(The talk given at the Lute Society meeting in London on 16 April 2005)

At the end of April 2003 I received from Jose Romanillos and Marian Harris Winspear a truly precious gift – their latest book The Vihuela de Mano and the Spanish Guitar(1) . It was both a fascinating and inspiring experience to read through remarkably detailed historical accounts of examination certificates, workshop and collection inventories, lists of public sales of instruments and tools etc. Those of particular interest to me date from the last quarter of the 16th – first quarter of the 17th century. Here vihuelas and guitars are often linked together. The Certificate of exmination of Juan Rodriguez of 27 December 1578, for example, tells us that he was examined “… in the making of a vihuela with a sunken rose and a guitar in the same manner …” and the Declaration … about the examination of Francisco de Lipuste of 26 August 1619 commits that “…one instrument which at the moment is strung as a guitar but was constructed by Francisco de Lipuste as a vihuela; it is, at present, strung as a guitar to make it easier for … Francisco de Lipuste to sell...

Los enlaces publicados en La Biblioteca de la Guitarra solo tienen un fin educativo y de difusión, no comercial. Si algún compositor, intérprete o empresa, por cualquier motivo, considera que un archivo que aparece en este canal vulnera los derechos de autor, infórmenos y se eliminará.