Visée gives the student the exact same table of ornaments for both volumes as seen below. The table of ornaments does not really cover any points of relevance concerning RH batterie technique as all the ornaments specifically deal with ornaments in the pincer style. One point that has a slight connection to the topic would be the notation of the dots directly below the tablature which specifically indicates the finger recommended to play that note. Naturally, more of this will be discussed in the Tablature and Techniques section of this research, but keep this in mind as these RH dots become important and relevant shortly.

François Campion (1685-1747) was born in Rouen and was the director of music for the Académie Royale de Musique. While he held this position until 1719, Campion made his living teaching guitar/theorbo in Paris and composing for the five course baroque guitar. According to Rebours, between the two figureheads, Campion is widely regarded as more adventurous in harmony and technique than his counterpart De Visée. Rebours attributes this to the fact that Campion was far younger than De Visée and more in tune with the younger, more liberal French audiences. One such example of his rather daring exploits on the baroque guitar is his inclusion of up to eight different tunings to use on the instrument. This greatly contrasted De Visée and the vast majority of his predecessors all who still used Corbetta’s tuning systems.

Another notable difference between the two is that Campion was more willing to engage with extended RH batterie techniques developed by French lutenists like Denis Gaultier who adopted in the 1670s and integrated the batterie techniques of the baroque guitar in the French lute technique. According to Pinnell, the original intent of the Spanish-Italian strumming style was to facilitate a constant rhythmic pulse and harmonic accompagnent for the soloist(s). From approximately 1660 onward, the lute and guitar technique divisions began to blur as composers from both sides integrated aspects of the contrasting instrument. One of these techniques that the French lutenists adopted was the batterie style. Over time lutenists like Gaultier and Charles Mouton would develop specific aspects of the batterie technique and create a new innovative technique that changed the purpose of the batterie technique from a rhythmic to an articulative purpose. This technique is known as the French slip-stroke or tirer. Subsequently, this technique is seen all across the French baroque lute anthology and the possibilities for application were continuously developing and even spread after the “Golden Age” of the French Baroque Lute into the technique of the German thirteen course lute. In his publication Campion presents only one such possibility for this technique seen on page 41 of his baroque guitar manuscript Nouvelles découvertes(1705) titled Allemande La Furieuse.

The tirer technique is notated on the third beat of the measure showing the cadential trill going to the resolution of the A section as indicated by the highlighted red square around the measures of interest. It is important now to remember the importance of the dots mentioned earlier in the De Visée. In Campion’s Allemande la Furieuse indicates the technique by a slash along the tablature letters needed to be struck. This slash along the letters indicates to the player that the notes need to be struck consecutively by the second finger. Traditionally in French baroque lute sources, lutenists like Gaultier and Mouton would indicate this stroke with a dot under each of the sixteenth notes which tells the player the same information. Although the end interpretation is more or less the same, the notation is still quite interesting as the slash under the tablature letter is a more German way of notating the symbol.^[59] Regardless, the use of this technique on the baroque guitar is still an extraordinary find and more of this technique will be discussed later in the Technique section of this research.

6. Technique

6.1 What is strumming ?

The tradition of the batterie strumming style has origins in Spain beginning with the 15th century with the use of 4 course Renaissance guitars. These instruments were subsequently brought to France through Italian musicians such as Giovanni Paladino and later Alberto DeRippo that were seeking to make their success in the new country. Most likely due to the high censorship and ties to nationalism, the two musicians would change their names to Jean Paul Paladin and Alberte DeRippe. Each musician excelled within their audience targets, Paladin focused more on folk dances and popular ballads of the era, while DeRippe focused his compositions on dense and serious Ricecares and Fantasias.

Their success prompted other musicians of French descent such as Adrian Le Roy to take up the instrument and spread the popularity of this instrument all over France. If one was to compare DeRippe over the Paladin and Le Roy over cultural appreciation, the latter would win out. DeRippe’s compositions were notable for its dense counterpoint and single subject Ricecares in the plucked style closely representing the first fugue forms.^[60]. They were in a word, dense. The highly rhythmical and “easy to learn”^[61] strumming style appealed more to the masses and this is what is regarded by historians as the defining trait of the instrument. As a result, much of the sources related to strumming in France for the baroque guitar prior to Briceño’s 1626 and Mersenne’s (1636) publication can be extrapolated through the music and the Prefaces’ instructions.

As the batterie tradition developed in France , strumming could be performed in a variety of ways. Upward strokes were generally executed by the index finger alone, although the use of several fingers in succession was possible on longer chords. Later this technique called tirer would be adopted by French baroque lutenists and used in their repertoire. Downward strokes were performed mainly with the backs of the nails of all or some of the fingers. A strum could be executed with all of the fingers striking the strings almost simultaneously, or in a spread or arpeggiated manner, depending upon artistic choice. The thumb was sometimes included in the strum; some composers even notated the special effect of a downstroke for the thumb alone, which produced a different tone-colour from the main type of downstroke.^[62]

6.2. RH symbols and designations

From these sources, an understanding of strumming can be understood from the references that early French guitarists were using going into the Baroque era. From these sources, the composers agree that the strum is a technique of binary parts: the down and up strum. Although French and Italian tablatures have different notation systems, both use the basic down strum is indicated by the use of larger down-stem rhythmic mensural notation.The up-strum is notated by a similar larger up-stem. This signifies to the student that this is executed with a downward motion of the hand using either the index (i) or thumb depending on RH specifications. These specifications are indicated by the use of # of dots which refer to which finger on the right hand to use. In the process, ALL strings are struck in a strong downward force.

One note to point out is that with the indication for all the courses to be struck with equal force is that the use of inversions and voice-leading was not a primary focus at least during this stage of compositional development. The principal point was to generate rhythm and core harmony This is supported by the chordal alfabeto system that freely uses inversions and root position chords in the chord shapes that best fit the LH.

Inversely, the upstrum is indicated by an upstem in the notation. These instructions indicate that this stroke can be executed with the middle (m) and ring (a) finger together striking at most two to three courses at a time. Instead of a strong “blow” as critics claim, baroque guitar sources describe the motion as a light flick or brush of the courses. When these strokes are played together, the result is a strong and weak beat pattern; perfect for simple chordal accompaniment to popular dances and ballads. It is important to note that as time goes on, guitar composer’s instructions regarding the strum would become more scarce. The batterie focused style would become outdated by the advent of the Baroque guitar, composers assume that the motions are common knowledge by now. By the time of Corbetta’s publications, the baroque guitar publications would be geared toward serious students of the instruments and have omitted these instructions entirely.

6.3. Repicco Strumming Ornament

The repicco is specially a strumming ornament found most commonly in the early phases of the baroque guitar in Italy. According to Grove Music , the repicco ornament is a complex class of the Italian trillo that was subsequently developed by Italian guitarists to imitate the vocal Italian trillo.

“This unique type of trillo was applied to the guitar in batterie style: the performer makes a rapid series of up- and down-strokes, touching all the strings. According to Foscarini (c1630) it was done with a downward stroke with the thumb and then an up-stroke (with the thumb) and similarly with the middle finger. A similar rasgueado ornament is the repicco, which is more complex than the trillo and uses a variety of finger patterns. Like the trillo it generally covers all the strings, and often doubles, triples or even quadruples the number of written strokes.”^[63]

A final point about these tables is the inclusion of the Italian strumming ornament: the repicco in its list for ornamenting a cadence. This technique is later demonstrated in the arguably Corbetta’s most famous piece in the baroque guitar repertory titled Caprice de Chaconne on page 72 and its second section autre Chaconne on page 75. As seen in the tablature, the section is characterized by a chord followed by larger down and up rhythmic notation. In both sections, Corbetta utilizes the technique to ornament a tonic- dominant relationship between a C major and G major harmony. An interesting point for a student to consider is to consider the inversions of the chords in order to create the melodic C-B-E-F-B-C bassline pattern that Corbetta intended. Basically, this means that the player must take care not to strike unnecessary strings and concentrate their movements to conserve energy for speed.

(Caprice de Chaconne repicco section)

6.4. Marin Mersenne in relation to Zapico’s instruction

Although the French guitarists adopted the same physical motions as their Italian and Spanish counterparts in the batterie’s binary pattern, the French sources indicate the use of different fingers for the technique. See in this example from Moulinié’s third volume for Air de Cour for Guitar (1629) the upstrum is indicated with the RH index dot on the weak beat.

(Mersenne’s table of how to arpeggiate chords with the RH Harmonié Universelle (1636))

This is also supported in Mersenne’s publication as well for the use of upbeats faut toucher das 1 doigt la 3, & les autres lettres des doigts suivants. ^[64] In Mersenne’s Harmonié Universelle (1636), Mersenne includes in his strumming examples instructions to use for the thumb for strong full voice beats. Faut toucher le pouce tout seul (The thumb must strike all the strings). This designation is give by a capital P in the tablature next to the bottom bass tablature letter which designates to the player the use of the thumb to play the course. Mersenne also includes the use of thumb in cases where the P thumb designation is omitted Exemple 8, Faut toucher du pouce la 6 & la 5 & les trois autres des doiges suivans (you have to touch strings 6 & 5 & the other three strings with your thumb)^[65] This indicates to the player that Mersenne advocates the use of the thumb as opposed to the index/middle that Zapico and Italian/Spanish guitar sources prescribe. The favored thumb for the for down stroke strums amongst French lute composers leaves the index finger free for development in ornamental articulation. I can assume that this preference in RH specification holds a direct line that contributes to the development of the French batterié style.

Remember that the up until 1640s,^[66] the general batterie pattern consisting the strong beats always on the down strum and the weak beats are reserved for the upstrum is still a Italian-Spanish product in France. French lute composers were hesitant to put aspects much less develop the style in their publications for fear of angry the French aristocracy. Mersenne is one of the few composers of specific French heritage that perhaps saw the future potential for these incorporations of the tradition for the articulation French ornaments. As mentioned previously Mersenne includes descriptions of strumming and a table outline the various possibilities for RH articulation. This table was particularly striking for research because it foreshadows examples of RH articulation exhibited by the French Baroque lutenists Gauliter, Gallot and Mouton nearly 30 years later.

This new perspective and interest RH articulation exhibited by lutenists prompted composers to study the batterie to learn new techniques to add to the French lute repertoire. The most important aspect that these lutenists adopted and reappropriated from the batterié tradition is the up strum tirer or more accurately “to pull” by the French definition. This term stems from the gamba tradition, referring to the upstroke motion of the gamba bow. Interesting, this definition conversely applies to the articulation that the French lutenists were seeking.

In Mersenne’s publication, the up-strum is described as a light “folding back of the finger” touching two to three courses Faut rabattre du 1 doigt ^[67] In his lectures about Rasgueado^[68], Zapico explains this concept in modern concepts of digital flexion of the finger. He explains that since the technique is very refined, a more localized concentration toward the finger and independence of movement requiring no movement from the forearm and the lower arm is necessary to execute the motion successfully. In the up-stroke the index finger prognates in an upward rotation toward the ceiling and returns back into starting position similar to the motions of a pendulum arc.

Zapico stresses the importance of this arc motion instead of an equal dragging motion is needed to perform the technique because of the arc’s “central point of impact”. This point of impact is when the index finger in motion reaches a peak in which velocity equals zero as the finger comes into contact with the string in a “flicking/brushing” motion. The conserved potential energy that is generated in the swing transfers to kinetic energy resulting in the attack and tone of the string. Once the finger hits this peak, the finger follows the arc back to starting position. Zapico affirms this motion is generally very swift and requires very little effort in the hand.^[69]

Although this description is intended specifically for the Italian-Spanish strumming technique, it does accurately explain the physical motions of the up-stroke and correlates with Briceño’s descriptions. In De Visée’s and Campion publications, we see extended uses of this technique used in ornamentation.

6.4.1 RH Tone Production and Arpeggiation

Earlier in the History section, the major Article chapters of Marin Mersenne’s 1636 publication were explored and investigated. Naturally in this section, a continuation of this Article will be explored through the context of the RH technique on the five course baroque guitar. In the case of Mersenne the topics that are the most related to the right hand: RH tone production and batterie arpeggiation. On this first subject of RH tone production, let us turn the attention to this Mersenne’s passage:

"Or j’ai remarqué qu’on doit autant voir le dessus de la main du côté du petit doigt, que celui de devers le pouce, lorsqu’elle est située comme nous venons de le dire, parce que les doigts doivent être aussi proches des cordés les uns que les autres.

