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Richard Yates' Classical Guitar Transcriptions |
Lute Music in Tablature
Occasionally
my interests turn to Renaissance and Baroque lute music and I will add to the
files that are listed here. You will find both Acrobat and StringWalker files.
Please let me know if you have any problems with the files or notice errors
that I have made. richard@yatesguitar.com
The
This seventeenth century
manuscript collection contains more than 200 pieces for lyra-viol in 22
different tunings. 25 pieces have been selected for their suitability to the
lute.
Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger
(c. 1580-1651) was the pre-eminent player of the chitaronne in
Seven Toccatas by G.G. Kapsberger, Libro Terzo d’intavolatura
di Chitaronne, 1626
'Fair Phyllis I Saw' was originally a four voice part-song by John Farmer
(c.1560-?) the organist at Christ Church Cathedral in
Acrobat file - French
tab
Zipped StringWalker
file
MIDI sound file.
Thomas Morley (1557-1602) first made his mark with the publication in 1593 of
his 'Canzonets or Little Short Songs to Three Voyces'. These polyphonic songs
express a wide range of moods using close imitation. Surprisingly for such complex
music, they can be played on the lute with very little loss of clarity in the
texture. Only a very small number of notes have been omitted and I have been
able to intabulate them so that nearly all voice leading is preserved. Although
a few pieces offer a greater technical challenge, the majority seem quite
idiomatic on the lute. If you favor Francesco da Milano and Simone Molinaro you
will enjoy these canzonets immensely. Rather than post each one separately, I
have made intabulations of all twenty, converted them to Acrobat Reader files,
and 'zipped' them all together in one file. Please note that this makes a
rather large file to download - nearly 500KB - and may take a while to
download. Please try another, smaller file first, if you have not already done
so, to ensure that you will be able to unzip the file and then display and
print the music with Acrobat Reader. I am eager to hear any reactions or
suggestions about this music. My email address is: richard@yatesguitar.com
Twenty
Canzonets by Thomas Morley
Zipped Acrobat files
- French Tab
Zipped StringWalker
file
Four Polyphonic Songs by Gilles Binchois (1400-1460)
Acrobat file - Modern tab
Acrobat file - French
tab
Zipped StringWalker
file (Right-click to download)
Zipped Cripps' Tab
program file (Right-click to download)
Josquin des Pres (c.1440-1521), in addition to Mille Regretz ('A thousand
regrets') also wrote Cent Mille Regretz ('A hundred thousand regrets'?) and
this four voice piece, Plus Nulz Regretz ('No more regrets'?) here transcribed
for lute solo. If anyone wants to elaborate on this one as Narvaez did with
Mille Regretz, I would be happy to intabulate and post it here.
Acrobat file - Modern tab
Acrobat file - French
tab
Zipped StringWalker file
(Right-click to download)
Zipped Cripps' Tab
program file (Right-click to download)
Allegez moy by Josquin des Pres (c.1440-1521) was originally for six voices,
here transcribed for lute duet. This is a driving, rhythmic piece that is great
fun to play. Think of it as heavy metal of the 15th Century! I have included
MIDI files of each part at various tempos for practicing without a partner.
Acrobat file - Modern tab
Acrobat file -
French tab
PostScript file-
Modern tab
PostScript file -
French tab
Zipped StringWalker
file (Right-click to download)
Zipped Cripps' Tab
program file (Right-click to download)
MIDI full score
MIDI sound file - tempo=125
MIDI Lute One
MIDI sound file - tempo=85
MIDI Lute One
MIDI sound file - tempo=105
MIDI Lute One
MIDI sound file - tempo=125
MIDI Lute Two
MIDI sound file - tempo=85
MIDI Lute Two
MIDI sound file - tempo=105
MIDI Lute Two
MIDI sound file - tempo=125
Vincenzo Galilei (c.1520-1591) was a lutenist but also composed other music.
Here is a set of 12 four-part ricercare transcribed for lute duet. These are
one page each and easy to play.
