Valdambrini 1646

Valdambrini, Ferdinando

Libro primo d'intavolatura di chitarra (1646)

I. Overview

This is the first of two little known engraved tablatures by the Roman guitarist, Ferdinando Valdambrini. The style emphasizes the use of slurs and melody notes on top of chords, somewhat similar to that of Foscarini. The re-entrant tuning is clearly called for in the preface and in the music itself. Overall, this is a difficult tablature to interpret and is quite unusual.

Title: Libro primo d'intavolatura di chitarra a cinque ordini. (Rome: n.p., 1646).

Description:
32 pp., engraved (recto/verso)
59 pieces
Foliation: (movable type: 1 fascicle of 4ff.)
Page Size -- I-Rsc: 21.2 cm. (width) X 30 cm.
Engraved Plate Size -- I-Rsc: c18 cm. X 24.4 cm.

II. Prefatory Material

p. (1) -- LIBRO PRIMO D'INTAVOLATURA DI CHITARRA A CINQUE ORDINI. DI FERDINANDO VALDAMBRINI ROMANO, DEDICATO ALL'ILLUSTRISSIMO E' REVERENDISSIMO SIGNOR D. PAOLO SAVELLI, ABBATE DI CHIARAVALLE, Roma 1646 con licenza de Superiori. [engraved plate with three cherubs, one with guitar, another with music; coat of arms below a drapery with the title]:

Valdambrini 1646 title page

p. (2) -- All'Ill.mo et Dev.mo Sig.e . . . [Dedication: Valdambrini states basically that the publication is to give fame to his patron, rather than to his own work.]

p. 3 -- Avertimenti: Per arrichiare, e perfettionare . . . [Basic instructions; Valdambrini mentions his debt to G.G. Kapsberger for the various signs and ornaments used in his book. A tuning chart is presented in both Italian and French tablature and clearly distinguishes between "unisoni" and "ottave." From this chart, it is apparent that Valdambrini used the re-entrant tuning without bourdons (bass strings) on the fifth and fourth courses: a-a, d-d, g-g, b-b, e. This is followed by brief explanations of arpeggios, slurs, ornaments, and other technical details, as well as an alfabeto chart in both Italian and French tablatures, divided into non-movable and movable (barre chords) shapes. The chords are as follows:]

+ABCDEFGHIKLMNOPS&
223000231013131314
202020233231111313
000222123230310131
031313013224413142
030201011013343121

[The K, P, S, and & chords are not actually used in the pieces, although all but the last are used in higher positions.]

[Other chords used in the tablature:]

C3C4G2G3G5H2H3H5H7K2K3K5K7M2M3M4M5M7
--4572357235723457
--4574579457923457
3?4?3464579457945679
4?5?23545793468567810
3?4?2352357235745679

 

N2N3N4N5N7N9P2P3P5S2S5S7
4567911457257
234579457257
234579235479
2345792355810
56781012235368

p. 4 -- Tavola per sonare sopra il basso . . . [Examples for realizing a figured bass; chords for each chromatic note of the scale, as well as cadenzes and harmonized scales.]

III. Notation

Tablature: Alfabeto and Italian tablature with measure lines, meter signs (triple only), and rhythm signs. Many of the chords have single numbers on the first course attached to them, as in the following example (p. 7) from a section of the fourth toccata:

Page 7 example notation

Range (highest fret used on each course):

5th course11th fret
4th course9th fret
3rd course9th fret
2nd course10th fret
1st course12th fret

Left-hand ornaments used: arpeggio (%), slurs, trillo (..)

Instrument: 5-course guitar

IV. Indices

There are a variety of genres in different keys, grouped by genres.

Index of Pieces (all for solo guitar):