C’est pourquoy ie viens å l’usage des doigts, & premièrement å celui du pouce, dont il ne faut pas sleschir la jointure proche de son extrémité, parce qu;il faut qu’il soit tout estendu comme s’il estoit san pointure , a raison qui l’on ne pourrait pas aisément touche la dixième chorde en mesme temps qu’on a touché la quatrième, å cause de la grande distance que se troutot du pouce jusques å la dixième, si on la voit slouchy en touchant la quatrième. Le premier doigt voisin du pouce, & qui en doit néanmoins être fort éloigné lors que l’on s’en sert, doit toucher les cordes du coin de la pointe qui est devers le pouce, plustost que de son milieu; ce qu’il faut soigneusement remarquer, afin que son action soit libre pour roller, ou pour doigt, il la faut enlever par dessous en tenant la pointe du doigt bien ferme: mais lors qu’on en touche trois, ou quatre, comme il arrive souvent ,il faut tenir ladite pointe plus lasche, afin que le doigt puisse couler plus aisément sur les cordes que l’on veut relever, ou rabattre.

Now I have noticed that one must see as much the top of the hand on the side of the little finger, as on the side of the thumb, when it is located as we have just said, because the fingers must be as close to the strings as the others.

That is why it is necessary to use the fingers, and first of all the thumb, whose knuckle must not be torn close to its extremity, because it must be stretched out as if it were of no size, which is why it would not be easy to touch the tenth course at the same time as the fourth one, because of the great distance between the tip of the thumb and the tenth one, if it is seen slouchy when touching the fourth one. The first finger close to the thumb, & which must nevertheless be far away from it when it is used, must touch the strings from the corner of the point which is in front of the thumb, more than from its middle; what must be carefully noticed, so that its action is free for skating, or for finger, it must be removed from underneath by holding the point of the finger very firm: but when touching three, or four, as it often happens, it is necessary to hold the said point more lazy, so that the finger can flow more easily on the strings that one wants to raise or lower."

In this passage, Mersenne advocates to not to tense up the the knuckles when playing and the use all the fingers, principally focusing on the thumbs motion when reaching for the lower diapasons like the tenth course as Mersenne mentions. He remarks that since the distance between the fourth and the tenth is relatively large and thus require the knuckles of the RH to be completely relaxed in order to move from bass note to bass note. Mersenne also advocates that when in a resting position, the first finger must be close to the thumb and after playing the required bass diapason the thumb must go back to resting position close to the first finger. He explains the necessity of this pattern allows for the facilitation of the upper lines which is notably much more difficult if the hand is in a constant state of stretch tension. It is important to take note that although the baroque guitar lacks lower diapasons, the advice to always return to the resting position of the hands and to keep the knuckles relaxed when stretching for bass strings is still a vital lesson for any plucked string instrumentalist.

The last point that Mersenne makes in this Article is that when playing a single course the finger digit must remain firm to be able to sound the pitch, yet flexible enough to be raised and lowered. This same concept is applied to playing multiple voices i.e three to four courses, the striking RH fingers are firm and flexible to allow for the change in harmony.

6.5. Cross Examination of the “Authentic” French baroque guitar: Robert De Visée and François Campion

In this section, the focus will be on a cross examination of two representations each from De Visée and Campion in terms of use and balance of the guitar’s batterie style with the pincer lute technique. The purpose in this fully realized “authentic” French school is to access the batterie techniques used between the two respective figureheads and how their choices mirror the overall development of this style.

(De Visée’s Allemande in d minor Livre de Guitarre (1682))

In this first comparison, I will be examining De Visée’s Allemande in d minor pg. 6 ^[70]from his first publication Livre de Guitarre (1682) versus François Campion’s Allemande la Furieuse pg. 41 ^[71] from his baroque guitar publication Nouvelles découvertes(1705).* Let’s start with the similarities, the openings are similar in rhythm and articulation with an eight note up-strum anti cruxis to a dotted half note down strum all with the batterie technique. It is important to note that the eighth note would be double dotted in line with the French egalité aesthetic. This type of opening is similar to example’s seen between the earlier Médard, Corbetta and De Visée discussion and is a staple introduction motif to baroque guitar dances movements. It is also important to take into account that the dotted half note downbeat does not have any indications of RH articulation. This allows the possibility for the player to make the musical decision to articulate the note duration in “good taste” however they wish.

( *Allemande la Furieuse* pg. 41 *Nouvelles découvertes* (1705))

For study and experimentation in this decision, an interested student would be inclined to examine the table in Mersenne’s Harmonié Universelle for hints of inspiration on the possibilities. One personal recommendation that has been helpful in striking up variety is to go through Moulinié and Briceño’s publications of Spanish dances and air de cours and experiment playing the pieces using different arpeggiation articulations and attacks.

The next topic of interest is the pairs use of the batterie style on strong beats and weak beats in terms of articulation of the harmonic movement. Remember previously that the initial purpose of the batterie style was to facilitate rhythmic pulse and harmony. This principle still holds throughout the final “authentic” French style,however the focus will be on how this principle is balanced with the counterpoint of the pincer style. In the comparison between the two, while the two share the same general approaches when it comes to implementing batterie, they do differ in two key aspects. The first difference that De Visée illustrates is that De Visée preferred method for harmonic sequences is through the use of the batterie style as seen in (m.19-27). This preferred method of composing sequences is similar and harkens back to Corbetta’s preferred method of playing harmonic sequences. Unlike his alleged master, De Visée’s sequences are remarkably more fluid due to the fewer voices required to play in harmony.

Another noted difference that provides more information for tone variation is De Visée’s preference for RH tablature symbols in comparison with Campion. This can be first seen on the second beat of (m.18) with the parabola shaped RH symbol directly below the d minor quarter note down-strum. This symbol can also be seen as a small capital P under the tablature letter. Mersenne’s models have more information on this subject.

(Mersenne's table of how to arpeggiate chords with the RH *Harmonié Universelle* (1636))

In both cases, this symbol is interpreted as the use of the thumb as the primary digit to drive the arpeggiation. In addition to the presence of the useful thumb stroke symbol is De Visée care in notating strings that should explicitly not be played in the chord seen on the downbeats of (m. 17) and (m. 20) of the Allemande. This symbol indicated by dot in the place of the tablature letter indicates to the player that those strings are explicitly not part of the chord and should be avoided. In both measures for example, since there is a dot on two of the bottom courses, the player would strum only the top three courses as a result.

In contrast, Campion does not share in this level of courteousness. This can be looked at as a freedom of interpretation or a limitation in learning. In essence, the glass half-full versus half-empty imagery is appropriate to imagine in this respect. Campion seems to be subscribed to the pincer style of playing harmonic sequences in comparison to his conservative counterpart. As seen in (m. 4, 8. 28-30, and 33-36), the preferred ornaments to use to resolve the dissonance are the cheute and tirades ornaments. The dissonance chord chord is first played often with a trill to highlight the start and before unleashing some scalar campanellas to resolve to the next chord in the sequence. This resulting effect is quite brilliant and Italian-ate in style.

The final comparisons to be discussed are the composer’s respective uses of the batterie style on dissonance-consonance beats and cadential moments within the Allemandes. In this discussion of use of the batterie stye on dissonant-consonant resolution, Campion is clearly the more progressive composer as his style of composition reflects the younger French generation’s tastes. De Visée is notably more conservative in respect, offering dissonance in a few select spots in the piece seen in (m. 8. 17.24, and 28) respectively. These dissonances are usually quick to resolve and feature mainly simple porte-voíx ornaments. In contrast Campion’s dissonance-consonance’s phrases are more daring in regard. As seen in (m. 4, 8. 28-30, and 33-36), the preferred ornaments to use to resolve the dissonance are the cheute and tirades ornaments. The dissonance chord chord is often played with a trill as seen in (m. 28) to highlight particular passages of interest.

This last comparison is on the composer’s treatment of cadential moments within the music. In this third phase of the baroque guitar, the treatment of cadential ornaments seems to be very similar in choices, following in the tradition of Corbetta and Médard in this respect. However in the case of Campion , there is one specific instance that coincidentally coincides with one of the primary goals of this research and needs to be fully explored.

In this François Campion example from his seminal publication for solo baroque guitar Nouvelles découvertes Sur la Guitare (1705), evidence of the tirer technique can be see in his Allemande la Furieuse p. 41 in the cadence of the A section to ornament the V motion toward the tonic(m. 14-15). This is indicated of course by the presence of the single RH dot designation and diagonal line on the consecutive sixteenth notes E and D# before the V E major harmony harmony. The resolving fifth of the tonic is subsequently played by the middle finger (m).^[72] The result when executed in performance is a very French 32nd note double-dot rhythm the outlining the 5-#4 dissonance. This stroke would later be coined by Gaulter and Mouton as the French slip-stroke and the technique forms the basis for the focus of articulation possibilities for French lute/guitar composition. Unfortunately, this is the only instance of this technique to be found in French baroque guitar sources. Campion does not even include a description nor models to explain this new technique. Upon further examination points this technique being a one-time occurence, even in the final phase of the baroque guitar French baroque composers prefer to use the index and middle fingers overall to articulate the ornament instead of with the tirer method.

( Notation of tirer technique in Campion’s Allemande a La furieuse)

In the French baroque lute music of the Gaultiers, Gallot, Dufault, and Mouton, this French-slipstroke technique is demonstrated much more and in more variety. This result leads to the conclusion that although this technique was adopted from the strumming tradition as indicated in the sources, even towards the end of the French baroque guitar school, even French virtuosos on the baroque guitar and De Visée were unsure of how to re-integrate the new slip-stroke variant in to their repertoire.

6.6. Wrist and Arm Motion:

From the sources, historians have found connections to the technique that was passed down from the medieval lute and guitar-like instruments around the 12th century. In paintings, lutenists can be seen using a feather quill to strike the courses instead of the fingers. Musicologists have called this instrument viola de piccolo or vielle using a pick. My interest in this was the physical motion of the arm which contrasted from my previous studies of the technique. Initially I believed that the technique was a direct line from the instrument, but based on the teachings of my previous mentor Richard Savino (D.M San Francisco Conservatory) the difference that separates technique is due to the focus on arm motion rather than wrist motion. Basically it is the use of the lower arm that is needed to perform the down and up movement in the quill’s motion. The physical motion is later passed down to the Renaissance lute and forms the basis of thumb-in technique for the effective facilitation of diminution passagi.

(Preface of Luis Briceño’s (1626) Metodo mui facilissimo para aprender a tañer la guitarra a lo español)

In the Briceño and Paladin publications, there are mentions of the motion as a “swinging motion of the wrist”. This is not to say that guitarists did not use the arm, the arm acts a fulcrum for the wrist to freely rotate back and forth for the strum. In a Lute Society of America (LSA) Quarterly publication, Baroque guitar virtuoso Pablo Zapico publishes a series of articles that illustrate the various complexities of Italian and Spanish strumming style.^[73]

Zapico outlines a section titled Digital Flexion/Extension which closely resembles what the Briceno and Paladin meant. In his publication, Zapico refers to the wrist that Briceno uses as the forearm as the main subject of rotation. He explains that a good batterieinvolves a revolving rotation of the forearm that directs the palms toward the floor and toward the ceiling. He goes on to describe the rotation of the hand as equivalent to a pendulum, an arc that impacts the strings according to its movement. That being said, the use of the arm motions of thumb-in can be also used to increase dynamics as it elongates the rotating motion for the wrist.

6.7. Location of Strum:

On the topic of placement of the hand for the batterie style, a Florentine publication by Montresardo Nuova inventione d’intavolatura in 1606 that informs the player on this subject for the most ideal tone for accompaniment.

"Avvertendo ancora che chi vorrà farlo più soave bisognava suonare su la rosa, alcuna volta vicino il manico & anco per addolcire alcuna volta su l’istesso manico

The trillo will sound sweeter if it is executed above the rosette, near the neck , or even on it."^[74]

The trillo that Montresardo refers to is one of the two main batterie ornaments that baroque guitar players utilize, imitating the diminution capabilities of the lute. Zapico comments on this in his publication citing this source and from self-portraits of the French Painter Jean Daret playing the guitar (1636). Although Montresardo specifies the use of trillo in the instructions, Zapico affirms that this area is also a good place for batterie as well as the strings have less tension as opposed to the bridge. The musical result when executed is a lighter and less percussive tone. Celebrated lutenist Hopkinsin Smith is seen often playing in that zone when playing the baroque guitar as well. The light and delicate tone makes it ideal in my opinion to accompany single or duo voices and/or wind instruments. In a continuo setting, with the dynamic ranges of harpsichord, cello, theorbo and the entire string section, playing closer to the bridge would be more effective. In thee situations, advice from Italian lutec source can be taken

6.8. Alfabeto

Another important topic to touch on is the subject of the Alfabeto system and its contribution to the popularization of the instrument. The Alfabeto system was a series of chord positions utilizing capital letters as notation for the specific chord position to use. In nearly every Italian and Spanish baroque guitar preface, a table of the chord positions in tablature will be given by the composer for the player to reference. It’s important to then note that the system does not have a sequential categorization of the positions that would aid in memorization. While the first few chord positions have some kind of pattern i.e (n +/-1) A (G major), C (D major), E (d minor) etc. The system spans however to M making the pattern obsolete. The best way to learn this system is to memorize the symbols in relation to the chords.

