Lute Tutor

Day 20

In the sixteenth century, the word ricercar could refer to several types of compositions. Terminology was flexible, even lax then: whether a composer called an instrumental piece a toccata, a canzona, a fantasia, or a ricercar was clearly not a matter of strict taxonomy but a rather arbitrary decision. Yet ricercars fall into two general…

Day 19

Unfortunately we don’t know very much about Pierre Blondeau, other than he was a musician working in Paris from around 1506. Our only records of him are related to his work as a singer and scribe in the Sainte-Chapelle and the Chapel Royal, and that he was a “joueurs d’instruments” (instrumentalist). If you’re enjoying the…

Day 18

This is a brilliant piece, I hope it’s to your liking! Joan Ambrosio Dalza (fl. 1508) was an Italian lutenist and composer. His surviving works comprise the fourth volume of Ottaviano Petrucci’s influential series of lute music publications, Intabolatura de lauto libro quarto (Venice, 1508). Dalza is referred to as “milanese” in the preface, so…

Day 17

This Praeludium is a gem of pleasing harmonic movement but it’s also really useful for some detailed technical practice. We don’t know who wrote it but it was published by Pierre Phalèse. Peeter van der Phaliesen, Latinised as Petrus Phalesius, French versions of name Pierre Phalèse and Pierre de Phaleys (c. 1510 – c. 1575)…

Day 16

Cesare Negri (c. 1535 – c. 1605) was an Italian dancer and choreographer. He was nicknamed il Trombone, an ugly or jocular name for someone “who likes to blow his own horn”. Born in Milan, he founded a dance academy there in 1554. He was an active court choreographer for the nobility in Milan. He…

Day 15

Ludwig Iselin (2 July 1559 – 20 December 1612) was a Basel scholar. He was the son of Johann Ulrich Iselin and Faustina Amerbach. His father died during the plague in 1564 so young Ludwig grew up with his uncle, Basilius Amerbach (the younger). He studied in Geneva with the famous Calvinist theologian Theodore Beza…

Day 14

Joan Ambrosio Dalza (fl. 1508) was an Italian lutenist and composer. His surviving works comprise the fourth volume of Ottaviano Petrucci’s influential series of lute music publications, Intabolatura de lauto libro quarto (Venice, 1508). Dalza is referred to as “milanese” in the preface, so it must be assumed he was either born in Milan, or…

Day 13

Hans Gerle (c. 1500, Nuremberg – 1570, Nuremberg) was a German lutenist and arranger of the Renaissance. Little concrete information is available regarding Gerle’s life. His father was probably Conrad Gerle (died 1521), one of the city’s better-known lute makers. Gerle likely spent his entire life in Nuremberg. Gerle published three volumes of lute music…

Day 12

The name branle derives from the French verb branler (to shake, wave, sway, wag, wobble), referring to the side-to-side movement of a circle or chain of dancers holding hands or linking arms. Dances of this name are encountered from about 1500 and the term is used for dances still danced in France today. Before 1500,…

Day 11

Ludwig Iselin (2 July 1559 – 20 December 1612) was a Basel scholar. He was the son of Johann Ulrich Iselin and Faustina Amerbach. His father died during the plague in 1564 so young Ludwig grew up with his uncle, Basilius Amerbach (the younger). He studied in Geneva with the famous Calvinist theologian Theodore Beza…