PageTitleKeyMeter
p. 5Toccata primag[C]
p. 5[Toccata] secondaA[C]
p. 6[Toccata] terzaa[C]
p. 6[Toccata] quartad[C]
p. 8[Toccata] quintaF[C]
p. 9Corrente primad3/[4]
p. 9[Corrente] secondad3/[4]
p. 10[Corrente] terzad3/[4]
p. 10[Corrente] quartad3/[4]
p. 11[Corrente] quintad3/[4]
p. 11Partita primad3/[4]
p. 12Partita secondad3/[4]
p. 12[Corrente] sestaD3/[4]
p. 12Partita terzaD3/[4]
p. 13[Corrente] settimaa3/[4]
p. 13[Corrente] ottimaa3/[4]
p. 14[Corrente] nonaa3/[4]
p. 14Partitaa3/[4]
p. 15[Corrente] decimaa3/[4]
p. 15[Corrente] undecimaa3/[4]
p. 16[Corrente] dodecimag3/[4]
p. 16[Corrente] tredecimaBb3/[4]
p. 17Balletto primog3/[4]
p. 17[Balletto] secondoBb3/[4]
p. 18[Balletto] terzoF3/[4]
p. 18[Balletto] quartoF[C]
p. 19[Balletto] quintoF[C]
p. 19[Balletto] sestoC[C]
p. 20[Balletto] settimoC[C]
p. 20[Balletto] ottimoC3/[4]
p. 20[Balletto] nonoD3/[4]
p. 21[Balletto] decimoD3/[4]
p. 21[Balletto] undecimod3/[4]
p. 22[Balletto] dodecimod[C]
p. 22Gagliarda primaG3/[2]
p. 23[Gagliarda] secondae3/[2]
p. 23[Gagliarda] terzad3/[2]
p. 23[Gagliarda] quartaC3/[2]
p. 24[Gagliarda] quintaD3/[2]
p. 24[Gagliarda] sestag3/[2]
p. 25Alemana primad[C]
p. 25Partitad[C]
p. 25[Alemana] secondag[C]
p. 26BattagliaD[C]
p. 26GiromettaD[C]
p. 26CloridaD3/[4]
p. 27TurlurùD[C]
p. 27Fra [?]acopin[o?]D[C]
p. 27La LionoraD[C]
p. 27Ballo di M. FioreD[C]
p. 28Manima lo scorpioD[C]
p. 28VenetianaD[C]
p. 29SarabandaD3/[4]
p. 29GagliardaD[3/2]
p. 30-- Sua correnteD3/[4]
p. 30ModazzaD[C]
p. 32CaponaC3/[4]
p. 32SarabandaC3/[4]
p. 32CiacconaC3/[4]

 

Index of Genres:

The following chart summarizes the solo guitar contents of the book by genre. Major genres are given by the form used in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2d ed., with the forms actually used in the book in parentheses. Lesser known titles are grouped under "miscellaneous dances" and "songs." Rhythmic variations and rotte are considered part of the main work.

Genres:totalmajorminormeter
Corrente143113/[4]
Balletto12937 in 3/[4]
and 5 in [C]
Galliard (Gagliarda)7433/[2]
Partita5144 in 3/[4]
and 1 in [C]
miscellaneous songs (Battaglia, Clorida, Turlurù, Fra [?]acopin[o?], La Lionora)5503 in [C]
and 2 in 3/[4]
miscellaneous dances (Girometta, Minimo lo Scorpio, Venetiana, Modazza, Capone)5504 in [C]
and 1 in 3/[4]
Toccata523[C]
Allemande (Alemana)202[C]
Sarabande (Sarabanda)2203/[4]
Romanesca (Ballo di M. Fiore)110[C]
Chaconne (Ciaccona)1103/[4]
Totals:59332631 in 3/[4],
21 in [C], and
7 in 3[2]

Index of Keys Used (solo guitar only):

Keys used in the book; an * indicates that the key is only used in a passacaglia. Note that the pitch is relative and that since the guitarist was using tablature, there was no need to think in terms of traditional key signatures.

A major1 A minor7
B flat major2 B flat minor0
B major0 B minor0
C major7 C minor0
C sharp major0 C sharp minor0
D major18 D minor13
E flat major0 E flat minor0
E major0 E minor1
F major4 F minor0
F sharp major0 F sharp minor0
G major1 G minor5
A flat major0 A flat minor0

Index of Names:

KAPSBERGER, Gio. Girolamo
Per arrichiare, e perfettionare al possibile questo istromento, mi sono prevalso di molti modi, a maniere usate in altre sorti d'istromenti, come l'arpeggiare, il strascino, il groppeggiare, il trillo et altre inventioni del Sig. Gio. Girolamo Kapsberger Nobile Alemano stampati gia in diversi suoi libri . . . p. 3

SAVELLI, Paolo
LIBRO PRIMO D'INTAVOLATURA DI CHITARRA . . . DEDICATO ALL'ILLUSTRISSIMO E' REVERENDISSIMO SIGNOR D. PAOLO SAVELLI, ABBATE DI CHIARAVALLE . . . p.(1) [title page]

All' Illustrissimo et Reverendissimo Signor et Padrone Colendissimo Il Signor D. Pauolo [sic] Savelli, Abbate di Chiaravalle . . . p.(2) [dedication to]

VALDAMBRINI, Ferdinando [composer]
LIBRO PRIMO D'INTAVOLATURA DI CHITARRA A CINQUE ORDINI. DI FERDINANDO VALDAMBRINI ROMANO . . . p.(1) [title page]

[dedication signed:] . . . Di Roma . . . Divotissimo, et Obligatissimo Servitore Ferdinando Valdambrini. p.(2)

V. Bibliography

Boye, Gary R. "Giovanni Battista Granata and the Development of Printed Guitar Music in Seventeenth-Century Italy" (diss., Duke Univeristy, 1995).