6.9. Early Baroque Tablature

At the advent of the baroque guitar, Italian and Spanish guitar tablature has two main components, Alfabeto and rhythmic notation. These two core components were an integral part and a huge contributing factor behind the popularity of the instrument. In lieu of the dense counterpoint seen in lute tablatures, the baroque guitar notation seems almost humble in comparison. The rhythmic notation in Italian tablatures is represented by down and up stems for the RH. In Spain, a rhythmic mensural notation was preferred. Instead of the typical six ledger lines needed in lute tablatures, only a single line is needed for the rhythmic notation to be placed. For the LH, the alfabeto letter symbol is placed in front of the rhythmic notation to indicate the harmony of the rhythm. The use of bar lines and time signatures would be added later in 1606 Montresardo and culminating into its limits in complexity with Corbetta’s 1st publication in 1639. As the baroque guitar developed into a mixed batterie and pincer style, the simple notation system grew to include the lute characteristics such as Italian tablature and the six ledger lines.

The French tablature system however for the most part did not use the Alfabeto system. In fact it would not be until 1671 with Corbetta’s first French publication La Guitarre Royalle 1671 where the alfabeto system would be used in France. Their system preferred to use tablature letters to represent each note of the chord like the lute. In order to distinguish the two instruments in publications is to look for an instrument specification and the complexity of the music. An example of this can be seen in Mouliniés third volume of Air de Cours in which he writes twelve airs for the guitar to be strummed. The lute air de cours are much denser in melodic counterpoint in comparison to the guitar which is characterized by slow harmonic motion in three-five voices in steady rhythmic pulses.In fact it would not be until 1671 with Corbetta’s first French publication La Guitarre Royalle 1671 where the alfabeto system would be used in France.

6.9.1 French Tablature Overview

In order to understand this topic effectively, one must understand the components of French tablature and its differences from its Italian counterpart. The French lutenists/guitarists used the same system of notation. The music is represented by sequential tablature letters spanning from a to n that represent what fret/note that should be played: open string=a 1st fret=b 2nd fret= c,… Etc. This system skips j as it looks very similar to an i and could easily be misconstrued as such. The notation is placed on six ledger lines, each representing the corresponding course (1st course is the top line-5th course is the bottom line). A characteristic of both French and Italian lute tablatures is the use of rhythmic notation on the top of the page which indicates the duration of time to hold the tablature letter down.

This made it very obvious to the player which direction for the strum and approximately how many voices. The RH designations regarding early French baroque guitar sources can vary from composer to composer and can even be found indirectly in theorbé sources. On one hand Moulinié’s air de cour does not contain any more specific strumming instructions in the preface and the music other than the single dot indicating a weak index finger strum. This is evidently true in the cases of his peers Guedron and Bosset who also include air de cours for guitar in the batterié style. In 1636, specific instructions and diagrams outlining the style can be found in Marin Mersenne’s (1636) publication Harmonié Universelle on the subject of continuo on the theorbo. Although the publication was intended for the study of continuo by lutenists, Mersenne’s inclusion in to the batterié style especially on the theorbo -a member of the lute family, shows that he along with a select few French lute composers were a deviant group were interested in the style and maybe saw the future potential of the fusion of instrumental styles. This source is quite interesting, quite possibly because the source material foreshadows the later techniques of the French baroque lute and theorbé players utilizing the same techniques.

As seen in this Mersenne’s table, there are many points of interest to be garnered. The first one is in (EXEMPLE 4.)^[75] Faut toucher du pouce coût feul (The thumb must touch all the strings).The use of a P symbol next to the bottom tablature letter d which represents the thumb. The instructions say that the thumb must strike all the strings, contrasting the lute’s styles use of p i, m a to strike the chord, instead this has connotations to the baroque guitar’s down strum using the thumb. This P specification is important for later guitar publications like Medard and DeVisee as the indication becomes a specific use of the thumb stroke strum for intermittent dynamic effect.

… Since the early French baroque guitar tablature system still used RH dots to indicate for finger designation as in this example of Mouline’s Air de Cour for Guitar Volume III ^[76] , the down strum is indicated by the use of a full five voice chord and an upstrum has at least two to three voices with a single RH dot (index). The diagonal line as seen in the bottom of the ledger line indicates a holding of the chord until the next strong beat.

The Italian lute tablature is almost the complete opposite in form. The six ledger lines are flipped to represent a mirror image of the LH and the Italian and most Spanish musicians preferred to use numbers rather than letters to represent the notes i.e (open string=0 1st fret=1 2nd fret=2 etc.). This system would not enter the realm of the baroque guitar until the time of Foscarini and Corbetta beginning in 1629. As to which is easier in comparison is a subject of much discussion and spirited debate amongst lutenists of each nationality.

VII. Conclusions

To sum up, the purpose of this study is to examine the history and publications of French lute/guitar during the Baroque era to extrapolate a timeline and method guide for the development of the strumming styles in 17th century France. The projected timeline of publications in research would be between 1615-1720 beginning with Moulinié Air de cours ou guitares 1629 to François Campion’s Nouveau de Guitares 1705.^[77] For the purpose of this research, a particular interest was placed within these publications on the method of strumming, notational developments, and use in articulation in solo and ensemble lute music. During this divisive period in 17th century French music history, there was a clear distinction and segregation of styles and techniques between the lute and guitar families. By doing this research I had hoped to gain a deeper understanding of: use strumming style (batterie ), the eventual acceptance of batterie style in French aristocracy and its subsequent development into its own unique voice in the strumming tradition of its Spanish and Italian predecessors.

My conclusions regarding this rather fascinating topic into the origins of French baroque guitar batterie style are still incomplete in regards to research and content. In my findings, I have found that my hypothesis regarding the development of the strumming in France and the fusion of instrumental styles happened much earlier than my initial projection of 1660 after King Louis XIV took the throne in France. In my research, a basic understanding of the Renaissance guitar and its influence as “an easy instrument for strumming” shaped the minds of the French audiences was a necessary component to illustrate the type of atmosphere that the baroque guitar encountered when it first arrived in France. This was interesting to note that even though Renaissance guitar composers like Jean Paul Paladin and Alberte De Rippe composed in a plucked style using high Renaissance counterpoint, De Rippe more so than Paladin, the instrument was stuck with this negative connotation of a simple minded instrument. Sources such as Miles, Pinnell and Rebours explain that it was primarily due to the Alfabeto system and humble notation systems in comparison to the lute where critiques focus on. This is a common critique leveled against the guitar amongst all nationalities. An anonymous author in this French music publication La manicure de bienne & justement en toucher les lucs & guittternes (Poiters, (1556) gives such a comment:

“In my earliest years we used to play the lute more than the guitar, but for twelve or fifteen years now everyone has been guitaring,and the lute is nearly forgotten in favour of Heaven Knows what kind of music on the guitar, which is much easier than that for the lute.” ^[78]

By the time of the first reported sightings of the baroque guitar in France around the 1600’s, the batterie style was cemented in the minds of the French audiences as the style of the lower-class. The Spanish and the Italians. As a result of these sentiments felt throughout the public, many French lutenists were hesitant to take on the baroque guitar and develop the instrument in the French style. Marin Mersenne^[79], however, is a different story prior to 1640. Marin Mersenne who represents a deviation from the mainstream, he was fascinated by the baroque guitar’s rhythmic possibilities and sought to utilize the techniques in unorthodox manners for the theorbé. It is also important to point out that even though Mersenne engaged in these practices, he was still subject to the stringent French attitudes of the era and just includes this table and short descriptions of the technique for the student to study. As far as I can gather from the sources currently in this stage, Mersenne is the only French lute composer that actively engages in the development of the French strumming style pre-1640. This contrasts the mainstream usage of the instrument represented by his peers Moulinié, Guedron, and Boesset who all reserve the instrument for basic rhythmic divisions and simple chord progressions.

Another important aspect that was important for the research process in this subject is the discussion of Corbetta and his contributions prior to France and after 1670. In order to understand the shift toward a mixed punteado and batterie style in France beginning in the 1660’s for the baroque guitar, one must also also understand the conditions in Italy and how Corbetta lessons with Foscarini and Bartolotti as seen in his 1639 and 1643 in turn, shaped the French Baroque Guitar school when he first arrived in 1644. His official appointment to be the private guitar instructor to king of France King Louis XIV brought prominence to the baroque guitar as one of the first instances where the instrument was accepted by royalty. This position gave Corbetta the freedom to travel internationally to Vienna and England between 1648-1670 to make him a name for himself amongst the ruling class. It is during this time that accounts of his famous performances and virtuosity on the baroque guitar begin to pop up in history. Accounts such as in the case of Englishman Samuel Pepys who can be cited as calling the baroque guitar as a “bauble” in a diary entry in July 27th 1661. Later 1667 after seeing Corbetta play in public, Pepys writes another entry dated February 2nd 1667:

“I there espied Seignor Francisco tuning his Gittar, and Monsieur De Puy with him, who did make him play to me: which he did most admirably, so well I was mightily troubled that all that pains should have been taken upon so bad an instrument.” ^[80]

This hilarious tongue in cheek crique given Pepys is probably one of the more generous accounts given to the baroque guitar. It does serve to show that international attitudes could change when they see the instrument in the hands of a competent musician. Once these obstacles of explaining the first phase of the baroque guitar were cleared, the path in the historical and development of authentic French baroque guitar was a lot more clearer. The second baroque guitar phase in France beginning in 1660, is characterized by the guitar composer’s exploration into applying the lute’s plucking style and ornamentation into their compositions. Inversely, the composers of the French baroque lute school like Gaultier, Gallot, Dufault and Mouton followed in the footsteps of Mersenne and began the same process for the lute. From the research gathered so far, it would seem that the lute characteristics that were adopted by the French baroque guitar school was the tablature system, punteado style/facilitation of counterpoint, lute ornaments i,e vibrato, slur, trill etc. while the French baroque lute school acquired the batterie tradition.

Upon receiving this tradition, French lutenists would reappropriate the techniques and refine to fit the French aesthetic. Their product is the French style ornament slip-stroke. It would appear that the baroque guitar got the “lion’s share” in the deal, but this is not the case entirely. This single slip-stroke technique becomes an important basis for French baroque lute RH technique for the student to learn in order to execute the music effectively. It is a note of puzzlement in this research that although the stroke came from the baroque guitar strumming tradition, the final baroque guitar school in France consisting of De Visée and Campion were very hesitant on using this important topic. Looking at the French d minor lute sources of Gaultier- Mouton, the slip-stroke and other uses of the technique in French lute music can be seen as early as Denis Gaultier’s 1680 publication Pieces de Luth(1680). But even in the last baroque guitar school, the only instance of this ornament can be seen at the end of François Campion 1705 publication. More research is needed to validate initial conclusions but it seems likely that the baroque guitarists of the final phase of the baroque guitar in France were unsure of the technique’s cohesion with their music.

In the Part II, the research will be focused on the French baroque lute school beginning in the latter half of the 17th century to explore the transition period of fusion of batterie and pincer styles from the perspective of the lute.

VIII. Bibliography

8. Primary Sources

AMAT, JOAN CARLES, Guitarra española (Gerona, c.1761 edn; facs. edn. S.A. Monaco: Editions Chanterelle, 1980)

D’Anglebert, J. Henry d’. 1975. Pièces de clavecin. Paris: Heugel.

Ballard, 1556; facs. edn. Monte Carlo: Editions Chanterelle, 1979)

Briceno, de, Luis. 1972. Metodo mui facilissimo para aprender a taner la guitarra a lo español. Geneve: Minkoff.

BARTOLOTTI, ANGIOL MICHELE, Libro primo et secondo di chitarra spagnola, intro. by Claude Chanvel (Rome, c.1655; facs. edn. Geneva: Minkoff, 1984)

CAMPION, FRANÇOIS, Nouvelles découvertes sur la guitarre, intro. by François Lesure (Paris, 1705; facs. edn. Geneva: Minkoff, 1977)

CARRÉ, ANTOINE, Livre de pièces de guitarre et de musique (Paris, c.1720; facs. edn. Geneva: Minkoff, 1985)

______ Livre de guitarre, trans. by Monica Hall (Paris, 1671; facs. edn. Westminster CA: LGV Publishing, 2009)

CORBETTA, FRANCESCO, La guitarre royalle (Paris, 1671; facs. edn. Geneva: Minkoff, 1975) https://www.cglib.org/la-guitarre-royalle-dediee-au-roy-de-la-grande-bretagne-paris-1671-facsimile-tablature/

______Scherzi armonici [trouvati, e facilitati in alcune curiosissime suonate sopra la chitarra spagnuola]. Bologna /Giacomo Monti und Carlo Zenero 1639

______Corbetta, Francesco, and Paolo Paolini. 1980. Varii capricii: per la ghittara spagnuola : Milano 1643. Firenze: Studio per edizioni scelte.

______ Varii scherzi di sonate per la chitara spagnola (Brussels, 1648; facs. edn. Florence: S. P. E. S, 1983)

Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de. 1943. Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española según la impresión de 1611, con las adiciones de Benito Remigio Noydens publicadas en la de 1674. Barcelona: S.A. Horta

FOSCARINI, GIOVANNI PAOLO, Li cinque libri della chitarra alla spagnola (Rome, 1640; facs. edn. Florence: S.P.E.S., 1979)

Giesbert, Franz Julius, and Albert Meinhardt. 1940. Schule für die Barocklaute, von F.J. Giesbert … [Calligraphie de Albert Meinhardt]. Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne

Guédron, Pierre. 1602. Airs de court [sic], mis à quatre & à cinq parties. Paris: Veufue R. Ballard, & P. Ballard.

LE ROY, ADRIAN, Premier livre de tabulature de luth (1551).

______ Seconde livre de tabulature de guiterre (Paris: Le Roy and Ballard, 1556; facs. edn. Monte Carlo: Editions Chanterelle, 1979)

MACE, THOMAS, Musick’s Monument (London, 1676, facs. edn. Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1977)

Médard, Rémi, Pieces de Guitare. Paris, 1676.

Mersenne, Marin, and François Lesure. 1963. Harmonie universelle: contenant la Théorie et la pratique de la musique (Paris, 1636). Paris: Édition du Centre national de la recherche scientifique.

François Martin, Pièces de guitairre, à battre et à pinser (Paris: Bonnart)

Moulinié, Étienne. 1985. Airs avec la table ture de luth. Book III. Béziers: Soc. de Musicologie de Languedoc.

MONTESARDO, GIROLAMO, I lieti giorni di Napoli (Naples, 1612) reproduced in Rome and Naples, ed. by Gary Tomlinson, Italian Secular Song 1606-1636, 7 Vols. (London: Garland Publishing, 1986), III, pp. 229-268

MURCIA, SANTIAGO DE, Codice Saldívar No. 4 (c.1732; reproduced in Santiago de Murcia’s Códice Saldívar No. 4: A Treasury of Secular Guitar Music from Baroque Mexico, ed. by Craig H. Russell, Vol. 2 (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1995)

______ Resumen de acompañar la parte con la guitarra (Antwerp, 1714; facs. edn. S. A. Monaco: Editions Chanterelle, 1980)

Treatise La manicure de biene & justement en toucher les lucs & guittternes (Poiters, (1556)

SANZ, GASPAR, Instrucción de musica sobre la guitarra española, 8th edn. (Saragossa, 1697; facs. edn. Geneva: Minkoff, 1976)

VISÉE, ROBERT DE, Livre de guitarre, dédié au Roy (Paris, 1682; facs. edn. Geneva: Minkoff, 1973)

Saizenay, Jean-Etienne Vaudry, 1980. Manuscrit Vaudry de Saizenay: Tablature de luth et de théorbe de divers auteurs, 1699 ; <Bibliothèque municipale, Besançon, 279.152 et 279.153>. Genève: Minkoff Repr.

Trichet, Pierre, and Gordon J. Kinney. 1978. Traité des instruments de musique: (ca. 1640). [Lexington, Ky.?]: [publisher not identified]. Pg. 98

9. Secondary Sources

CHRISTENSEN,‘The Spanish Baroque Guitar and Seventeenth-Century Triadic Theory’, JMT, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Spring, 1992), pp. 1-42

DEAN, ALEXANDER, ‘The Five Course Guitar and Seventeenth-Century Harmony: Alfabeto and Italian Song’ (unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Rochester, New York, 2009)

DENIS, FRANCOIS-EMMANUELLE, ‘La guitare en France au XVII siècle: son importance, son répertoire’, Revue belge de musicologie, Vol. 32, No. 33 (1978-9),

HALL, MONICA, ‘The “Guitarra Española” of Joan Carles Amat’, EM, Vol. 6, No. 3 (July, 1978), pp. 362-37

Hall, M. (2020). Francesco Corbetta - The Best of All A study of his life and works. Retrieved March 09, 2021, from https://monicahall2.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/corbetta-section-i-2020-p.1-161revised.pdf

______ ‘Dissonance in the Guitar Music of Francesco Corbetta’, LSJ, Vol. 47 (2007),

Ledbetter, D. J. 1984. Harpsichord and lute music in seventeenth-century France: an assessment of the influence of lute on keyboard repertoire. University of Oxford.

PINNELL, RICHARD T., Francesco Corbetta and the Baroque Guitar with a Transcription of his Works, 2 vols. (Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1980)

Poulton, Diana, Graces of play in renaissance lute music, Early Music, Volume 3, Issue 2, April 1975, Pages 107–114, https://doi.org/10.1093/earlyj/3.2.107

Mather, Betty Bang, and Dean M. Karns. 1987. Dance rhythms of the French Baroque: a handbook for performance. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Mersenne, Marin, Robert Fortson Williams, and Marin Mersenne. 1972. Marin Mersenne: an edited translation of the fourth treatise of the Harmonie universelle. The editor’s thesis–Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester.

Mersenne, Marin, and Roger E. Chapman. 2016. Harmonie universelle: the books on instruments.

Mersenne, Marin, and François Lesure. 1986. Harmonie universelle: contenant la théorie et la pratique de la musique (Paris, 1636). Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

Miles, Natasha Frances (2014). The Baroque Guitar as an Accompaniment Instrument for Song, Dance and Theatre University of Birmingham. M.M 2011.

REBOURS, GERARD, ‘The Guitar Under Lully’, Guitar International (June, 1988) accessible online at <[http://g.rebours.free.fr/6E/6.Guitar_under_Lully.html]{.underline}>

_______, [Baroque Guitar in France]{.underline} “The first seventeenth-century French guitar publications” Michaelsteiner KonferenzBerichte, abd 66. 2013

Mather, Betty Bang, and Dean M. Karns. 1987. Dance rhythms of the French Baroque: a handbook for performance. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Vincent, Dumestre. Luis Briceno Spanish music in France program notes, Chanto Records, city .(date).

Zapico, Pablo The Rasgueado Technique, Part I, LSA Quarterly Summer & Fall 2018.

Grove Dictonary of Music

Strizich, Robert, and James Tyler. “Rasgueado.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 7 Mar. 2021. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000022914.

Baron, John H. “Air de cour.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 6 Mar. 2021. [https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000000362]{.underline}.

Cohen, Albert. “Mersenne, Marin.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 6 Mar. 2021. [https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000018468]{.underline}.

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Kreitner, Kenneth, Louis Jambou, Desmond Hunter, Stewart A. Carter, Peter Walls, Kah-Ming Ng, David Schulenberg, and Clive Brown. “Ornaments.”, “Italian 1600-50.” “Repicco.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 7 Mar. 2021. [https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000049928]{.underline}.

10. Index

Marin Mersenne Harmonié Universelle French-English Translation

Marin Mersenne Harmonie Universelle, contenant la théorie et la pratique de la musique, Ou il eft traité de la Nature des Sons, et des mouvements, des Consonances, des Dissonances, des Genres, des Modes, de la Composition, de la Voix, des Chants, & de toutes sortes d'Instruments Harmoniques.

Par F. Marin Mersenne de l ' Ordre des Minimes.

Liure Second

Expliquer la manière de toucher le Luth en perfection, et de poser ou de mouvoir chaque main, et chaque doigt comme il est requis pour bien ioüer.

L’art ou la science, l’industrie de la main eft fi grande que plusieurs l’ont appelée l'un des principaux instruments de la sagesse & de la raison, de ‘l escriture, & dont elle explique les conceptions aussi bien que la langue, comme l' on experimente aux sourds et aux muets, qui écrivent dans l’aire auec le seul mouvement des mains et doigts, dont ils peuvent faire de grands discours, & does harangues entières aussi viste ou plus qu'avec la langue.

Mais sans m'arrêter á tous les chefs-d'oeuvre qu’elle fait, il suffit ici de considérer les mouvements sur le Luth, & sur fur touse les autres instruments, car ils font fi merveilleux qui la raison est souvent contrainte d’adoüer qu’ elle n’est pas capable d’en comprendre la légèreté et la vift effet, que surpasse la me l’on expérimente lors qu’ on veut nombrer les sons qu’elle fait, ou les puis qui la Pratique ,’en peut estre mieux entendue, ny expliquée que par ceux qui enfreignent å toucher le Luth, ie veux donner la traicté qui Montus, si la modestie ne m’en empêchait, & affez cogneu es dans Paris, oú il enseigne selon la méthode comprise dans cette Proposition, et dans les deux autres qui suivent.

L’Art de toucher le Luth.

Dans lequel on verra la manière de bien se poser les deux mains, & de faire de la tablature si intelligible, qu’elle sera entendue sans difficulté : la diversité des tremblements, & leur visage y seront aussi expliqués avec des exemples utiles & curieux.

Marin Mersenne Harmonie Universelle, containing the theory and practice of music, where he dealt with the Nature of Sounds, and movements, Consonances, Dissonances, Genres, Modes, Composition, Voice, Songs, & all kinds of Harmonic Instruments.

By F. Marin Mersenne de l ' Ordre des Minimes.

Second Binding

Explain how to touch the Lute in perfection, and how to place or move each hand and finger as required for a good performance.

The art or science, the industry of the hand is so great that many have called it one of the principal instruments of wisdom & reason, of 'writing,' & of which it explains the concepts as well as the language, as experienced by the deaf and dumb, who write in the area with the movement of their hands and fingers alone, from which they can make great speeches, & does entire harangues as viste or more than with language.

But without stopping at all the masterpieces she makes, it is enough here to consider the movements on the Lute, & on all the other instruments, because they are marvellous, which the reason is often forced to adore that it is not able to understand the lightness and the screw effect, which surpasses the me one experiences when one wants to number the sounds she makes, or the then who Practises it ,'en peut'on peut être mieux entendu, ni expliqué que par ceux qui enfreindre å toucher le Lute, ie veut donner la traicté qui Montus, si la modestie nem'en empêcher, & affez cogneu es dans Paris, où il enseigne selon la méthode comprise dans cette Proposition, et dans les deux autres qui suivent.

The Art of Touching the Lute.

In which one will see the way to put both hands on the lute, & to make the tablature so intelligible, that it will be heard without difficulty: the diversity of the tremors, & their faces will also be explained with useful & curious examples.

Article I. Des conditions requises à celui qui veut apprendre à toucher le Luth.

Article I. Requirements for the one who wants to learn how to touch the Lute.

Most of those who have dealt with the arts and sciences require three conditions to acquire perfection, namely Nature, Discipline and Exercise, without which one cannot achieve the goal one has set for oneself. Now, by the word Nature, we mean the inclination to the natural disposition that we have to certain sciences, and to particular arts, just as it happens that some of them lead to painting, or sculpture, and others to architecture, geometry, etc. Discipline means method, and the instruction of good masters: Exercise is nothing but the Practice of their precepts. Now these last two parts can make up for the defect of the first, for as the most barren land is made fertile by the diligence of the ploughman, so those who thought they were incapable of learning this art, must make sure that they can overcome the defects of nature, & inclination, by putting into practice the teachings we are about to give. And if it is necessary to give examples, we will give a great number of them, but this truth is undoubtedly recognizable by the experiences we see every day, so that we can come to the things that are most useful, and say first of all that it is necessary for those who want to add to this noble exercise to receive a perfect agreement, knows a little of Music, so that he can hear the value of the measures contained in his tablature, although there are men who have such a delicate ear, that they can (while teaching) tune, & touch the Lute as accurately as the best Musicians of the world: but it is not necessary that those who melt for them these rare natural qualities, despise this art, without which nature is imperfect and blind.

The adiouste, however, which is not sufficient only by the delicacy of the ear, because it is still necessary that the equality of the two hands be in accordance with the rightness; so that they both leave in the same time, otherwise one notices great imperfections to the touch; what happens to the mauve precepts of the one who touches the Lute, but those who have both hands legal, & so skillful that they are able to perform everything imaginable, delight the listeners, & make me remember the opinion of Anaxagoras who confits the human wisdom in the hands, although the men are not wise because they have hands, then they have them plustost because they have to be wise, in order to carry out what the art & the reason dictates to them.

