Luis de Briceño (also ''Briçeño'', ''Brizeño'';

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1610s–1630s) was a Spanish guitarist and music theorist who introduced the Spanish guitar style in France, where previously only the

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), 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 "lu ...

was considered a serious plucked instrument. He travelled in high courtly circles in both countries, and is first cited as an authority on the Spanish guitar in 1614. His ''Metodo mui facilissimo para aprender a tañer la guitarra a lo español'' (1626, Very Easy Method to Learn to Play the Guitar in the Spanish Style) is the main source of knowledge of the Spanish style, since few books appeared during this period in Spain itself.The Guitar from the Renaissance to the Present Day - Page 56 Harvey Turnbull - 1992 "We have met one Spaniard whose work appeared early in the century, but outside Spain - Luis de Briceño. Within the country sources are few. One collection, unfortunately undated, in Musica de vihuela by Antonio de Santa Cruz." His own transcriptions include ''villanos,

villancico The ''villancico'' ( Spanish, ) or vilancete ( Portuguese, ) was a common poetic and musical form of the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America popular from the late 15th to 18th centuries. Important composers of villancicos were Juan del Encina, P ...

s, pasacalles, tonos frances, españoletas, romances, folías,

seguidilla The seguidilla (; ; plural in both English and Spanish ''seguidillas''; diminutive of ''seguida'', which means "sequence" and is the name of a dance). Accessed May 2008. is an old Crown of Castile, Castilian folksong and dance form in quick triple ...

s'' and a "Danza de la Hacha". A selection were recorded by

Le Poème Harmonique Le Poème Harmonique is a musical ensemble founded in 1998 by Vincent Dumestre to recreate and promote early music, in particular that of the 17th century. Using rare instruments such as the theorbo, the lirone, the tiorbino and the arpa tripla, ...

, directed by

Vincent Dumestre Vincent Dumestre (born 5 May 1968) is a French lutenist. In 1997 he founded the ensemble Le Poème Harmonique. Career He studied the classical guitar at the École Normale de Musique de Paris and art history at the École du Louvre. Afterwa ...

, for Alpha/Outhere in 2011.

Links

Digital copy of "Metodo mui facilissimo..." at National Library in France https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1168966d.image

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Briceño, Luis Spanish guitarists Spanish male guitarists Spanish music theorists Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown