Author Description

Miguel de Fuenllana, an outstanding musical figure of the Renaissance Spanish court, published his superb Orphénica Lyra, a voluminous collection of music for vihuela -- predecessor of the modern guitar -- in 1554. The present edition of the Orphénica, the first since its original publication, comprises a transliteration of the original tablature notation of the source and, since tablature notation suggests only the essential outlines of the music it represents a reconstruction, of the music. Distinguished by an unusually rich and varied repertory, the Orphénica contains music for five- and six-course vihuela and four-course guitar, as well as for solo voices or vocal duo and instrument. The 51 fantasias by Fuenllana in the Orphénica form a particularly attractive feature of the volume. As noteworthy, however, are the many transcriptions for the lute-like vihuela of mass sections, motets, and secular compositions by such Renaissance masters as Josquin, Gombert, Willaert, Verdelot, Arcadelt, Morales, Francisco and Pedro Guerrero, Vazquez, and Mateo Flecha the Elder, some apparently unique to the Orphénica. It is remarkable to what extent Fuenllana, at least partially blind, achieved the transfer of the complex polyphony -- some in five or six parts -- of the original compositions he transcribed to the vihuela. If the Orphénica contains music of polyphonic complexity, it contains as well music of utmost simplicity: chordal tientos for instrumental solo and vocal compositions of striking grace and charm. Charles Gilbert Jacobs (1934-1995) was Distinguished Professor of Music at Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York. Among his publications are an edition of El Maestro by Luis de Milán, the Collected Works of Antonio de Cabezón, an edition of Antonio Valente’s Intavolatura de Cimbalo, and a Spanish Renaissance Songbook.