II. De la situation de la main droite, et comme il s’en faut servir.

II. The situation of the right hand, and how to use it.

After having spoken about excellence and the equality of hands, we must show the place where we must place them on the Lute, because this situation serves as a first foundation, because we cannot touch it without great constraints, and without bad capacities, if the hands are not well poised, & say first of all, that it is necessary that the Lute leaning against a table, or another body is supported by the weight of the right arm: secondly, that the top of the right hand should be as close as possible to the side of the little finger which follows, and which is called Medius, & Medicus, should be very close to the first, & lean as close as possible to the little finger. En.4 Instead, the little finger should be placed on the lute table close to the bridge, & the chanterelle, because those who put it behind the bridge contract a bad habit, which is later changed in nature: so that it is difficult for children, who are accustomed to this bad practice, to change it when they are older. It is for this reason that they must have small lutes built, so that the string spaces conform to the size of their hand, & that they suddenly lay it down like the older ones.

That is why it is necessary to use the fingers, and first of all the thumb, whose knuckle must not be torn close to its extremity, because it must be stretched out as if it were of no size, which is why it would not be easy to touch the tenth chord at the same time as the fourth one, because of the great distance between the tip of the thumb and the tenth one, if it is seen slouchy when touching the fourth one. The first finger close to the thumb, & which must nevertheless be far away from it when it is used, must touch the strings from the corner of the point which is in front of the thumb, more than from its middle; what must be carefully noticed, so that its action is free for skating, or for finger, it must be removed from underneath by holding the point of the finger very firm: but when touching three, or four, as it often happens, it is necessary to hold the said point more lazy, so that the finger can flow more easily on the strings that one wants to raise or lower.

As for the second and third fingers, the strings must also be removed from underneath; when they are not being used, they must be held negligently close to the little finger. The hand remaining thus laid out, it is necessary to take care that while making the fingers act, the top of the hand does not put itself out, so that one cannot see that it is worked by the movement of the fingers.

III. De la position de la main gauche

Il n’y personne qui ne desire, & ne recherche d’avoir bonne grace en tout ece qu’il fait , comme l’on experimente en toutes les actions honnestes que l’one est obligé d’exposer aux yeux d’autrui de lå vient qu’ on ne fait pas beucoup d’estime de’eescuyer qui fait bien aller un cheval å gauche, le pas & le galop, s’il n; est å droit, & s’il ne le fait sans contrainte : car la liberté, qui consiste en la situation de la main gauche & en l’excercice, il faut mettre le poulce au dessus de la premieure touche pres le bord du mahce du cofté de la chanterelle, de maniere que la pointe soit posée sur la dite touche , & tournée vers la teste du Luth. Et le poignet doit estre mediocrement esleiué, afin que la pointe des doigts soit sort proche des chordes.

Quant au premier doigt l’on doit le poser un peu de cofté vers la teste du Luth: mais quand il est posé la mesme touche que le second, par exemple, s’il faut poser deux <c>, l’un du premier & l'autre du second doigt, il faut pour lors redresser le premier doigt, L’on doit aussi tousiours esloigner le premier doigt du second, lors qu’ils ne sont pas en mesme touche; mais si l’on doit faire un tremblement å l’ouvert, il faut ioindre tous les doigts l’un contre l’autre, afin de luy augmenter sa force.

Le Second doigt estant posé sur la touche du Luth doit estre situé presque droit, c’est å dire qu’il doit quasi autant pencher du costé du chevalet, que vers la teste du Luth. Le troisiesme & les quatriesme doigt douvent estre pliez en rond, & avoir leur pointe proche des chordes, quand on ne s’en en sert point, afin qu’ils soient plus pressés å poser. Et si la main descend d’une ou de deux touches, le poulce la doit suiure également: par exemple, si on a fait le <c> sur la chanterelle avec le second doigt, ( le poucle estant posé au dessouz de la premiere touche) & qu ‘il faille le touche le avec <d>le second doigt, il faut aussi descendre le poulce d’une touche: ce tousiours observer par tout oú la main descendra, ou remontera.

III. From the position of the left hand

There is no one who does not desire, & seeks to be gracious in everything he does, as one experiences in all the honest actions that one is obliged to expose to the eyes of others from there comes that one does not hold in high esteem the "squire" who makes a horse go well to the left, walk & gallop, if he is not right, & if he does not do it without constraint: because the freedom, which consists in the situation of the left hand & in the exercise, it is necessary to put the pulse above the first touch near the edge of the mahce of the side of the chanterelle, so that the point is put on the said touch, turned towards the test of the Lute. And the wrist must be slightly elevated, so that the fingertips are out near the strings.

As for the first finger, it should be placed a little bit of coface towards the lute test: but when it is placed the same touch as the second one, for example, if two fingers have to be placed, one from the first & the other from the second finger, then the first finger has to be straightened, and the first finger has to be moved away from the second finger when they are not in touch; but if a tremor has to be made when open, all the fingers have to be placed against each other, in order to increase its strength.

The second finger resting on the Lute fingerboard must be almost straight, i.e. it must lean almost as much from the side of the bridge as towards the Lute test. The third and fourth fingers should be bent in a circle, and have their point close to the strings, when not in use, so that they are more ready to be placed. And if the hand goes down one or two keys, the pulse must also follow it: for example, if you have done the <c> on the chanterelle with the second finger, (the pulse is placed under the first key) & you have to touch it with the <d> the second finger, you must also go down the pulse by one key: this way you can observe where the hand will go down, or up.

IV. Des Tremblements

Encore que les siecles passez ayent produit des hommes tres-excellens en toutes sortes d’arts & de sciences, & particulierement en celuy dont nous traitons, l’on peut néanmoins dire qu’ elles se perfectionnet d’autant plus qu’elles vont plus en avant: comme il est aysé de oriyver par l’visag edes tremblemens, qui n’auoit pas les mignardises, & les gentillesses qui embellissent le nostre par tant de diversitez. Maiz puis qui les tremblemens sont differens tant en leurs effets qu’en leurs noms, i’essayray å les faire cognoistre, & å les distinguer par des caractères que i’ay expressement inuentez pour ce sujet, car chacun les nóme & les figure selon qu’il luy plaist.

Or celuy qui est formé en cette façon, s’ apelle vulgairement tremblement, les differentes espèces; c’est pour quoi ie ne l’ay pas voulu changer, puis qu’il utile. Mais il y a encore d’autres tremblemens qu’ils appelment accens plaintifs, martelemns, verres cassez, & battemens, comme nous verrons å sçavoir que la pointe du doigt de la main gauche, qui doit faire ce tremblement, soit bien appuyée sur la chorde sur laquelle il se doit faire, & quel’n ne leue point le doigt de dessus la dite chorde, que l’on ne sente qu;elle ayt esté en doute si l’on doit poser le doigt å touche du , ou du <c> quand ce tremblemét le doit si l’on doit poser le c’est pourquoy ie mets un petit traict au dessus du caractère comme s’ensuit, lors qu’il le faut faire å la touche du ,& si c’est å la touche du <c> , ie n’y en mets point.

Si ce tremblemenet se trouve å une autre lettre qu’a un <a> , comme l’on void icy, il faut poser le premier doigt de lamain gauche au dessus de la touche < d> , comme le monstre le nombre qui precede le <d> , ( car les nombres qui precendent les lettres de la tablautre signisient les doigts de la main gauche, qu’il faut poser; par exemple l’unite signisie le premier doigt, 2 le second , & c.) & faire le tremblement du petit doigt au dessus de la touche <f>. Il faut encore remarquer qu’en quelque lieu que serencontre ce caractere, qu’il doit y avoir un pareil espace du doigt qui marque la lettre, & de ce luy qui fait le tremblement, que celuy que est enl’exemple precedent, c’est å dire qu’il y ait tousiours deux touches de distance entre les deux doigts. Mais s’il est accompagné d’un petit trait au dessus, comme ‘on void, il faut seulement laisser une touche de distance entre le doigt qui marque la lettre, & celuy qui fait le tremblement: c’est å dire qu’ au lieu que l’on a fait le tremblmemét au dessus de la touche <f> ille faut faire au dessus de la touche <e> : ce qu’il faut semblablement observer en tous le lieux, & en toutes les sortes de tremblemens avec lesquels ledit signe se rencontrera.

IV. Tremors

Even though the past centuries have produced men who are very excellent in all kinds of arts & sciences, & especially in the one we are dealing with, we can nevertheless say that they are improving all the more as they go further: as it is so asymmetrical to adorn our faces with trembling faces, which do not have the sweetness, & the kindness that embellish our lives with so many diversities. But then the tremlemens are different in their effects and in their names, trying to make them conscious, & to distinguish them by characters that are expressly useless for this subject, because each one of them & figures them according to what he likes.

Now this one, which is formed in this way, is vulgarly called trembling, the different species; that's why I didn't want to change it, and why it is useful. But there are still other tremors which they call plaintive accents, hammerings, broken glasses, & battemens, as we shall see when we shall see that the fingertip of the left hand, which must make this tremor, is well supported on the chord on which it must be made, & that the finger is not pointing at the said chord, which we can only feel;

If this tremor is at another letter than a <a> , as we see icy, the first finger of the left hand must be placed above the key < d> , as the monster the number before the <d> , (because the numbers that precede the letters of the tablet sign the fingers of the left hand, which must be placed; for example the unit signed the first finger, 2 the second, & c.). ) & do the shake of the little finger above the key <f>. It should also be noted that wherever this character is placed, there must be the same space between the finger that marks the letter, & the finger that makes the tremor, as in the previous example, i.e. there must always be two keys at a distance between the two fingers. But if it is accompanied by a little line above it, such as 'on void, you only have to leave a key of distance between the finger that marks the letter, & the one that makes the tremor: that is to say that instead of making the tremor above the key <f> you have to make it above the key <e> : what is similarly to be observed in all places, & in all kinds of tremors with which the said sign will meet.

V. Du tremblement appellé Accent plaintif.

Encore que l’action de la main gauche ne sasse faire aucun tremblement å la chorde pour executer cette mignardise, ie ne luy ay pas neantmoins vooulu changer le nom qu’on luy donne ordinairement, & ie ne le sigure point autrement que le precendent, horlmis que i’adiouste un petit point devant, afin de le discerner, d’avec le premier , comme l’on void. Or ce tremblement ne se fait ia mais å un <a> , c’est pourquoy s’il le faut faire. å un , l’on doit toucher la chorde å l’ouvert, comme si c’estoit un <a>, & apres que le touche du sans faire aucun tremblement.

Mais s’il le faut faire å un <c>, & qu’il y ayt un petit trait au dessus du caractere, comme l’on void icy 2c, il faut poser le premier doigt å la touche du , & second doigt,de la main gauche å la touche du <c> , cóme l’on void , il faut faire comme cy-dessus au . et fi c’est å un <d> qu’il le faille e faire sans estre accompagné du petit trait au dessus, l’on doit poser le premier doigt å la touche du , cy-dessus, Mais s’il est accompagné du trait, il faut poser le Second doigt å la touche du <c>, & laisser tomber le quarieseme doigt å la touche du <d>, comme l’on a fait aux autres doigts.

Or en quelque lieu que se sasse ce tremblement, si ce n’est å un , il faut qu’il y ayt tousiours un doigt posé au dessus de celuy qui doit marquer la lettre, Et puis il faut observer une pareille distance entre les deux doigts de la main gauche, ( soit qu’on l’accompagne de ce trait, ou sans icily) que celle qui se garde en l’observation du premier tremblement, dont nous auons parlé cy-dessus.

V. The tremor called Plaintive Accent.

Even though the action of the left hand does not cause the choir to shake at all in order to execute this quick action, it does not want to change the name it is usually given, & it does not sign it in any way other than the above, except that it has a small dot in front of it, in order to discern it from the first one, as we see it. Now this trembling is not done ia but <a> , that's why it is necessary to do it. At a certain point, one must touch the chord openly, as if it were an a, & after the touch of the b, without making any tremor.

But if you have to do it at a <c>, & if there is a little line above the character, as you void icy 2c, you have to put the first finger on the key, & second finger, with the left hand, on the <c> key, as you void, you have to do as above at the . And if it's a <d> that you have to do it without the little line above, you have to put the first finger on the key of the , as above, but if it's accompanied by the line, you have to put the second finger on the key of the <c>, & drop the fourth finger on the key of the <d>, as you did with the other fingers.

Now wherever this tremor occurs, if not at a , there must always be a finger placed above it which must mark the letter, and then it is necessary to observe the same distance between the two fingers of the left hand, (whether it is accompanied by this line, or without it) as the one that is kept when observing the first tremor, which we have mentioned above.

