A
New Look at the Vihuela ~ by Rob MacKillop
"Vihuela
or lute, they are the same although not in the shape, whether they are of
four, five, six or more courses"
Mateo Aleman, Ortografia castellana (Mexico City, 1609)
"Vihuela
fn. Stringed musical instrument which according to Covarrubias was the lyre
of antiquity, but today it commonly means the same as the guitar"
Diccionario de Autoridades, Madrid 1726-39
Classical
guitarists have long appreciated the repertoire of the vihuela, a guitar-like
instrument which flourished in Spain
during the 16th century. Many artists have recorded pieces such
as ‘Guardame las vacas’, ‘Mille Regres’, by (or arranged by) Luis de Narvaez,
and the extraordinary ‘Fantasia que contrahaze la harpa en la manera de Ludovico’
by Alonso Mudarra. Emilio Pujol’s edition of a very small percentage of the
vihuela repertoire has proved a popular first port of call for classical guitarists
interested in this wonderful music.
There are seven extant 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. Their repertoire is generally of
a very high quality, and unlike, for example, the works of Dowland or Weiss,
can be played on the modern classical guitar without change. All the pieces
are written in Italian tablature, where numbers which correspond to fret positions
are placed on six lines, the six strings of the instrument. In all but one
case, the bottom line represents the first, thinnest string:
...the
exception being Luis Milan who wrote in his own style of tablature, which
is pretty much identical to modern guitar tab where the top line represents
the first string:
So
what is a vihuela? We have quite a bit of information, most of it contradictory,
with consequently a number deeply entrenched opinions among academics, luthiers
and performers as to what exactly a vihuela was. There are a number of surviving
instruments, none of which appear to be an ideal exemplar:
1. Jaquemart-André Museum, Paris: a very large bass vihuela, once
used in concerts by Emilio Pujol. Regarded today as a student luthier’s very
ornate presentation instrument, and of little use for the extant repertoire.
2. Quito, Ecuador: this instrument is encased with
the bones of a saint in the Church of the Compañía de Jesus, and
has not been available for extensive organological study. It is said that,
judging by the many scratch marks on the soundboard, it was used mainly for
strumming. Unlike baroque guitar music, there is no strumming notated in the
vihuela tablature.
3. Cité de la Musique, Paris: a fairly recent discovery, known
variously as E.0748 or ‘Chambure’ after its owner. A very pronounced figure
of eight shape, with a vaulted, fluted back. From small marks on the bridge,
this instrument seems to have been strung in octaves on the three lowest courses.
Some academics and luthiers argue that this is the best instrument to copy,
while others argue that it is not a vihuela at all, and doesn’t even belong
to the 16th century...
[Picture:
Chambure ‘vihuela’(?) copy by Alexander Batov]
4.
Dias, London: Championed mainly by luthier, Alexander
Batov, with the support of Romanillos and others.
Many vihuelas were adapted into five-course guitars towards the end of the
16th century, and a close
study of some of these instruments can yield insights into vihuela construction.
Batov, however, argues convincingly (here)
that the Dias instrument is not a guitar, but a vihuela. Like the Chambure,
the Dias has a vaulted, fluted back. Unlike the Chambure, however, the general
body outline is elongated with very shallow waists.
[Dias ‘vihuela’ by Alexander Batov]
When
it comes to iconography, there are even more options. The most famous images
come from the publications of
Milan,
Narvaez and Mudarra. The Milan
image (Orpheus taming the wild beasts) shows a figure-of-eight shape with many
soundholes, large and small:
[From
El Maestro by Luys Milan]
The
Narvaez shows a small bodied instrument with a long neck, similar to some South
American instruments today:
[From
Delphin de muisca by
Luys de Narvaez]
And
the Mudarra shows a shallow-waisted instrument, but with a bent-back pegbox:
[From
Tres Libros...para vihuela by Alonso Mudarra]
There
are number of other images and textual sources, none of which narrows the
field to any significant degree, and we are left with the assumption that
there was a great deal of variety in what was accepted as a vihuela in the
16th century. We should therefore expect our modern luthiers to
adopt a similar latitude of design, within reason, of course.
Most
luthiers agree that the instrument was double-strung. But here there is also
debate. Was the first course single or double? And were the basses unisons or
octaves? It seems sensible to conclude that some instruments were strung one
way, some another, and yet some another way.
So,
in conclusion, no two surviving instruments or drawings agree in all important
respects as to what exactly a vihuela is. The best we can say is that it started
out as a guitar-like instrument of the viol family, but towards the end of
its life it merged somewhat into the early baroque guitar. Many guitars were
called vihuelas, and vice versa.
©Rob
MacKillop, 2005
PS
Mention should also be made of the viola da mano, the style of vihuela popular
in Spanish dominions in Italy, especially Naples. This instrument is pictured
below, and was played by Francesco da Milano.
Madonna
and Child with Saints, altarpiece, ca. 1520 Girolamo dai Libri (Italian, Veronese,
1474-1555)
Pinturicchio:
Détail d'un musicien jouant une vihuela da mano (1492). Appartements Borgia,
Vatican
I
recently received this email from Philippe Mottet concerning the above painting:
"The
interresting thing with that instrument - apart from its long string length!
- is that it has been ordered and painted for Pope Borgia'appartments in
Roma. This Pope was Archbishop of Valencia, Spain, before he moved to Italy,
where he came with his complete "maison" (I don't know the word in english).
Valencia is considered to be the place of birth for the vihuela, probably
as a development of arabic instruments of the rebab type. Several names
of cities and villages of the coast of Valencia still has arabic resonances
today, the most famous beeing Benicasim. Concerning the Valencian origins
of the vihuela, see the "incontournable" Early History of the Viol by Ian
Woodfield. So do I consider the model of Pinturrichio as an interresting
vihuela-viola, as the vogue of the viola in Italy was in part imported from
Valencia by the Borgia. Philippe"
