Biblioteca de la Guitarra y Cuerda Pulsada

Biblioteca de la Guitarra y Cuerda Pulsada

Autor: Nuno Cristo

In defense of the cithara lusitanica: celebrating cittern practice in Portugal since the 16 th century

In the realm of Portuguese organography several musical instruments have been surrounded by myths and ideological agendas, that has constricted a healthy flow of information. The so-called Portuguese guitar (GP) is one of those examples, involving fundamental questions of nationality and cultural sovereignty. From the beginning of the 20th century up until 1982, there was basically a single school of thought regarding the origin of the GP: the instrument evolved from the “English guittar” (EG) and there was no prior practice of it before the introduction of the British specimen in the 18th century. This notion started to be challenged by Pedro Caldeira Cabral in the early 1980s, proposing a continuous culture of the European cittern in Portugal since the 16th century. Later, Cabral comes up with the latinized expression “Cithara lusitanica” as the cultural paradigm, englobing all cittern practice in Portugal. Departing from a critical analysis of the literature since the early 20th century, I explore the works of prominent scholars and non-academics, pointing out fantasies, misleading messages and contradictions that have been cultivated by some, in detriment of useful knowledge. Disclosing new evidence obtained through archival and iconographic research, I refute the arguments against Cabral’s vision, that flourished at the beginning of the new millennium, and I demonstrate that the old theory of origin via EG is now a thing of the past. Then, I give an historical account of the cittern in Portugal, suggesting a probable Flemish connection and I identify a female cittern player from the late 16th century in Funchal, Madeira. The work is speckled with several specific case-studies, counterarguments, and organological/technical details, including a new interpretation of the 1795 method for “Guitarra” by António da Silva Leite and considerations regarding tunings and stringing of the Cithara...


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