VI. De deux sortes de Martelements, et du tremblement que quelques-uns appellent Verre cassé ou souspir.

Ie marque la figure de ce tremblement par une petite croix, comme l’on void, par exemple s’il se doit faire au de la seconde, il faut poser le premier doigt de la main gauche sur la seconde å la touche du Et lors que l’on touche la 2 de la main droite, l’on doite faire le tremblement de la main gauche, & en finissant le tremblement il faut reposer le doigt bien ferme au mesme lieu qu’ il estoit devant, afin que la chorde, apres le tremblement achevé, ayt le son d’un . Or ce tremblemenet ne se fait iamais qu’en un , & en un <c>, & ce d’un seul doigt de la main gauche.

Il y a encore une autre espece de martelemnt, que ie marque par ce caractere ^, & n’est different du precedent qu’au nombre des doigts de la main gauche , car il n’en faut qu’vn pour l’executer, & pour celuy-cy il en faut tousiours deux: par exemple, s’il le faut faire å un <d> de la seconde en cette façon, il faut poser deux doigts, l’un å la touche du , & l’autre å celle du <d> : & lors que l’on touche la chorde de la main droite, le doigt que est pose å la touche du doit demeurer appuyé audit lieu, tadis que l’autre doigt que est posé la touche du <d> fait le tremblement: & lors qu’on le termine, il faut reposer fermement ce doigt sur ladite chorde, au mesme lieu qu’il estoit auparauant, comme nous auons dit au tremblement precedent. Et si ce tremblement est accompagné d’un pettit trait au desssu en cette forte, il faut seulement laisser l’espace d’une touche entre les deux doigts de la main gauche, de la mesme maniere qu’en tous les autres, oú ledit signe se rencontre.

Quant au verrre cassé, ie l’adiovfte icy, encore qu’il ne soit pas maintenant si visité que par le passé, dautant qu’il a fort bonne grace, quand on le fait bien å propose: & l’une des raisons pour laquelle les modernes l’ont reietté, est parce que les anciens en vsoient presque par tout. Mais puis qu’il est aussi vitieux de n’en point faire du tout, comme d’en faire trop souvent, il faut user de mediocrité sa figure est, la virgule precedente suiuie d’un point.

Et pour le biene faire, l’on doit poser le doigt de la main droite, il faut il ser a marqué; & lors que l’on touchera la chorde de la main droite, il faut branfler la main gauche d’une grande violence, en la haussant vers la teste du Luth, & en la baissant vers le chevalet sans leuer en aucune façon la pointe du doigt de dessus la chorde, Mais il ne faut pas que le poulce de la main gauche touche au manche du Luth, quand on fait ledit tremblement, afin que l’action de la main en soit plus libre.

VI. Two kinds of Hammering, and the tremor that some call Broken Glass or Sigh.

The marks the figure of this tremor by a small cross, as we can see, for example if it must be done at the of the second, we must put the first finger of the left hand on the second å the key of the And when we touch the 2 of the right hand, you have to do the tremor with your left hand, & when you finish the tremor you have to rest your finger firmly on the same place it is in front of, so that the chord, after the tremor is over, has the sound of a . Now this tremor is never done in a single b>, & in a single c>, & with only one finger of the left hand.

There is yet another kind of hammering, which is marked by this character ^, & is different from the previous one only in the number of fingers of the left hand, because it only takes one to execute it, & for this one it takes two: for example, if it is necessary to do it at one <d> of the second in this way, two fingers must be placed, one at the key of the , & the other at the key of the <d>: when you touch the chord with your right hand, the finger that is placed on the key must remain pressed at the same place, while the other finger that is placed on the <d> key makes the tremor: & when you finish it, you must firmly rest this finger on the said chord, at the same place it was before, as we said in the previous tremor. And if this tremor is accompanied by a small stroke at the end of the tremor, one must only leave the space of a key between the two fingers of the left hand, in the same way as in all the others, where the said sign is found.

As for the broken glass, ie the adiovfte icy, even though it is not now as much visited as in the past, as it has a very good grace, when it is done well, it is proposed: & one of the reasons why the modernists have rejected it, is because the ancients saw almost everything about it. But since it is as vicious not to do it at all, as it is to do it too often, it is necessary to use mediocrity : its figure is, the preceding comma followed by a period.

And to do it well, one must put the finger of the right hand, it is necessary to be marked; when the chord is touched with the right hand, the left hand must be shaken with great violence, raising it towards the test of the Lute, and lowering it towards the bridge without in any way touching the tip of the finger on top of the chord, but the pulse of the left hand must not touch the handle of the Lute, when making the said shaking, so that the action of the hand is freer.

VII.Du battement, du tremblement composé de l’accens et du battemens, et de celui qui est composé de l’accès, et du verre cassé.

Le battement est plus pratique sur le Violon que sur le Luth: mais parce que ie ne veux rien obmettre, tant qu’il me sera possible, pour le contement du Lecteur, voicy son caractère. Or il est appelle battement parce que le doigt de la main gauche ne doit, car le reste du tremblmentnt se doit faire par le seul battement du doigt, autant de fois que la longeuer de la mesure le peut non, il faut poser le premier doigt sur la quatriesme a la touche du <c> la main droite,& le petitt doigt a la touche d’ <e>: Et lors que l’on touche la chorde de la main droite, il faut tirer une seule foise la chorde du petit doigt, & terminer le reste du tremblement en battant sur la chorde: or il se peut faire en toute autre lettre, comme en celle-cy.

Le septies me tremblement est composé du second & du sixiesme, & sa figure est ainsi marquée <z> , afin que le point de dedans face cognoistre qu’il est composé de l’accent ioint au battement: par exemple s’il se doit faire sur ie de la secódeainsi marqué z. il faut premierement touche la seconde de la main droite, & puis il faut laisser tomber de haut le premier doigt de la faiure le battement du petit doigt a la touche du <d> . Et si ledit caractere est accompagné du trait ordinaire, il y faut observer une semblable distance de touches qu’aux autres tremblemens.

Le 8. ou dernier tremblement, qui est compose du 2. & du 5, se marque en cette façon, afin que le point de devant monstre qu’il se doit commencer sur l’accent, & que le point qui suit monstre qu’il fe doit finir par le verre casse: par exemple, s’il se doit faire surl’ <e> de la seconde en cette façon: Apres avoir touche la chorde de la main droite, il faut laisser tomber de haut le premier doigt e la main gauche a la touche du <c>, & puis poser le pettit doigt de la mian gauche sur la seconde a la touche de l’ <e>, en terminant le remblement comme on fait au verre casse. et si le trembleemnt est accompagne du trait ordinaire, il faudra observer pareille distance des touches entre les deux doigts, qu’aux autres tremblemens. or apres avoir traité de tous les figures toutes ensemble, il faut parler des traits de la main gauche, & de tout ce qui appartient a la perfection de la Pratique.

VII. the beat, the tremor composed of the accens and the battemens, and the one composed of the access, and the broken glass.

The beat is more practical on the Violin than on the Lute: but because it does not want to obey anything, as long as it is possible for me, for the story of the Reader, its character is voiced. Now it is called beat because the finger of the left hand must not, because the rest of the trembling must be done by the beat of the finger alone, as many times as the length of the measure can not, it is necessary to put the first finger on the fourth finger at the key of the right hand, & the little finger at the key of the left hand, & the little finger at the key of the right hand, & the little finger at the key of the right hand: And when you touch the chord with your right hand, you have to pull a single finger on the chord, & finish the rest of the tremor by beating on the chord: but it can be done in any other letter, like in this one.

The seventh tremor is composed of the second & the sixth, & its figure is thus marked <z> , so that the point from inside face cognoistre it is composed of the accent ioint to the beat: for example if it is to be done on ie of the second thus marked z. it is necessary first to touch the second with the right hand, & then it is necessary to drop from above the first finger of the crack the beat of the little finger has the touch of the <d> . And if this character is accompanied by the ordinary stroke, it is necessary to observe the same distance of strokes as for the other tremors.

The 8. or last tremor, which is composed of the 2. & the 5, is marked in this way, so that the point in front of the monster that it should start on the accent, & the point that follows the monster that it should end with the glass breaks: for example, if it should be done on the <e> of the second in this way: After touching the chord with the right hand, let the first finger of the left hand fall from the top to the key of the <c>, & then put the little finger of the left hand on the second to the key of the <e>, finishing the wrap as you do to the broken glass. and if the tremor is accompanied by the ordinary stroke, it will be necessary to observe the same distance of the strokes between the two fingers, as for the other tremors. now after having treated of all the figures all together, it is necessary to speak about the strokes of the left hand, & of all that belongs to the perfection of the Practice.

VIII. Des traits de la main gauche.

L’on fait encore duautres mignardese que l’on appele traits de main gauche, qui sont forte agrebles quand ils font bien exécutez: en esset il n’y a quasi que la main guache qui y contribribuë, car apres que la droite a touche la la droite: par exemple, si l’on veuttouche ces 7. lettres, il faut premierement toucher l’ <a” du pouce, c’est pourquoy ie mets le pour le signisier, au dessouz dudit <a>. Quantau <c> & au <d> qui suivent, & le second doit l’un apres l’auture sans touche de la main droite, comme le demonstrent les caracteres qui sont au dessus desdites lettres.

L’<a> de la cinquiesme se doit toucher du pouce ,& les troise autres lettres de la seule main gauche, comme les deux precedentes qui sont sur la sixiesme. Le mets encore un autre exemple, dans lequel il faut toucher les deux premieres lettres de la main droit, & la troisieme que est l’<a” , auquel il y a un tremblement, doit estre touchée de la seule main gauche; c’est a dire que quand de une seule fois, & qu’au mesme instant il faut poser les doigts de la gauche sur le le <d> sans toucher de la droite; & qu’en posant le pettit doigt, il en faut faire le tremblement comme celuy du verre cassé.

VIII. Features of the left hand.

There are still other cute strokes of the left hand that are called left hand strokes, which are very pleasant when they are well executed: in esset there is almost only the left hand that contributes to it, because after the right hand has touched the right: for example, if you want to touch these 7 letters, you must first touch the "a" of the thumb, that's why you put the "p" for the signatory, at the bottom of the "a". The second one has to be done one after the other without touching the right hand, as shown by the characters above the letters.

The <a> of the fifth must touch with the thumb ,& the three other letters with the left hand only, like the two previous ones which are on the sixth. Another example, in which the first two letters must be touched with the right hand, & the third one, the "<a", which has a tremor, must be touched with the left hand only; that is to say, when at the same time, & the fingers of the left hand must be placed on the "b" without touching the "d" with the right hand; & when the little finger is placed on the "d", the tremor must be made like that of broken glass.

Proposition X

EXPLIQUER LES SIGNES, ET LES CARACTERES DE LA TABLATURE, ET PLUSIEURS REMARQUES ET OBSERVATIONS PARTICULIERES.

Encore que plusieurs habiles hommes ayent cultiué cet art avec tant d’adesse & dexdexterité, dans lequel il y en a qui reüssissent auiourdi’huy si heureusement en nostre France, il n’y a neantmoins qui’Adrian le Ruy qui ayt donné par escrit quelques preceptes de son instruction, ils ont peut-estre creu acquerir plus de gliore a tenir cet Art cache, qu a le divulguer: de la leur intention, Si premierement elles n’ont esté ouïes, ou apprises d’eux mesme. Or puis que cet art ne s’est iamais enseigné qu’en particulier, l’on liers, quoy que le retienne les generaux tant qu’l m’est possible, puis qu’ils font visitez par les plus entendus en cette profession.

Et pour ce su iet il faut premierement considerer les lettres de la Tablature, & le lieu ou elles sont posées. En second lieu, que les nombres qui les precedent representent les doigts de la main gauche, qu’il faut poser sur le manche du Luth: l’on pose ordinairement le premier doigt sur le , c’est pourquoy ien’y mets point de chiffre, si ce n’est qu’il faille e se servir d’un autre doigt. Or apres avoir posé les doigt de la main gauche, il faut remaquer le tremblement & son espece, lors qu’il en faut user. En troisiesme lieu il fault considerer de quels doigts de la main droite l’on doit toucher, & s’il y a des tenües representées par de certaines lignes droites ou courbes , qui enseignent a tenir les doigts de la main gauche depuis le commencement des lettres , ou lesdites lignes commencent jusques a ce qu’ elles finissent : ce qui sert pour faire durer plus long-temps le son de la chorde, dont on verra des exemples a la fin de ce discours, divisé en plusieurs preceptes qui suivent.

