RENBOURN JOHN, COMPLETE ANTHOLOGY OF MEDIEVAL & RENAISSANCE MUSIC FOR GUITAR. CD TABLATURE
Product Description:
A collection of 28 fingerstyle guitar solos and duets by fingerstyle guitarist John Renbourn. These solos are drawn from Medieval and Renaissance lute dance tunes and solos. All solos are in notation and tablature. The online audio contains 17 of the solos from the book. 176 PAGES
The title of this collection - Mel Bay's Complete Anthology of Medieval and Renaissance Music for the Guitar - may be somewhat misleading. The guitar as we know it, with six single strings, did not emerge until the end of the eighteenth century, so, strictly speaking I suppose, there really isn't any music specifically for the instrument before that time. Also, of course, the body of early music is vast and this volume contains only a small number of selected pieces. However, for some time now I have periodically made transcriptions of early pieces mainly for my own enjoyment and, since virtually all of these are contained here, in effect this book represents the "complete collection" of my medieval and Renaissance arrangements. My own interest in early music runs parallel to my interest in western folk music. It was, and still is, intriguing to consider the characteristics that are common in both - the same old modal framework and the recurrence of particular note groupings, as well as strong metric and rhythmic similarities. I discovered that even whole pieces, thought to exist only in manuscript, occasionally cropped up remarkably intact in current folk playing, and instruments long assumed silent were found to be still sounding in remote areas of Europe. At some point I began trying out the application of one approach to the other, by taking a medieval dance tune and treating it as I would a jig or reel, or drawing on contrapuntal practice in making arrangements of folk songs. After a while I found myself with arrangements of a variety of pieces from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. These were ones that appealed to me for their inherent musical characteristics, not simply because they were old and venerable. Quite often the attraction lay in the use of scale or mode - the arresting rise to the minor seventh at the opening of "Lamento di Tristan" for example, or the freshness of the major mode in "Stantipes" and "English Dance," that must at the time have had a heady effect. Or again, in contrast to these, the almost bizarre melodic content of "Der Judentanz." Others I liked largely for their phrasing and rhythmic makeup - the sneaky additive measures of the second "Saltarello" which contributes so much to the construction of the piece, and the underlying patterns of "Trotto," asymmetrical yet still eminently danceable. Then there were the developing concepts of early part-writing, the great period of Guillaume de Machaut, whose three-part canonic ballade maintains a spacious sense of modality while employing almost an entire chromatic scale, and later the schools of Renaissance counterpoint with works by Byrd and Dowland, both of whom made settings of popular tunes that have endured in the folk tradition. Pieces of this type are all included here, not as dry examples of period style but because each one has its own particular magic. As to the o~iginal instrumentation of the pieces, the earlier dance tunes would probably have been played--on whatever came to hand; blown, plucked or bowed. A number of the arrangements, though, are specificallyfor plucked instruments, such as the gittern, vihuela, bandora and lute. Others are keyboard pieces and even reductions of consort settings. I like to play them on the steel-string guitar. Metal-strung instruments have a long pedigree, going back to the medieval harp, and include the bandora, orpharion and cittern. I find that the balance and sustain of steel strings can be effective both for the dance tunes and for the more intricate contrapuntal pieces. This is not meant to deter the classical guitarist, who is probably already aware of at least some of the pieces, but rather to put forward the steel-string as being well-suited to music of this type~ The nylon-strung guitar has already inherited a good deal from the lute and vihuela repertoire but nearly all of the other arrangements here should work equally well.
10. Se lo M'Accorgo
The authorship of this attractive Renaissance ltalian Iute piece is uncertain. It has been tentatively Iinked to the Fiorentine composer Vincenzo Galilei, father of the astronomer Galileo. The old Fiorentine language is certainly used for the title which can be translated as "Had I But Known." The piece opens on the subdominant before finally settling on the home key and bears comparison with "The Irish Ho-Hoane" in this respeet. The descending imitative passages in the second part seem to reflect the title and transfer well onto the guitar.
Recording:
Davey Graham, The Complete Guitarist
Kicking Mule SNKF 138.
11& 12. Bransle qay and Bransle de Bourgogne
These are both from the Donseries of Claude Gervaise, comprehensive collectiQ.ns of dance tunes set in four and fìve parts published in the mfèl-fifteen hundreds. Frequendy drawing on folk material, Gervaise produced working arrangements for the enaissance band which are often catehy as well as practical. the bransle was, I believe, a French country dance originally - taking its name from "branler" meaning to gyrate. The dance enjoyed widespread popularity, catehing on in England where it became known as the "brawl" and continuing as a firm favorite in Scotland. Many of the pieces in the Danseries are still colored by the old modes - "Bransle Gay," in section one. has a mixolydian feel before settling on d-dorian. "Bransle de Bourgogne" begins squarely in D major but shifts to e-dorian after eight barS. This piece too has some subtle touches - the attractive figure at measures thirteen and fourteen, for example, and the choice of E minor for the final dose rather than a retum te D major. Recordings:
Medievol ond Renaissance Music for the lrish and Medieval
Horps - VièJe,Recorders ond Tombourin.
