Transcribed from facsimilies of the original manuscript for guitar and ukulele here are three songs and six Fantasias from Renaissance Spain for the intermediate to advanced player. Although Miguel de Fuenllana wrote primarilly for the six course vihuella, the composer specifically included these nine pieces written specifically for the Renaissance four course guitar. These are beautiful pieces which may be played on either the guitar or ukulele.

A selection of the best songs of the Spanish Renaissance--hitherto unavailable or inaccessible in modern form is presented here in an annotated edition. Although two of the great collections of vihuela music, those of Milan and Fuenllana, have been published in modern editions under Charles Jacobs's editorship, other sources until now remained essentially untapped. This book offers a selection of songs from such collections as those by Narvaez (1538), Mudarra (1546), Valderrabano (1547), Pisador (1552), and Daza (1576). The music presented in A Spanish Renaissance Songbook represents a rich and varied repertory of solo songs accompanied by the vihuela, the six-course parent of the guitar. The vihuela music is presented on a bi-staff system, for the sake of clarity and ease of performance on a keyboard instrument as well as the guitar or lute. The notes include comments about the songs' composition, original publication, and early performance, together with translations of the lyrics and assessments of their literary value. With the publication of this book, the best songs of 16th-century Spain are available for modern instrumental and vocal performers and students of the period.

From the exhilarating impact of Isaac Albeniz at the beginning of the century to today's complex and adventurous avant-garde, this complete interpretive history introduces twentieth-century Spanish music to English-speaking readers. With graceful authority, Tomas Marco, award-winning composer, critic, and bright light of Spanish music since the 1960s, covers the entire spectrum of composers and their works: trends and movements, critical and popular reception, national institutions, influences from Europe and beyond, and the effect of such historic events as the Spanish Civil War and the death of Franco. Marco's penetrating aesthetic critiques are threaded throughout each phase of this rich account. Marco provides detailed coverage of the key figures, induding a chapter devoted entirely to Manuel de Falla--Spain's most celebrated twentieth-century composer--and a panoramic survey of recent arrivals on the contemporary music scene. Exploring the rise and fall of the zarzuela, the author highlights innovative works in this authentic Spanish genre. He analyzes the attempts to find an audience for Spanish opera; demonstrates the flowering of symphonic and chamber music at the beginning of this century; traces currents such as romanticism, impressionism, and neoclassicism; and tracks the influence of Spain's distinctive regional folk traditions. Covering musical innovation after Spain's emergence from its period of isolation, Marco notes the speed with which many composers absorbed the work of Stravinsky and Bartok, the twelve-tone system, aleatory forms, electronic techniques, and other European developments. English-speaking scholars, musicians, critics and general readers have for decades been without full information on the rich and varied work coming out of Spain in this century. This lively history fills a long-felt need and fills it superbly, with the knowledge and insights of a major figure in the musical world.

In this groundbreaking study of the history of Spanish music, Robert Stevenson explores the role of music in the cultural and social life of Renaissance Spain. Drawing on extensive archival research, Spanish Music in the Age of Columbus is a rich and detailed portrait of a fascinating era in music history. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.