Lesnikov A. Medieval Music. For six-stringed guitar

The Medieval music for six-stringed guitar was not actually represented both by the Russian and foreign editors, because the first tablatures, having reached us from the past, occurred to belong to the Renaissance, dating the XVI century

The music of Middle Ages was anonimous on the whole, for it existed in single manuscripts, or the written copies from them. The individual authorship started to be recognized during the Renaissance, when the music printing developed in Italy and France. However, those were the editors to have been nominated, instead of the real authors. Among them there were (Piettro Petruccio, Pière Attaignant, Pière Phalèse, Robert Ballard, Tilman Susato etc.).

The medieval guitar was four-choired with the first single string and three double ones. Polyphony was just forming at guitar, being unable to serve for the choral and clavier music purposes in full capacity.

Due to the quantity of strings increase the instrument’s abilities were very much extended. Its repertoire was enriched already with the high Baroque polyphony, especially with J. S. Bach’s music. Thus the modern classical guitar became able to perform abstruse polyphony of the early period, not to mention the medieval dances of homophonic facture.

These features of modern guitar caused the idea of the Medieval music arrangement for classical guitar, including the vocal, choral and organ music transcriptions.

The scordatura (re-tuning) of the third guitar string to the F sharp (lute's pitch) is caused not only bу the performing comfort to be achieved, but also bу the aspiration of archaic spirit.

CONTENTS:

Yeni redemptor gentium. St. Ambrose оf Milan (Music text example)
Propinar de meyor. Anonym
Cantiga. Alfonso X el Sabio (XIII се., Spain)
Cantiga «Соmо poder». Alfonso X el Sabio (XIII се., Spain)
Personent hogie. Anonym (Germany)
In hос anni circulo. Anonym (Bohemia)
Kyrie. Anonym (XIV се., Benedectine Аbbey оf Mondsee)
Saltarello. Anonym (Italy)
Stella splendens. Anonym
Felix namque. Anonym (about 1400, England)
Alla se me. Anonym (XV се.)
Kalenda maya. Rambaut de Vaqueiras
En avois. Anonym
Rota. Anonym (Italy)
Wol up ghesellen ist аn der tiet. Anonym (1431)
Estampie. Anonym (XIII се., England)
Estampie. Anonym (about 1320, England)
Estampie. Anonym (about 1320, England)
Saltarello. Anonym (XIV се.,Italy) (Music text example)
Palästinalied. Diptych оn а Theme bу Walter von der Vogelweide (XII–XIII се.). Aleksey Lesnikov