THE RENAISSANCE GUITAR, FREDERICK NOAD. Music sales CD

THE RENAISSANCE GUITAR, DI FREDERICK NOAD. CD

The first in this book-and-CD anthology of solos, duets and songs covering four centuries of composers for the guitar and lute family. Taken from original sources, and carefully fingered for the modern player, the transcriptions are as faithful as possible to the original while at the same time offering a practical performing score.

Preface

The Frederick Noad Guitar Series is a response to the need of the very large number of players who have mastered basic guitar techniques and want interesting and well written musical selections for further study and enjoyment. There is an enormous amount of music for the guitar, rivaling or surpassing in quantity that for any other instrument. But the quality of both music and fingering varies enormously, and it is probably true that there is more bad or dull music in print for this instrument than for any other.

The reasons for this poor quality are not hard to find. First, few major composers wrote for the guitar since technical difficulties demand that the composer either play the guitar himself or work closely with a player. Second, the many players who wrote music for the guitar were usually poor composers relying on special effects or superficial charm to attract the listener. Third, editors have rarely had the specialized knowledge to recognize a good guitar piece and have printed music for the guitar that would be considered totally inadequate if published for the piano or violin. It is thus difficult for even the accomplished player to find good music. Outlets for guitar scores are usually confined to major cities; the majority of players must shop from catalogs supplied by publishers and invariably have to discard much of what they buy. Anthologies are few, and in many of these the player responsible for fingering has altered the original score to suit his own taste. There does exist, however, much fine music, and I think that such music should be presented in reasonably priced and easily accessible editions. This series attempts to meet this goal. The series is conceived in three parts-Renaissance, Baroque and Classical. The books contain original transcriptions as well as recognized favorites and present much music unavailable elsewhere. In addition, I have put each period in perspective and introduced the major composers, forms, and playing styles of the time. The selections are classified in three levels: basic, intermediate, and advanced. Brief notes are given at points of technical difficulty. It is hoped that the learner will find enjoyment in the early sections and that the seasoned player will find material in the more challenging works. However, at all levels I have tried to maintain a high standard of musical interest. The selections have been carefully transcribed from original sources, either manuscript or first edition, and every effort has been made to respect the composer's intention. These anthologies, however, must inevitably represent the taste of one person. It is impossible to please everyone, but I hope most sincerely that other players will share, at least in part, the pleasure I have found in these selections.

About the Music

In transcribing these pieces for the guitar, I have tried to produce playable and natural versions for the instrument while keeping every possible part of the original. The lowest courses of the lute have had to be transposed an octave, but since they were little used this is not a serious problem. The music for the four-course guitar and vihuela has necessitated no changes of this kind, and the lyra-viol music lies comfortably on the guitar without alteration. It has been necessary to transpose the keys of the lute pieces to adapt to the lower pitch of the guitar. Thus the music is not in its true pitch, but it is in its correct relationship to the open strings. Guitarists may wish to remedy this by putting a capotastro on the third fret, which will result in both the correct key and correct relationship to the open strings. Transposing up by any other means makes the music extremely difficult, if not impossible, to play. The choice of pieces is personal, so there is no particular balance between countries of origin or individual composers. I have invariably preferred to choose music for qualities that appeal to me rather than suffer the restriction of even representation. I have not presumed to correct these excellent composers in any way except in the case of obvious typographical errors. However, I have occasionally dropped a note in a chord where the chord was easy and natural to the lute but difficult and strained on the guitar. This is from a desire to preserve the continuity of a phrase or cadence, which I feel serves the composer's intention better than some technical contortion to save a note. The problem can often be solved by tuning the third string down a semitone, but inexperienced players have such a resistance to doing this that I have in general avoided the expedient. However, two pieces for the advanced player, the fantasias by Dowland and Mudarra, are fingered this way to ease technical problems. In all cases, the suggested fingering is editorial. Although scholarship has its important place, I feel that the main purpose of publishing music is to enable it to be played and listened to with enjoyment. Hence the study notes are directed to the player to assist him in learning the piece, and biographical and musicological references are brief. The player interested in further reading will find material suggested in the notes.