________. "Performing Seventeenth-Century Italian Guitar Music: the Question of an Appropriate Stringing" in Performance on Lute, Guitar and Vihuela: Historical Practice and Modern Interpretation, ed. V.A. Coelho (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).

Eisenhardt, Lex. "Bourdons as Usual." Lute Society Journal (UK) XLVII (2007): 1-37.

Hall, Monica. "A Few More Observations on Baroque Guitar Stringing." Lute Society Journal (UK) XLVIII (2008): 71-75.

Kitsos, Theodoros. "Arpeggiated Chords in Early Seventeenth-Century Italy." Lute Society Journal (UK) XLII (2002): 54-72.

Répertoire international des sources musicales: Einzeldrucke vor 1800. RISM A/I [V 29

Tyler, James, and Paul Sparks. The Guitar and Its Music: From the Renaissance to the Classical Era (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002): 72-74, 77-78, 88.

VI. Exemplars

I-Rsc = Italy: Roma, Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia, Biblioteca Musicale Governativa (visited in 1992)

Condition: inside of pages badly damaged with some music missing; large, legible print

Binding: recent blue/pink/grey marbled with white spine

Manuscript additions:
3 added folios at front
p. 1 -- bottom, purple stamp: "BIBLIOTECA . . . ACCADEMIA DI S. CECILIA . . ." [blurred; also on p. 9]
[ff. 1-10 numbered in pencil top right but erased or out of order from then . . .]

corrigenda in ink:
p. 2 -- 2nd st. from bottom, m.2, brownish ink: 7 added over & chord; 2 highlighted [?]; 8/2nd > 0/2nd [?]
p. 4 -- st.1, m.5: 6 added over Ab
p. 4 -- last st., m.1: last three rhythm signs added
p. 9 -- st.7, last 2 mm.: slur added
p. 11 -- st.7, m.4: everything after D added by hand; st.9, end: last 2 mm. from 3/1st XXX out
p. 13 -- st.3, m.2: 2 added to N
p. 14 -- st.3, m.9: 1/2 and 1/4 notes added; st.7,m.8: 5/1st > 4/1st; st.8,m.7,bt.1: 0/3rd added
p. 15 -- st.2, last m.: 5/5th > 4 5th
p. 17 -- st.3, m.7, bt.3: 1/2nd > 4/2nd; 1/1st highlighted?; st.7,m.3: upstroke added under N5
p. 18 -- st.5, m.4: 2/2nd > 3/2nd [?]
p. 19 -- st.3, m.2: N3 > M3
p. 20 -- st.6, m.5,bt.1: 1/4 note added
p. 23 -- st.7, m.4,last note: 7/1st > 2/1st
p. 24 -- st.7, last m.: 0 highlighted
p. 25 -- st.8, m.6, bt.3: 1/4 note added; m.9, bt.3: 1/4 note added; m.11: 1/2 note and 1/4 note added; st.9,end,under O: ddu/d [HL??]
p. 26 -- st.5, m.6: "Girometta" added; st.7, m.5, bt.1: 2/2nd > 3/2nd; st.8, m.5: "Clorida" added
p. 27 -- st.1, m.4: "Turlurù" added; st.4, m.1: "Frà/faco-/pino" [?]; st.5, m.3, bt.3: dotted 1/2 note added; m.5: "la Lionora" added; st.6, last m.: 3/2nd added; st.7: "Gallo di M, Fiore" added; st.7, m.6: 1/2 note w/ # added [?]; st.9,mm.6-7: "Zuffa" added; all rhythm signs changed to next faster value
p. 28 -- st.1: all rhythm signs changed to faster value; st.2, mm.1-2: 1/4 > 1/8; 1/8 > 1/16 with tie; st.4, m.3: "Manima lo scorpiò" added; st.6, m.7: "Venetiana" added
p. 29 -- st.6, m.4: "Sarabanda" added; st.8,m.11: "Gagliarda" added
p. 30 -- st.3, m.1: "Sua Corrente" added; st.6: "Modazza" added
"FINE" added

A copy is available in microfilm.


© Copyright Gary R. Boye 1995–2024

© Copyright Gary R. Boye 1995–2022

Lute, Guitar, & Vihuela Home

Baroque Guitar Home