Milán's Pavannes

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This a letter to a musical publisher revealing the essence of the work I have done concerning Milán's Pavannes.

 

1. A summary argument for the importance of making the music available to the scholar and performer will be made based in three main ideas:

a) Scholar and performer will be shown how early music ( in general ) can be developped much more than it is nowadays. It is so because the line between the past and today is almost broken ( just we have many books and some times they are undecipherable because concepts are so far away from us). Actually nobody knows at all, how early music was played at the moment but everybody seems to have the truth. Performers play on original instruments and that is great but when they play Milan's pavannes, other pieces by himself or whatever I do not listen to glossas nor many embellishments, what I listen to is just the pure tablature such as it was written.

b) Explain the Milan's position as well as how he said his pavannes have to be played 2 or 3 times each without repeating the same notes but using the same bars to develop many embellishments over it "to seem something" as he said.

c) I will explain my position 1) I know very litle because Renaissance is far away from me 2) Many people know much more than me so I learn from them 3) I show my knowledge but I have no the absolute truth 4) I have read many books but there are many more I have not read yet 5) How fancy, in my opinion, should be used to glossar 6) Creative process and freedom 7) I am an artist, a performer and a scholar as well. I estimate that the point number 1 will take 3 pages at least.

 

2. It there will be an introductory essay in which a detailed outline will be written:

a) Milan's Biography

b) The spanish guitarists from the Aragon , Navarra, Castilla and Cataluña courts in XV century

c) The Vihuela and the spanish vihuelists in XVI century

d) Chords' sistem in XVI century

e) Milán's epoch, politics, culture and society. " Libro de motes de Damas y Caballeros." This is another book written by Milán which at first glance could be nothing to do with music but society.

f) Milán's sources ( Italy , Napoles ) and Greece

g) Milan did not make transcriptions from poliphonic music into the tablature for vihuela as his contemporaries did

h) Milán's comntemporary musicians, Mudarra, Narvaez...

i) Sixteen century spanish theorics: Bermudo and Sancta Maria

j) Relationship between Vihuela, Lute and Renaissance Guitar

k) The main musical idea of the epoch: Glosar

l) The Renaissance style

m) The italian influence in Europa

n) The Milán influence through centuries on musicians as Joaquín Rodrigo

o) Possibilities of the modern classical guitar to play early music. I estimate that point number 2 will take at least 9 pages.

 

3. An identification of the principal source will be made as well:

a) What a Pavanne is and Where it is coming from ( spanish or italian )

b) Milán's Pavannes inside the book " El Maestro " ( 1535 )and its importance ( the first published book in the world for vihuela) its pedagogic character " El Maestro " which means " The teacher"

c) Pavannes 1,2,3 and 4 were composed by Milán and the number 5 cames from a popular italian melody talking about a nice " Francesquina." Milán himself calls Pavanne 6 " Compostura from the 5 one." That's why I use a rather slow tempo over the 5. I estimate that the point number 3 will take 3 pages.

 

4. List the proposed musical contents

a) Pavannes' structure( first time just some changes for quavers desigualation or cadences almost literal notation, second time the same scheme with glossa with possibles small fermatas at the end)

b) Explanation about the tablatures of the pavannes, relations between lines and strings (sixth down and first up, french, spanish or italian tablature )

c) Milán's pavannes' measures,bars, note values

d) Transcription instructions (barré on third fret, third string in F# plus sixth in D for pavannes 5 and 6)

e) Tempo, Milán says "a litle bit fast" . Milán's tempos in his fantasies ( fast-slow = Redobles y Consonancias )

f) Milán's modal sistem explanations for each pavanne

g) Figueta Castellana, dedillo and alzapúa( this is a special technic for right hand )

h) Embellishments: rasgueos, acciacaturas, tappings, chords, extrasinos, apoyandos, trinos, tirandos, quavers desigualation and other values, spanish and french styles, le pointé français, spanish galana style,arpegios, pull off and hammer on, campanellas, mordentes and Renaissance down beat

i) My transcription uses real notation as Pujol's, I do not take middle values. I estimate that the point number 4 will take 4 pages

 

5. Explanation of criteria will be closed to each pavanne which are marked with Arabic numbers, maximun 2 pages for each pavanne, so 12 pages.

 

6. Original source which are 3 explanation pages plus 5 tablature pages ( availables from the original book, microfilm or any facsimil edition)

 

7. Transcription is 23 pages

 

8. Bibliography, maximun 2 pages

 

9. Alberto Pérez Curruculum Vitae and one photo, maximun 1 page.

 

10. Total Pages: 65

 

11. A Cd copy with the pavannes could be included in the edition

 

12. I have almost prepared all the points, I would need around 25 days to finish the work.

 

13. If you were agree with the above terms we should have to fit a contract fixing the conditions and then you will start receiving the material point by point every seven days ( time enough to make coments). Let me know from you soon.

Kind regards

 

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