Ricercare 1 - Acrobat file -
French tab
Ricercare 2 - Acrobat file
- French tab
Ricercare 3 - Acrobat file
- French tab
Ricercare 4 - Acrobat file
- French tab
Ricercare 5 - Acrobat file
- French tab
Ricercare 6 - Acrobat file
- French tab
Ricercare 7 - Acrobat file
- French tab
Ricercare 8 - Acrobat file
- French tab
Ricercare 9 - Acrobat file
- French tab
Ricercare 10 - Acrobat file
- French tab
Ricercare 11 - Acrobat file
- French tab
Ricercare 12 - Acrobat file
- French tab
A visitor asked whether Machaut's 'Rose, liz, printemps, verdure' could be
transcribed as a solo. Considering that the original is in five voices, the
surprising answer is 'yes'. Keep in mind that this entailed some modifications.
Although there were very few notes that had to be dropped, the closely spaced
and frequently crossing voices, a prominent feature of this style of music, are
not as distinct in the solo version. However, you will hear the lush and
startling harmonies and the sweet melody. The success of this transcription led
me to look for more and I found another interesting solo, Rondeau 7, also
originally for five voices.
Rose,
liz, printemps, verdure. . .
Acrobat file - Modern tab
Acrobat file - French
tab
Zipped StringWalker file
(Right-click to download)
MIDI sound file.
Rondeau 7 ("Se vous n'estes pour mon guerredon")
Acrobat file - Modern
tab
Acrobat file - French
tab
Zipped StringWalker
file (Right-click to download)
MIDI sound file.
The Allegro from the Sonata in A Minor for Cello and Basso Continuo by
Antonio Vivaldi was discovered on a search through Vivaldi's music at the
request of a GFA Soundboard reader. On the lute it could easily be mistaken for
something by S.L. Weiss. Alain Veylit took the MIDI file, tweaked it with his
tablature program StringWalker (which I use for all of my tab files), and added
ornaments to produced the score that you can download here.
Acrobat file -
Modern tab
Acrobat file -
French tab
Zipped
StringWalker file (Right-click to download)
MIDI sound
file.
Aria detto Balletto is a challenging but glorious set of solo variations
by Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643). The original was written for the keyboard
but sits well on the lute (It is set for seven courses but can be played with
six if the last course is tuned down a whole step to F. This is similar to the
guitar version that is available in standard notation in the Frescobaldi
section of the catalog.) Please listen to the MIDI file to hear the suggested
tempo changes with each variation.
Acrobat file - Modern tab
Acrobat file - French
tab
Zipped StringWalker file
(Right-click to download)
MIDI sound file
Rose, liz, printemps, verdure... by Guillaume
de Machaut (c.1300-1377) transcribed for lute duet. If you have not heard this
gorgeous piece before you will find astonishing. It could have been written
only in the 14th or the 20th Century. Try it a few times before you make a
judgement.
Lute One Acrobat file -
Modern tab
Lute Two Acrobat file -
Modern tab
Lute One Acrobat file
- French tab
Lute Two Acrobat file
- French tab
Zipped StringWalker files
(Right-click to download)
Ave Verum Corpus by William Byrd. Originally
for four voices this is transcribed as an easy lute duet.
Lute One Acrobat
file - Modern tab
Lute Two Acrobat
file - Modern tab
Lute One
Acrobat file - French tab
Lute Two
Acrobat file - French tab
Zipped
StringWalker files (Right-click to download)
MIDI sound
file
Mille Regrets de Vous Abandonner. This solo is an intabulation of the
four part version by Josquin de Pres. It is very interesting to compare with
the Narvaez version.
Acrobat file - Modern
tab
Acrobat file -
French tab
Zipped StringWalker
file (Right-click to download)
Regna Terrae by Simone Molinaro (c.1565-1615),
originally for five voices.
Lute One Acrobat file -
Modern tab
Lute Two Acrobat file -
Modern tab
Lute One Acrobat file -
French tab
Lute Two Acrobat file -
French tab
Zipped StringWalker files
(Right-click to download)
O Magnum Mysterium by Tomas Luis de Victoria
(c.1548-1611), originally for four voices.
Lute One Acrobat file -
Modern tab
Lute Two Acrobat file -
Modern tab
Lute One Acrobat file -
French tab
Lute Two Acrobat file -
French tab
Zipped StringWalker files
(Right-click to download)
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