The vihuela () is a 15th-century fretted plucked Spanish string instrument, shaped like a guitar (figure-of-eight form offering strength and portability) but tuned like a
lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
. It was used in 15th- and 16th-century Spain as the equivalent of the lute in Italy and has a large resultant repertory. There were usually five or six doubled strings.
A bowed version, the vihuela de arco (arco meaning bow), was conceived in Spain and made in Italy from 1480. One consequence was the phrase vihuela de mano being thereafter applied to the original plucked instrument. The term ''vihuela'' became "viola" in Italian ("viole" in Fr.; "viol" in Eng.), and the bowed vihuela de arco was to serve as a prototype in the hands of the Italian craftsmen for the "
da gamba" family of fretted bowed string instruments, as developed starting in 1480. Their vihuela-inherited frets made these easier to play in tune than the
rebec
The rebec (sometimes rebecha, rebeckha, and other spellings, pronounced or ) is a bowed stringed instrument of the Medieval era and the early Renaissance. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and one to five strings.
Origi ...
family (precursors of the "
da braccio" family), and so they became popular for chamber music.
History
![ViolaDaMano Raimondi c1510](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/ViolaDaMano_Raimondi_c1510.jpg)
The ''vihuela'', as it was known in Spanish, was called the ''viola de mà'' in
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
, ''viola da mano'' in Italian and ''viola de mão'' in
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
. The two names are functionally synonymous and interchangeable. In its most developed form, the vihuela was a guitar-shaped instrument with six double-strings (paired courses) made of
gut. Vihuelas were tuned identically to their contemporary Renaissance
lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
;
4ths and mid-3rd (44344, almost like a modern
guitar tuning
Guitar tunings are the assignment of pitches to the open strings of guitars, including acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and classical guitars. Tunings are described by the particular pitches that are made by notes in Western music. By ...
, with the exception of the third string, which was tuned a
semitone
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically.
It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...
lower).
Plucked vihuelas, being essentially flat-backed lutes, evolved in the mid-15th century, in the
Kingdom of Aragón
The Kingdom of Aragon ( an, Reino d'Aragón, ca, Regne d'Aragó, la, Regnum Aragoniae, es, Reino de Aragón) was a medieval and early modern kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, ...
, located in north-eastern Iberia (Spain). In Spain, Portugal, and Italy the vihuela was in common use by the late 15th through to the late 16th centuries. In the second half of the 15th century, some vihuela players began using a bow, leading to the development of the
viol
The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitc ...
.
There were several different types of vihuela (or different playing methods at least):
*Vihuela de mano: 6 or 5 courses played with the fingers
*Vihuela de penola: played with a plectrum
*Vihuela de arco: played with a bow (ancestor of the
viola da gamba
The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitch ...
)
Tunings for 6 course vihuela de mano (44344):
* G C F A D G
* C F B D G C
Although mainstream use of the vihuela has faded away, traces of the complex polyphonic music that was its repertoire in the late 16th century, along with the other primary instrument of the Spanish and Portuguese Renaissance, the
cross-strung harp
The cross-strung harp or chromatic double harp is a multi-course harp that has two rows of strings which intersect without touching. While accidentals are played on the pedal harp via the pedals and on the lever harp with levers, the cross-strung ...
, both of which can be heard in Mexican Mariachi music. The vihuela's descendants that are still played are the ''
violas campaniças'' of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
. Much of the vihuela's place, role, and function was taken up by the subsequent
Baroque guitar
The Baroque guitar (c. 1600–1750) is a string instrument with five courses of gut strings and moveable gut frets. The first (highest pitched) course sometimes used only a single string.
History
The Baroque guitar replaced the Renaissance lut ...
(also sometimes referred to as vihuela or bigüela). Currently, the vihuela is in widespread use in Mexican Mariachi music, where its distinctive sound is featured in solos. Additionally, the vihuela is used for the performance of
early music, using modern replicas of historical instruments. Today, instruments like the
tiple
A tiple (, literally treble or soprano), is a plucked typically 12-string chordophone of the guitar family. A tiple player is called a ''tiplista''. The first mention of the tiple comes from musicologist Pablo Minguet e Irol in 1752. Although ma ...
are descendants of vihuelas brought to America in the 16th century.