1. Precepte. L’ <a> se touche tousiours a l’ou vert , ce que les autres, appellent a vuide, ou a corde aualée; ce qui se fait de la seule main droite, san l’ayde de la gauche, si ce n’est lors qu’il faut faire quelque tremblement, ou que les lettres qui sont vis a vis l’une de l’autre se douvent toucher ensemble, come il atrive aussi que celles qui sont les unes apres les autres se touchent selon le rang qu’ elles tiennent.

2. Lors qu’il y a un point souz une lettre seule, il la faut toucher du premier doigt de la main droit, & s’il n’y en a point, il la faut toucher du second, ce qu’il faut seulement observer depuis la chanterelle iusques a la quatriesme, car les autres chordes doivent estre touchées du pouce: ce que l’on void dans le premier exemple.

3. Le manche du Luth est ordinairement divisé en neus touches, dont la premieure est appelléebé, c’est a dire que s’il y a un marque sur la chanterelle, ou sur la seconde dans la Tablature, qu’il y faut poser le premier doigt de la main gauche au dessus de la touche : s’il y a plusieurs bés, qui fassentun accord, qu’il faut coucher le premier doigt sur les chordes depuis la premiere lettre iusques a la dernière: quoy que l’on se serve quelques-fois du 2. doigt avec le 1, comme l’on void dans le second exemple. Mais il faut remarquer qu’ apres avoir posé les doigts de la main gauche, qu’il faut touche autant de chordes de la main droite, qu’il y en a de maquées dans la Tablature. Or la Second touche represente le cé, la troisiesme le dé, & ainsi des autres, iusques a la neusiesme touche marquée par la lettre <k>, outre laquelle on peut encore poser les doigts; ce qui ne se fait que raremeent, d’autant que les chordes nen parlent pas si nettement.

4. Le qui se recontre souz une lettre touttre seule, signifie qu;il le faut toucher du pouce, encore qu’elle n’en soit pas touchéeordinairment, comme enseigne le troisiesme exemple.

6. Quand la iamble du a un point en haut, il faut toucher plusieurs chordes ensemble du pouce & du premieur doigt, mais en touchant un accordde cette façon , le pouce doit toucher une seule chorde, & le premier doigt toutes les autres: comme enseigne le cinquiesme exemple.

7. Le pouce & le premier doigt serveent encore ensemble pour toucher, apres les quels il n’y a qu’un trait & un point au dessus: ce qui arrive lors qu’on laissse quelque chorde a toucher entre le premier doigt & le pouce. Par exemple, s’il faut toucher la 2, 3, 4, & 7 ensemble, il faut toucher la 7 du pouce, qu’il faut laisser appuyé sur la 6 , & avec le premier doigt il faut les relever depuis la 2 iusques a la 4, comme l’on void au 6 exemple.

8. Il n’y a point de signe pour signifier le toucher que l’on appelle ordinairement pincer: ce qui se fait quand on touche un accord avec trois ou quatre doigts, comme il arrive lors que l’on pince la 4, 3, & 2, dont la 4 se touche du pouce, & les 2 autres des 2 doigts suivans consécutivement: & s’il y a 4 lettres a l’accord, on y employe le 3 doigt, comme l’on void dans le 7. Exemple. Mais s’il faut pincer cinq lettres, qui n’ont aucun signe pares, le pouce en touche 2, & les autres doigts3; & 3; & s’il y a 6 lettres, le pouce en touche 3, comme ensiene le 8. exemple.

9. Le trait qui suit l’accord, & qui a un point dessu du costé de la chanterelle, signifie qu’il faut toucher 2 ou 3 chordes du premier doigt tout seul en relevant : mais quand le point est dessouz du costé de la 6, il faut rabattre les chordes du mesme doigt, comme l’on oid au 9. exemple.

10. Lors qu’il faut toucher deux chordes ensemble, esloignées ou prochaines, il faut tousiours, les toucher du pouce & du second doigt, si ce n’est qu’il y ait un trait apres l’accord , qui signfie qu’il les faut relever du premier doigt, ou qu;il y ayt un point a l’une des deux lettres, pour montrer qu;il les faut toucher du premier & du second doigt, comme l’on void au 10, exemple.

11. Quand il faut toucher trois chordes de trois doigts sans l’ayde du pouce, il y a un point a la lettre qui est vers la sixiesme, le quel monstre qu;il faut toucher la lettre ou il est posé, du premier doigt, & les deux autres des doigts suivans, comme il se void dans l’on ziesme exemple.

12.Encore que i’aye dit dans le seconde Precepte, que les chordes qui sont au dessous de la 4, se doivent tousiours toucher du pouce, neantmoins s’il y a un point souz quelque chorde que ce soit, il la faut toucher du premier doigt, s’il y en a deux, du 2, & s’il y en la trois, du 3, comme l’on void dans le douziesme exemple.

13. Les Tenuës, dont i’ay parlé au commencement de ces Articles, & dont i’at promis l’exemple a la fin, sont si necessaires que sans elles l’harmonie est du tout imparfaite: outre que l’on a mauvaise grace de lever si souvent les doigts quand il n’en est point de besoin; il les faut donc remarquer & pratiquer exactement, & quand mesme il n’y en auroit point de maqueés , il ne faut pas laisser de tenir les doigts sur les chordes le plus long-temps que l’on pourra. Plusieurs les marquent seulement aux Basses, mais il est aussi necessaire d’en user aux autres parties, & specialement ou l’on desirera qu elles soient observées. Or il faut remarquer que ces tenuës se sont sur toutes sortes d’instruments, & que tout ce que nous disons du Luth se peut, & se doit appliquer a la Mandore, au Titre, & c.

14. Les Barres qui traver sent les six regles sont la division, & la separation des mesure, & les notes ou les autres signes que l’on met ordinairement au dessus de la premiere regle qui represente la chanterelle, servent a mesme dessein, car les notes blanches a queuë monstrent qu’ il faut faire durer le son de la lettre le temps d’une demie mesure, la quelle dure pour l’ordinairepartie d’une heure ou’ d’une minute, c’est a dire durant la diastole du cœur: cette regle s’entendra aysément par le quatorziesme exemple, qui monstre que quand il n’y a qu’une note pour sept ou huict lettres, qu’il les faut faire toutes de mesme valuer, c’est a dire qu’il les faut toucher aussi viste, ou aussi lentement les unes que les autres depuis cette note iusques a la recontre d’une autre.

15. Lors qu’il y a une crochuë sur une lettre suele, & qu’il suit un accord apres, il faut disposer la main droite & la gauche a faire cet accord, avant que de toucher la lettre ou est la crochuë; par exemples’il faut toucher un a sur la 3 . qui a une crochuë, & puis un accord qui ait une noire dessus, il faut appuyer le pouce sur la 9 avant que de toucher l’a de la 3 sur le quel est la crochuë: ce qui sert pour aller plus viste.

16. Finalment, quand il faut faire un passage du pouce ,& du premier doigt, ie mets un pé dessous la premiere lettre du passage, depuis la premeiere crochuë iusques a la rencontre d’une noire, se doivent toucher du pouce, & puis du premier doigt réciproquement; de sorte que le premier doigt touche incontinent apres le pouce, & le pouce apres le premier doigt, iusques a la fin du passage, comme l’on void dans le seiziesme ou dernier exemple. Voyons maintenant les differeentes manieres d’accorder le Luth, afin que l’on puisse iouër & mettre dessus toutes sortes de pieces de Musique.

Proposal X

EXPLAIN THE SIGNS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TABLATURE, AND SEVERAL SPECIAL REMARKS AND OBSERVATIONS.

Although many skillful men have cultivated this art with such adroitness and dexterity, in which some of them have succeeded so fortunately in our France, there is none the less Adrian le Ruy who gave in writing some precepts of his instruction, they may have acquired more gliore in holding this hidden art, than in divulging it: of their intention, if first they have not been heard, or learned from them themselves. Now, since this art has never been taught in particular, let the generals be bound to hold it for as long as it is possible for me, and let them be visited by the most heard in this profession.

And for this knowledge it is necessary to first consider the letters of the Tablature, & the place where they are placed. Secondly, let the numbers preceding them represent the fingers of the left hand, which must be placed on the handle of the lute: one usually places the first finger on the , that's why there is no number, except that another finger must be used. But after having put the fingers of the left hand on the , you have to note the tremor & its kind, when you have to use it. In the third place it was necessary to consider with which fingers of the right hand one should touch, & if there are holds represented by certain straight or curved lines, which teach how to hold the fingers of the left hand from the beginning of the letters, where the said lines begin until they end: this serves to make the sound of the chorde last longer, examples of which will be seen at the end of this speech, divided into several precepts which follow.

1. Precept. The "a" is always touched with the green or green, what the others call "a vuide", or "a corde aualée"; which is done with the right hand alone, without the left hand, except when it is necessary to make some trembling, or when the letters which are opposite each other are likely to touch each other, as it also happens that those which are one after the other touch each other according to the rank they hold.

2. If there is a dot under a single letter, it must be touched with the first finger of the right hand, & if there is none, it must be touched with the second, which is only to be observed from the chanterelle iusques to the fourth, because the other chords must be touched with the thumb: what we see in the first example.

3. The neck of the lute is usually divided into two keys, the first of which is called the first key, i.e. if there is a mark on the chanterelle, or on the second key in the Tablature, the first finger of the left hand must be placed above the key: if there are several beats, which make a chord, that the first finger must be placed on the strings from the first letter to the last: so that we can use the 2 a few times. finger with the 1, as we see in the second example. But it should be noted that after placing the fingers of the left hand on the strings, you have to touch as many strings with the right hand as there are mapped in the Tablature. Now the Second stroke represents the middle, the third the dice, and so on, as well as the others, except for the ninth stroke marked by the letter <k>, in addition to which one can still place the fingers; which is only rarely done, especially since the strings do not speak about it so clearly.

4. The , which is found under a letter alone, means that it is necessary to touch it with the thumb, even though it is not touched in a normal way, as the third example teaches us.

The that follows the chord, & whose leg crosses the strings, means that one must touch with the thumb all the strings that are touched by the leg, as shown in the fourth example.

6. When the iamble of the has a point at the top, it is necessary to touch several chords together with the thumb & first finger, but when touching a chord in this way, the thumb must touch only one chord, & the first finger all the others: as shown in the fifth example.

7. The thumb and the first finger are still used together to touch, after which there is only one line and one dot above: what happens when you let some chord to be touched between the first finger and the thumb. For example, if you have to touch the 2, 3, 4, & 7 together, you have to touch the 7 with your thumb, which you have to leave pressed on the 6, & with the first finger you have to lift them from the 2 to the 4, as you can see in the 6 example.

8. There is no sign to signify the touch that is usually called pinching: this is done when you touch a chord with three or four fingers, as it happens when you pinch the 4, 3, & 2, of which the 4 is touched with the thumb, & the other 2 of the 2 following fingers consecutively: & if there are 4 letters in the chord, you use the 3 finger, as you can see in the 7. Example. But if there are 5 letters, which have no sign, the thumb in key 2, & the other fingers 3; & 3; & if there are 6 letters, the thumb in key 3, as in 8. example.

9. The line that follows the chord, & which has a dot on the side of the chanterelle, means that you have to touch 2 or 3 strings of the first finger alone while lifting: but when the dot is off the side of the 6, you have to fold the strings of the same finger, as in the 9. example.

10. When you have to touch two strings together, distant or next, you have to touch them with your thumb & second finger, except that there is a line after the chord, which means that you have to lift them with the first finger, or that there is a dot in one of the two letters, to show that you have to touch them with the first & second finger, as shown in 10, example.

11. When you have to touch three strings of three fingers without the thumb, there is a point at the letter that is around the sixth, which is the monster that you have to touch the letter where it is placed, with the first finger, & the other two of the following fingers, as it is seen in the example above.

12 Although it is said in the second precept that the chords which are below 4 must always be touched with the thumb, notwithstanding that if there is a point under any chord, it must be touched with the first finger, if there are two of them, from 2, & if there are three, from 3, as is shown in the twelfth example.

13. The Tenuës, of which I have spoken at the beginning of these Articles, & of which I have promised the example at the end, are so necessary that without them harmony is imperfect: besides the bad grace of lifting the fingers so often when it is not necessary; it is therefore necessary to notice & practice them exactly, & when there are none at all, one must not allow one to hold the fingers on the strings for as long as one can. Many mark them only on the Basses, but it is also necessary to use them on the other parts, especially where you want them to be observed. Now it should be noted that these holds have been used on all kinds of instruments, & that everything we say about the Lute can, & must be applied to the Mandore, the Title, & c.

