my first programme notes

Fantasia que contrahaze la harpa en la man era de Ludovico Alonso De Mudarra (1510-1580), Not only he was one of the greatest Spanish composer and vihuelist (vihuela is a type of six-string course guitar) of the sixteenth century, he also introduced many innovations in the instrumental music. In his first published books Tres Libros de Musica en Cifras para Vihuela(1546) can be easily found the originality of conception as well as the novelty of the sound. Those innovations are splendidly reflected in his masterpiece Fantasia que contrahaze la harpa en la man era de Ludovico. Mudarra was impressed by one of the best harpist at that time- Ludovico El Del Arpa, whom the Fantasia was dedicated to. Not only the Fantasia imitates Ludovico’s harp, it also has the style which was so typical for him. Although Mudarra wrote numerous fantasias, the harp-like sound effect can be heard only in this particular piece. Due to this effect the fantasia has been famed among lutenists, guitarists and vihuelists for many centuries. The technique which was used to imitate harp-like sound effect is based on arpeggios (a group of notes which are played one after another). Moreover, the composer emphasised a harmony by combining musical notes that are considered as unpleasant for most people, also called a dissonance (kind of disharmony). This was attained by using a d- sharp on the second string along with an open e so that both sound simultaneously. Consequently, he reached some of the harp-like features. Mudarra decided not to follow an imitating counterpoint method (note against note, which was a commonly used pattern to compose fantasia). In fact, he used more sophisticated method based on the syncopated rhythm. Therefore, the composer achieved an extraordinary forward motion which allowed him to develop a fluency and clarity. Although Mudarra’s Fantasia contains an extremely wide range of emotion, it is performed in a balanced way with no extra added dynamics (loud, soft) or tone colours. Therefore a typical regularity of renaissance art was evidently involved. Bibliography: This programme note is based on the article Mudarra’s Harp Fantasia written by John Griffiths http://www.vihuelagriffiths.com