The vihuela was a guitar-like instrument from the viol family which was popular in Spain and parts of Italy in the 16th century. There are seven extant Spanish publications for the vihuela from the 16th century, from seven different composers known affectionately as The Magnificent Seven: Milan, Narvaez, Mudarra, Valderábano, Fuenllana, Pisador and Daza. Over the coming year, I plan to add a lot of information to this site, so please inform me of anything which you think should be included here, such as related websites, essays, recordings, etc...
Last update: 28 December 2006
" ...at eleven o'clock in the night, Don Quixote found a vihuela in his room, he tuned it, opened the grill and heard some people moving about in the garden, and having run through the frets of the vihuela and tuned it as best he knew, he spat, cleared his throat, and then, with a slightly coarse but well tuned voice, he sang the following Romance that he himself had written that day" Cervantes, 1615.
What is a vihuela? ~ an innocent enough question, but the answer is hotly debated...
"...after the curfew bell, or, if there was no bell, after 9 o'clock, even though the sun might not have set, any person who was found with a vihuela or another musical instrument should be taken prisoner, and should lose his vihuela, weapons and dress, except, of course, in the case of weddings or feasts with a large number of people, well-lit with torches and candles." Decree of Alfonso V, 1459 [quoted in Corona thesis - see bibliography]
Free Vihuela Recordings and Scores
I have decided not to produce a CD of vihuela recordings, preferring instead to record Mp3 files which can be downloaded for free, alongside the scores in French tablature with transcriptions into guitar tuning, and short introductory comments.
First, some technical details for those interested
These recordings use gut strings sponsored by Aquila:
The following links are for free scores and MP3 files.
The vihuela I use was made by Alexander Batov (see below).
I use gut strings and play without fingernails.
Miguel de Fuenllana (1554 Vallodolid)
Luis de Narvaez (1538 Valladolid)
Enríquez de Valderábbano (1547 Valladolid)
Vengas de Henestrosa
Five Pieces from Libro de Cifra Nueva (1557)
from the webpages of Clive Titmus - scores onlyIf you enjoyed these free MP3 files, why not make a Donation? The following link will take you to a highly secure PayPal site. Please note that you do not require a PayPal account to use this method. All donations gratefully received!
"...he threw them into the fire with the greatest sobs and tears that could be described, and with that he arose taking up the vihuela, and with the consumate skill that he had in playing and singing, he sang this copla: Ardan mis tristes membranzas [...] And when he had finished singing the copla, he threw his vihuela into the fire..." Anon, 16th century [quoted in Corona thesis]
A trip to the workshop of Alexander Batov
Now of my sweet instrument
each string is a garrote,
and, instead of a vihuela, it
is a rack to torture...Luis de Gongora y Argote, 1595 (?) [quoted in Corona thesis]
[Vihuela rose by Rhona MacKillop, age 9]
"...when the night came, tortured by the usual melancholy of my thoughts, taking a vihuela, I went out by a back door to the fields, to put aside my worries, and to enjoy the fresh wind that was blowing..." Rojas, 1603
A collection of one hundred Ukrainian and Russian folk songs arraged for lute or vihulea.
Beautiful pieces for the lute/vihuela student.
Sign up for the vihuela and baroque guitar discussion group! Send a blank email with the word 'subscribe' (without the quotation marks) to: vihuela-request@cs.dartmouth.edu
The vihuela/baroque guitar archive can be found here.
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