Tumabout TV430 19S. John Renbourn, The Lady ond the UnicornoShanachie 97022.
13. The lrish Ho-Hoane
One of a number of attractive short anonymous keyboard pieces in the Fitzwilliom Virginal book. "Ho-Hoane" is evidently a variation of "Och-One," the Irish lament for the dead. The arrangement is rather plain but works well that way. However, there is certainly room for melodie ornamentation on the repeats.
14. Bandora lullaby
The bandora, together with the orpharion, were metalstrung plucked instruments that shared the solo repertoire of the lute as wel/ as being consort instruments. The larger bandora had seven courses tuned G c d g c'e' a', the top five courses being equivalent to the modern guitar tuning, having the interval of a third between strings two and three. A small amount of specific bandora music has survived. One source is William Barley's New book of Tablature of 1596. This charming piece is by the Elizabethan composer Anthony Holborne. I have had to alter a few notes here and there to suit the guitar. The originai can be found in The Complete Works ofAnthony Holbome - Music for Lute ond Bandoro. (Harvard Publications in Music.)
15. Pavanne d'Espagne
This piece, known in England as the "Spanish Pavin," enjoyed immense popularity throughout the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and James I. Brisker in tempo, its more ornate dance steps set it apart from the conventional stately pavan. The setting here is by French lutenist Nicholas Vailet, from Le Secret Des Muses, Book Il, 1616. I have been tempted to include three pieces by Val/et. The part writing is sparse but with strong c1ear Iines which transpose well onto the guitar. By using the tuning C G c g c' f, which extends the normal range of the guitar by a fourth, it is possible to duplicate the Iute para and retaitl the distinction between bass and treble. Other settings for the Iute are included in William Ballet's Lute Book and Thomas Robinson's Schoole of Musidce. An arrangement for keyboard by Dr. John Bull is te be found in the Frtzwilliom Virginal book.
16. Bouree I and Bouree "
Aiso from Nieholas Val/et's Le Secret Oes Muses, Book Il, a colleetion of popular songs and dance tunes arranged for solo Iute. 80th these pieces appeared earlier in the Terpsichore of Michael Praeterius and later, as variants, in Playford's The English Dandng Master.
Recordings:
Eugene M. Dombois, Iute, Michoel Proetorius
Terpsichore 1612. EMI C063-3Q-117.
James Tyler, Music ofthe Renaissance Virtuoso. Saga 5438.
John Renbourn, The B1ack Balloon. Shanachie 97009.
17. Mal Sirns
This piece has come down to us in a number of settings. It seems likely to have been a popular song and was known as the "English Echo" presumably from the imitative passages or chorus. Nicholas Val/et included a "Malsimmes, Bai Anglais" for solo Iute in Le Secret Oes Muses, Book " 1615, and yet another version in his second col/ection. There is also a keyboard setting by Giles Farnaby in the Fitzwilliom Virginal Book.
18. The Earle of Salisbury
The stately pavan was the most enduring of the court dances. The name is said to derive from "Padoana," the ancient dance of Padua, and the earliest noted version is from the beginning of the fifteen hundreds. This fine keyboard pavan is by one of· the outstanding English composers of the sixteenth century, William Byrd. Byrd included the piece in his colleetion Porthenio published in 161 l, the title page of which bears the inscription "the fìrst musicke that was ever printed for the virginalls." In spite of some necessary reductions in the outlay of the parts the piece as a whole, I think, transfers successfully onto the guitar.
Recording: John Renbourn, Sir John Alot Shanachie 97021.
19. Courante
Robert Ballard, lutenist to the French court, was a contemporary of Nicholas Vallet. His exceptional arrangements are contained in two· collections of Oiverses Pièces Mises sur le Luth, and include a number of pieces that appeared later in ...
Song Title: Composer/Source:
Alman - John Renbourn
Bandora Lullaby - John Renbourn
Bourree I - Bourree Ii - Nicolas Vallet
Bransle De Bourgogne - Claude Gervaise
Bransle Gay - Claude Gervaise
Courante - Robert Ballard
Fantasia - Alonso Mudarra
Gipsy Dance-Jew's Dance - Hans Neusiedler
Gittern Pavan - John Renbourn
Lachrimae Antiquae - John Dowland
Lamento Di Tristan-Rotta - John Renbourn
Mal Sims - John Renbourn
My Lord Willobie's Welcome Home - John Renbourn
Pavanne D'espagne - Nicolas Vallet
Redford's Meane - John Redford
Saltarello - John Renbourn
Salterello - John Renbourn
Se Lo M'accorgo - John Renbourn
Stantipes - John Renbourn
The Earl Of Salisbury - William Byrd
The English Dance - John Renbourn
The Irish Ho-Hoane - John Renbourn
The Moon Shines Bright - John Renbourn
Toy For Two Lutes - Thomas Robinson
Triple Ballarde - Guillaume De Machaut
Trotto - John Renbourn
Veri Floris - John Renbourn
Westron Wynde
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