Many of the extended pieces which appear in these books are not particularly suitable for modern performance since they tend to amble on in a quite pleasant but not very striking fashion. However, there are some notable exceptions, particularly Mudarra's "Fantasia," in which he imitates the style of a famous harpist of the day, Ludovico. This is reproduced on p.108.Valdemibano is represented by his "Sonnet" on p.39 which has the charm and feeling of a lullaby. Vocal works include Milan's "Toda mi vida os arne" p.56 , for which two accompaniments are given. Against the simple accompaniment the singer would elaborate the vocal line (hacer garganta), but when the guitarist played the ornamental accompaniment the singer would keep to the written notes (cantar llano). "Morenica de me un beso" p.68 by Juan Vasquez, which is found in Fuenllana's Orphenica lyra, has great charm and gaiety, and his songs in general stand out as the most interesting of the period. The vihuela music in these books is printed in tablature rather than conventional musical notation. The six courses of the vihue1a are each represented by a line, and a number on the line indicates the fret to be played. The time is indicated above the lines.

The example shown is the opening of the pavane by Luis Milan transcribed in full on p.40. Note that the time indications give only the period from one note or chord to the next; the player or editor must decide which notes are held over. The later books used the same form of notation, except that the highest string was represented by the bottom rather than the top line. Milan's arrangement corresponds to French lute tabulature, although the French used letters rather than numbers. The form used by other vihuela composers corresponds to Italian lute tabulature. The example shown from Narvaez's "Guardame las vacas" illustrates the Italian form. The full transcription of this piece appears on p.78 ; it is an interesting and melodious example of the earliest form of theme and variations. 
FREDERICK NOAD

Air (John Dowland)
Almain [Cutting, Francis]
Alman [Johnson, Robert]
As I Went To Walsingham (Anon)
Ballet (Elias Mertel)
Branle De Bourgogne (Adrien Le Roy)
Branle Gay (Jean Baptiste Besard)
Come Heavy Sleep (John Dowland)
Drewrie's Accordes (Anon)
Entree De Luth (Robert Ballad)
Fantasia (Alonso De Mudarra)
Fantasia (Miguel De Fuenllana)
Fantasia [Dowland, John]
Fantasia(Anon)
Galliard (Alfonso De Mudarra)
Galliard (Philop Rosseter)
Galliard To The Flatt Pavin (John Johnson)
Galliard( Anthony Holborne)
Go From My Window (Anon)
Greensleeves (Francis Cutting)
Guardame Las Vacas (Luis De Narvaez)
La Rossignol (Anon)
Lady Hammond's Alman (John Dowland)
Lady Hunsdon's Alman (John Dowland)
Lesson For Two Lutes [Anon]
Melancholy Galliard [Dowland, John]
Morenica Da Me Un Beso (Juan Vasquez)
Mr. Southcote's Pavan (Thomas Ford)
Mrs. Anne Harecourt's Galliard (Francis Pilkington)
Mrs. Taylor's Galliard (Philip Rosseter)
My Love Hath Vowed (Thomas Campion)
Never Weather-beaten Sail [Campion, Thomas]
Of My Complaints Could Passions Move (John Dowland)
Pavan (Luis Milan)
Queen Elizabeth Galliard [Dowland, John]
Recercate Concertante (Francesco Da Milano & Joanne Matelart)
Rest Sweet Nymphs [Pilkington, Francis]
Shall I Come Sweet Love To Thee (Thomas Campion)
Sonnet(Enriquez De Valderrabano)
Spagnoletta (Anon)
Tanz (Georg Fuhrmann)
Tarleton's Resurrection [Dowland, John]
The Cobbler (Anon)
The Flatt Pavin (John Johnson)
The King Of Denmark's Galliard (John Dowland)
The Night Watch (Anthony Holborne)
The Parlement (Anon)
The Round Battle Galliard [Dowland, John]
Toda Mi Bida Os Ame (Luis Milan)
Toy (Francis Cutting)
Toy For Two Lutes (Thomas Robinson)
Volt (Anon)
When From My Love (John Bartlet)
When To Her Lute Corinna Sings (Thomas Campion)
Wilson's Wilde (Anon)