Construction
Vihuela bodies were lightly constructed from thin flat slabs or pieces of wood, bent or curved as required. This construction method distinguished them from some earlier types of string instruments whose bodies (if not the entire instrument including the neck) were carved out from a solid single block of wood. The back and sides of common
lutes
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can re ...
were also made ''of pieces'' however, being multiple curved or bent ''staves'' joined and glued together to form a bowl, made from cypress with a spruce or cedar top.
Vihuela (and violas da gamba) were built in different sizes, large and small, a family of instruments. Duet music was published for vihuelas tuned one step, a minor third, a fourth, or a fifth apart, as well as unison tuned.
The physical appearance of vihuelas was varied and diverse; there was little standardization and no mass production. Overall and in general, vihuelas looked very similar to modern guitars. The first generation of vihuela, from the mid-15th century on, had sharp cuts to its waist, similar to that of a violin. A second generation of vihuela, beginning sometime around 1490, took on the now-familiar smooth-curved figure-eight shaped body contours. The sharp waist-cut models continued to be built into the early-to-mid-16th century, side by side with the later pattern. Many early vihuelas had extremely long necks, while others had the shorter variety. Top decoration, the number, shape, and placement, of sound holes, ports, pierced rosettes, etc., also varied greatly. More than a few styles of peg-boxes were used as well.
Vihuelas were chromatically fretted in a manner similar to
lutes
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can re ...
, by means of movable, wrapped-around and tied-on gut frets. Vihuelas, however, usually had ten frets, whereas lutes had only seven. Unlike modern guitars, which often use steel and bronze strings, vihuelas were gut strung, and usually in paired courses. Gut strings produce a sonority far different from metal, generally described as softer and sweeter. A six course vihuela could be strung in either of two ways: with 12 strings in 6 pairs, or 11 strings in total if a single unpaired ''chanterelle'' is used on the first (or highest pitched) course. Unpaired chanterelles were common on all
lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
s, vihuelas, and (other) early guitars (both
Renaissance guitar
The evolution of classical guitars began with the influences of the vihuela and gittern in the sixteenth century and ended with the modern classical guitar in the mid nineteenth century.
Precursors to the classic guitar
Renaissance stringed ins ...
s and
Baroque guitar
The Baroque guitar (c. 1600–1750) is a string instrument with five courses of gut strings and moveable gut frets. The first (highest pitched) course sometimes used only a single string.
History
The Baroque guitar replaced the Renaissance lut ...
s).
Repertoire
The first person to publish a collection of music for the vihuela was the Spanish composer
Luis de Milán
Luis de Milán (also known as Lluís del Milà or Luys Milán) (c. 1500 – c. 1561) was a Spanish Renaissance composer, vihuelist, and writer on music. He was the first composer in history to publish music for the vihuela de mano, an instru ...
, with his volume titled ''Libro de música de vihuela de mano intitulado El maestro'' of 1536 dedicated to
King John III of Portugal
John III ( pt, João III ; 7 June 1502 – 11 June 1557), nicknamed The Pious (Portuguese: ''o Piedoso''), was the King of Portugal and the Algarves from 1521 until his death in 1557. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the th ...
. The notational device used throughout this and other vihuela music books is a numeric
tablature
Tablature (or tabulature, or tab for short) is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches.
Tablature is common for fretted stringed instruments such as the guitar, lute or vihuela, as well as many fr ...
(otherwise called "lute tablature"), which is also the model from which modern "guitar tab" was fashioned. The music is easily performed by retuning to Classic lute and vihuela tuning (44344). The
tablature
Tablature (or tabulature, or tab for short) is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches.
Tablature is common for fretted stringed instruments such as the guitar, lute or vihuela, as well as many fr ...
system used in all these texts is the "Italian" tablature, wherein the stopped frets are indicated by numbers and the lowest line of the staff represents the highest-pitch course (or string), resembling the neck of the instrument in playing position; Milán's book also uses numbers to indicate the stopping of the courses but exceptionally it is the top line of the staff that represents the highest-pitch course, as in "French" tablature.
The printed books of music for the vihuela which have survived are, in chronological order:
* ''El Maestro
by
Luis de Milán
Luis de Milán (also known as Lluís del Milà or Luys Milán) (c. 1500 – c. 1561) was a Spanish Renaissance composer, vihuelist, and writer on music. He was the first composer in history to publish music for the vihuela de mano, an instru ...
(1536)
* ''Los seys libros del Delphin
by
Luis de Narváez
Luis de Narváez ( fl. 1526–1549) was a Spanish composer and vihuelist. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Narváez is known today for '' Los seys libros del Delphín'', a collection of polyphonic music for the vihuela which includes the ear ...
(1538)
* ''Tres Libros de Música
by
Alonso Mudarra
Alonso Mudarra (c. 1510 – April 1, 1580) was a Spanish composer of the Renaissance, and also played the vihuela, a guitar-shaped string instrument. He was an innovative composer of instrumental music as well as songs, and was the composer ...
(1546)
* ''Silva de Sirenas
by
Enríquez de Valderrábano (1547)
* ''Libro de Música de Vihuela
by
Diego Pisador (1552)
* ''Orphénica Lyra
by
Miguel de Fuenllana (1554)
* ''El Parnasso
by
Estevan Daça (1576)
Surviving instruments
There are three surviving historic vihuelas:
[''The surviving instruments'' section of ]
* The 'Guadalupe' vihuela in the
Musée Jacquemart-André
The Musée Jacquemart-André ( en, Jacquemart-André Museum) is a private museum located at 158 Boulevard Haussmann in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. The museum was created from the private home of Édouard André (1833–1894) and Nélie Jacq ...
* The 'Chambure' instrument in the
Cité de la Musique
The Cité de la Musique ("City of Music"), also known as Philharmonie 2, is a group of institutions dedicated to music and situated in the Parc de la Villette, 19th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was designed with the nearby Conservatoire d ...
* A relic of Saint Mariana de Jesús (1618–1645), kept in the
Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesús de Quito.
Modern versions of the vihuela continue to be made. Performers adept with the vihuela include the Scottish composer
Robert MacKillop, English lutenist
Julian Bream and the American artist
Hopkinson Smith
Hopkinson Smith (born December 7, 1946) is an American lutenist and pedagogue, longtime resident in Basel, Switzerland.
Smith was born in New York City, the son of architectural writer and photographer G. E. Kidder Smith. He graduated from ...
.
Bibliography
* Ronald C. Purcell: ''Classic Guitar, Lute and Vihuela Discography'', Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp., Melville, NY, 1976, 116 p., LC: 75-42912 (no ISBN) ("There are more than 100 artists listed as well as approximately 400 composers and 400 individual records.")
* Ian Woodfield: ''The Early History of the Viol'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1984 (includes much early vihuela history; viols are bowed vihuelas)
Notes
The words ''vihuela'' and ''viola'' are etymologically related.
"Vihuela." Real Academia Española, ''Diccionario de la Real Academia Española'', 23d ed. Online. Accessed 25 Dec. 2008.
/ref>
References
External links
Delphin
(with vihuela sound samples)
Sociedad de la Vihuela
Lex Eisenhardt, vihuelist
Stephen Barber & Sandi Harris, lutemakers and researchers
vihuelademano.com
Alexander Batov, vihuela maker and researcher
Capilla Cayrasco & Camerata Cayrasco, director Eligio Luis Quinteiro
Goldberg magazine: ''Los dos rinacimintos de la vihuela''
The 20th-century resurgence of the vihuela
* Several photos of Spanish vihuelas can be found among th
Liuteria d'insieme: lutemakers and researchers
Vihuela photos
{{Authority control
Guitar family instruments
Early musical instruments
Spanish musical instruments
Spanish words and phrases
Necked box lutes