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Spinacino 1507a: Description
Title Page: (f. 1r) Intabulatura de Lauto, Libro primo (f. 56r) Impressum Venetiis: Per Octavianum Petrutium Forosemproniensum: 1507. Cum privilegio invictissimi Dominii Venetiarum: quod nullus possit imprimere intabulaturam lauti, ut in suo privilegio continetur. Summary of Preface: (f. 2r) "Regula pro illis qui canere nesciunt" (Latin) and "Regole per quelli che non hanno cantare" (Italian; same content). The book is intended for the six-course lute, with the uppermost line of the tablature representing the "contrabasso." The numbers on the line indicate where to touch the frets: a "0" indicates an open string, a "1" the first fret, and so on. To avoid confusion, the tenth fret is indicated with a Roman numeral "X". An "X" with one dot above it equals the eleventh fret; two dots above an "X" indicate the twelfth (highest) fret. The numbers are not all given the same rhythmic value but are proportioned as indicated by the signs written above them. The vertical line ("|" or a semibreve) indicates the measure and must be played at a slow enough tempo to facilitate the performance of four quicker note values (stems with one, two, three, and four flags). Each of these is half the value of the preceding sign. A dot beside a rhythm sign increases the rhythmic value of that sign by half. Signs with curved flags indicate triplets (three of these equal the | sign); signs with backwards flags indicate quintuplets (five equal the | sign). Right-hand fingering is indicated with dots directly below the numbers: no dot equals a downwards stroke with the thumb, a dot equals an upward stroke with a finger. In playing chords, of course, the thumb plays the bass and the fingers the upper notes (which are not given dots).
Contents: Pieces followed by an "F.S." are specifically indicated in the tablature and index as being composed by Spinacino.
1. Ave Maria de Josquin (f. 3r) F.S. Notation: Italian lute tablature. Petrucci's prints are noteworthy for their extraordinary clarity; unlike later lute books which use blocks of movable type, Petrucci used a multiple-impression process that left seamless staves. Typographical errors do occur, but are relatively rare. The rhythm signs are placed directly above the numbers, not in a row above the staff as in most tablatures, which makes the work somewhat difficult to read: flags and dots can overlap staff lines and cause confusion. This use of "heightened" rhythm signs may have been a convenience to Petrucci in his printing process (i.e., the numbers and rhythm signs were printed together, over previously printed staves). Note also that each number is given an individual rhythm sign; in most lute tablatures a rhythm sign is assumed to repeat until a sign of a different value occurs. Based on the "Recercare de tutti li Toni" (f. 40v), it appears that an A tuning would be most logical: the piece would then begin on the first mode "D". Comparison of the original vocal models and the intabulations, along with the difficult left-hand stretches throughout the book, also indicates a smaller, alto instrument. Other transpositional tunings (poste) will be used in the thematic index to indicate the original pitch of the existing models. Location: No known copies survive, but a photocopy of the now-lost D:Bds copy is in F:Pn (and was used for the facsimile). A further copy in E:S also appears to have been lost. Bibliography (1980+): Jensen, Richard d'Arcambal, "The Lute Ricercar in Italy, 1507-1517," University of California, Los Angeles, Ph.D. diss., 1988. van Benthem, J. "Fortuna in focus; concerning 'conflicting' progressions in Josquin's Fortuna dun Gran Tempo," Tijdschrift van de vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis xxx, n.1 (date?): 1-50.
Facsimile: Intabolatura de lauto: libro primo & secundo. (Genève: Minkoff Reprint, 1978). ISBN: 2826606905 Go back to List of Lute Tablatures Go back to List of All Tablatures
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