15. When there is a brackets on a single letter, & that it follows a chord afterwards, you have to put your right & left hand to make this chord, before touching the letter where the brackets are; for example 'you have to touch an a on the 3 . which has a brackets, & then a chord that has a quarter note on it, you have to press your thumb on the 9 before touching the a of the 3 on which the brackets are: this is used to go more viste.

16. Finally, when you have to make a thumb passage ,& with the first finger, put a pen under the first letter of the passage, from the first hooked letter to the meeting of a quarter note, you have to touch with your thumb, & then with the first finger reciprocally; so that the first finger touches incontinent after the thumb, & the thumb after the first finger, at the end of the passage, as we see in the sixteenth or last example. Now let's see the different ways of tuning the Lute, so that one can play & put on it all kinds of Music.

11. Footnotes

Strizich, Robert, and James Tyler. “Rasgueado.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 7 Mar. 2021. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000022914. ↩︎
PINNELL, RICHARD T., Francesco Corbetta and the Baroque Guitar with a Transcription of his Works, 2 vols. (Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1980) ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
This four course instrument tuned the same as a ukulele and is believed to have arrived in France by the early 16th century through Spanish and Italian musicians and subsequently blossomed in popularity due to its versatility and in accompaniment and play in comparison to the lute. ↩︎
This lute differed from the French 10 course Renaissance lute as it the first 6 courses are tuned to a d minor triad , sources say that the 11 course French Baroque lute first appeared on the record in the early 1650s and eventually rose to overshadow the French 10 course Renaissance lute. ↩︎
Trichet, Pierre, and Gordon J. Kinney. 1978. Traité des instruments de musique: (ca. 1640). [Lexington, Ky.?]: [publisher not identified]. Pg. 98 ↩︎
IMiles, Natasha Frances (2014). The Baroque Guitar as an Accompaniment Instrument for Song, Dance and Theatre University of Birmingham. M.M 2011. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Briceno, de, Luis. 1972. Metodo mui facilissimo para aprender a taner la guitarra a lo español. Geneve: Minkoff. ↩︎
Hall, M. (2020). Francesco Corbetta - The Best of All A study of his life and works. Retrieved March 09, 2021, from https://monicahall2.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/corbetta-section-i-2020-p.1-161revised.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 6. ↩︎ ↩︎
Not an official term based on the same trend in Italy 1st, 2nd, 3rd phase of baroque guitar ↩︎
Ibd See Footnote 3. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 3. pg. 127. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
One importato side note about the notation between the two cultures is that while France used virtually the same tablature letter notation as their lute publications i.e a=0 b=1, on the other hand Italy’s guitar players were experimenting with a new style of notation known as alfabeto. Similar to today’s pop chord symbols i.e G7, d min, etc. this notation was a reading system along with rhythm notation provided a guitar player with all the basic necessary guidelines to playing the repertoire. A more in-depth discussion on the differences between these two culture’s notation and relative approaches will be had at a later chapter. ↩︎
REBOURS, GERARD, ‘The Guitar Under Lully’, Guitar International (June, 1988) accessible online at <[http://g.rebours.free.fr/6E/6.Guitar_under_Lully.html]{.underline}>

_______, [Baroque Guitar in France]{.underline} “The first seventeenth-century French guitar publications” Michaelsteiner KonferenzBerichte, abd 66. 2013 ↩︎ ↩︎
Proto-French is not an official term, for lack of a better term to address this transitional bridge to the “authentic” French baroque guitar style. ↩︎
With de Visée, Spanish and Italian influences are definitely a thing of the past, and we now have genuine French guitar music. On hearing it, the harpsichord player and musicologist Antoine Geoffroy-Dechaume exclaimed: “It sounds like Lully!”; and, more recently, somebody hearing me play some of his pieces associated it with Danglebert’s harpsichord music.

Jean Henry D’anglebert (1628-1691) published his Pieces de clavecin in Paris in 1689, a few years after De Visée’s Pieces de Guittarre. Anglebert, J. Henry d’. 1975. Pièces de clavecin. Paris: Heugel. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 13. ↩︎
Giesbert, Franz Julius, and Albert Meinhardt. 1940. Schule für die Barocklaute, von F.J. Giesbert … [Calligraphie de Albert Meinhardt]. Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne.pg. 116-117. ↩︎
Moulinié, Étienne. 1985. Airs avec la table ture de luth. Béziers Volume III: Soc. de Musicologie de Languedoc. ↩︎
Mersenne, Marin, and François Lesure. 1963. Harmonie universelle: contenant la Théorie et la pratique de la musique (Paris, 1636). Paris: Édition du Centre national de la recherche scientifique. ↩︎
Mersenne, Marin, and Roger E. Chapman. Harmonie Universelle: The Books on Instruments. / Translated by Roger E. Chapman. The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1957. ↩︎
CORBETTA, FRANCESCO, La guitarre royalle (Paris, 1671; facs. edn. Geneva: Minkoff, 1975)

pg. 72. ↩︎
François Martin, Pièces de guitairre, à battre et à pinser (Paris: Bonnart) ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 13. ↩︎
VISÉE, ROBERT DE, Livre de guitarre, dédié au Roy (Paris, 1682; facs. edn. Geneva: Minkoff, 1973) ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 13. ↩︎
CAMPION, FRANÇOIS, Nouvelles découvertes sur la guitarre, intro. by François Lesure (Paris, 1705; facs. edn. Geneva: Minkoff, 1977) ↩︎
Treatise La manicure de biene & justement en toucher les lucs & guittternes (Poiters, (1556) ↩︎
Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de. 1943. Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española según la impresión de 1611, con las adiciones de Benito Remigio Noydens publicadas en la de 1674. Barcelona: S.A. Horta ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 13. ↩︎
I can make an educated assumption that this pathology can stem from the connections to one of the instrument’s most famous composer/player: Francesco Del Milano “El Divino” principal lutenist to the papal court of Pope Leo X (1516) ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 13. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 13. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 13. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 6. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 19. ↩︎
Baron, John H. “Air de cour.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 6 Mar. 2021. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000000362. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 20. ↩︎
Cohen, Albert. “Mersenne, Marin.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 6 Mar. 2021. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000018468. ↩︎
Mersenne, Marin, and Roger E. Chapman. 2016. Harmonie universelle: the books on instruments. ↩︎
Zappulla, Robert. 2000. Figured bass accompaniment in France. Turnhout: Brepols. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 20. ↩︎
Trichet, Pierre, and Gordon J. Kinney. 1978. Traité des instruments de musique: (ca. 1640). [Lexington, Ky.?]: [publisher not identified]. Pg. 98 ↩︎
Scherzi armonici [trouvati, e facilitati in alcune curiosissime suonate sopra la chitara spagnuola]. Bologna /Giacomo Monti und Carlo Zenero 1639 ↩︎
Corbetta’s description of repicco is simplified compared to Millioni’s description (1627), but considering the intense scrutiny and censorship by the French government. It it safe to assume that Corbetta’s version would have been more in circulation than Millioni’s. Note, Corbetta’s 1639 description does not contain trillo instructions. ↩︎
Corbetta, Francesco, and Paolo Paolini. 1980. Varii capricii: per la ghittara spagnuola : Milano 1643. Firenze: Studio per edizioni scelte. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 3. Pg 179-207. ↩︎
Florentine musician Lulli would change his name to Lully in response to this resurgence of French nationalism Ibd. See Footnote 3. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 13. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 21. Pg 72 ↩︎
Christensen, Thomas. 1992. “The Spanish baroque guitar and seventeenth-century triadic theory: an annotated translation”. Journal of Music Theory. 36 (1): 1-42., 23. ↩︎
Corbetta’s tuning used only one octave D bass string ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 25. Pg.4 ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 13. pg. 5. ↩︎
Mather, Betty Bang, and Dean M. Karns. 1987. Dance rhythms of the French Baroque: a handbook for performance. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ↩︎
I found that this is very much the case for comparing the two styles in content, the French theorbé music like De Visée and Hurel often employs more use of the lower diapasons and often the melody has to be exaggerated in practice in order for it to be heard. ↩︎
Remi Médard, Pièces de Guitare. foreward"A Tous les honnestes gens" op. Cit., Paris, 1676. ↩︎
Strizich, Robert, and David Ledbetter. “Visée, Robert de.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 7 Mar. 2021. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000029508. ↩︎
Giesbert, Franz Julius. 1980. Schule für die Barocklaute. Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne. ↩︎
DeRippe was also very paranoid of copyright and plagiarism. He had a habit of burning his intabulations and would not write any instructions. As a result, historians do not exactly know the scope of his compositional outputs other than the intabulations by his students. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 6. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 1. ↩︎
Kreitner, Kenneth, Louis Jambou, Desmond Hunter, Stewart A. Carter, Peter Walls, Kah-Ming Ng, David Schulenberg, and Clive Brown. “Ornaments.”, “Italian 1600-50.” “Repicco.” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 7 Mar. 2021. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000049928. ↩︎
Ibd. See footnote 20. ↩︎
Ibd. See footnote 20. ↩︎
Vincent, Dumestre. Luis Briceno Spanish music in France program notes, Chanto Records, city .(date). ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 20. ↩︎
Zapico, Pablo The Rasgueado Technique, Part I, LSA Quarterly Summer & Fall 2018. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 69. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 25. Pg. 6. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 28. Pg 41 ↩︎
As time grew on, composers left out obvious dots that a serious lute student would already know. Since the first finger is completing the brushing action, the middle finger is needed to resolve the dissonance. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 68. ↩︎
MONTESARDO, GIROLAMO, I lieti giorni di Napoli (Naples, 1612) reproduced in Rome and Naples, ed. by Gary Tomlinson, Italian Secular Song 1606-1636, 7 Vols. (London: Garland Publishing, 1986), III, pp. 229-268 ↩︎
See footnote 20. ↩︎
See footnote. 19. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 28. ↩︎
Ibd. See Footnote 29. ↩︎
Mersenne is quoted that he enjoys the famous guitarre l’espagnol in his treatise. ↩︎
See footnote 3. ↩︎

Tip

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Matthew Xie - Batterie & Baroque Guitars - 2021

Batterie & Baroque Guitars

A historical study and analysis of French style batterie-technique in baroque guitar repertoire.

II. Research Question

Table of Contents

Introduction

1.1. Strumming?

1.2. Scope and Perspective

1.3. Guitar’s Reputation in France

II. Research Process

2.1. Parameters and State of Scholarship

2.2. Renaissance Guitar Consideration in this Study

2.3. French Baroque Lute Considerations in this research

III. Research methodology: History and origins

3.1. Criticisms of the Baroque Guitar

3.2. The Baroque Guitar in French Theatre & Art

3.3. Publications in France Pre-Corbetta (1626-1640)

3.4. 1648-1660 Socio-Political Situation in France:Rise of French Nationalism

3.5. Baroque Guitar 1st phase in Italy (1598-1639)

3.5.1 Francesco Corbetta (1615-1685)

3.5.2. Corbetta first travels to the French courts 1648-53)

3.6. First Solo Baroque Guitar Publications and Transitional Figures (1660-1682)

3.7. Final Phase of the Baroque Guitar in France (1682-1705)

IV. Research Methodology: Technique

4.1 Tablature and Alfabeto

4.1.1 On the subject of Alfabeto

4.2. Technique Guide Methodology

V. Critical Analysis of Sources and Techniques

5.Historical Overview of Baroque Guitar Publications in France

5.1. Criticisms of the Baroque Guitar

5.2. The Baroque Guitar in French Theatre & Art

5.3. Publications in France Pre-Corbetta (1626-1640)

The Curious Case of Luis de Briceño’s 1626 Metodos mui facilssimo publication

Etienne Moulinié: Air de cour for the French baroque guitar

Mersenne’s Harmonié Universelle’s Pedagogical approach

Pierre Trichet on the Denigration of Lute Culture

5.4. Francesco Corbetta (1615-1681)

5.4.1. Brief overview & Life before France and first publication (1615-1639)

5.4.2. Corbetta’s second book and the beginnings of the 2nd phase of the Baroque guitar 1639-1643

5.5. The first French baroque guitar solo publications

5.6. The Transition Figures

5.7. Final Baroque Guitar School in France

6. Technique

6.1 What is strumming ?

6.2. RH symbols and designations

6.3. Repicco Strumming Ornament

6.4. Marin Mersenne in relation to Zapico’s instruction

6.4.1 RH Tone Production and Arpeggiation

6.5. Cross Examination of the “Authentic” French baroque guitar: Robert De Visée and François Campion

6.6. Wrist and Arm Motion:

6.7. Location of Strum:

6.8. Alfabeto

6.9. Early Baroque Tablature

6.9.1 French Tablature Overview

VII. Conclusions

VIII. Bibliography

8. Primary Sources

9. Secondary Sources

Grove Dictonary of Music

10. Index

11. Footnotes