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Lute Society of America – Fronimo Dialogo
Fronimo – Dialogo

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Fronimo Dialogo di Vincentio Galilei is an instructional book on playing, composing and intabulating vocal music for the lute. The first edition was printed by Girolamo Scotto in Venice with the full title FRONIMO DIALOGO / DI VINCENTIO GALILEI FIORENTINO, / NEL QUALE SI CONTENGONO LE VERE, / et necessarie regole del Intavolare la Musica nel Liuto. While the title page bears the date 1568, the final page confusingly bears the date 1569. Apparently, although the manuscript was completed by Galilei in the Autumn of 1568, the official letter of privilege allowing the publication of the book was received only in December, and the printing actually took place in 1569. In addition, still in 1569, Scotto broke the book into two parts, selling a collection of 30 musical selections from near the end of the book and the Dialogo separately. A second edition of the complete Dialogo, with significant revisions, was printed in 1584 by the “heir of Girolamo Scotto,” under the title FRONIMO / DIALOGO / DI VINCENTIO GALILEI / NOBILE FIORENTINO, / SOPRA L'ARTE DEL BENE INTAVOLARE, / ET RETTAMENTE SONARE LA MUSICA / Negli strumenti artificiali si di corde come di fiato, & in particulare nel Liuto.

Unlike other lute instruction manuals of the sixteenth century, each of the editions of Fronimo contains quite a large amount of music. Galilei provided examples in order to illustrate how he believed compositions should be structured and how intabulations should be made from existing compositions. The examples range from a few notes or measures in length up to complete compositions in either mensural notation or lute tablature. In the 1584 edition, for example, there are 48 pieces in tablature form sprinkled throughout the text (including a set of 24 ricercars in all the possible tonalities) and a collection of 60 more pieces placed all together at the end. The 1568 edition includes a total of 96 complete pieces, many of which are different from those chosen for the 1584 edition.

Facsimiles

Recordings

There are at least four commerically-available lute recordings that include some of Vincenzo Galilei's compositions and arrangements.
  • Vincenzo Galilei: Fronimo – Dialogo sopra l'Arte del bene intavolare et rettamente sonare in Musica, Stradivarius Dulcimer STR 33482, 1999. This entire compact disc by Italian lutenist Andrea Damiani is devoted to Galilei. It contains eleven pieces from the 1584 edition of Fronimo and four from the 1568 edition, plus eleven more pieces from the 1584 manuscript, Libro d'intavolatura di liuto.
  • Vincenzo Galilei: •Fronimo •Contrappunti •Intavolatura 1584, Agorà, AG137, 1997. Again, this entire recording by lutenists Massimo Lonardi and Ugo Nastrucci is taken up by 26 of Vincenzo Galilei's compositions and arrangements for lute. Here some pieces are taken from the 1584 publication, CANTO [TENORE] / DE CONTRAPUNTI / A DUE VOCI, in addition to Fronimo and the 1584 manuscript.
  • Amor e Gratioso - Europäische Lautenmusik / Lautten Compagney, Capriccio 10438, 1994. This recording, which draws music from English, German and other Northern European sources as well as Italy, includes only Duo tutti di fantasia from Fronimo, plus two of the Contrapunti by Galilei.
  • La Serenissima II – Lute Music in Venice 1550-1600, BIS CD 599, 1993. This recording by Jacob Lindberg contains only two pieces from Fronimo – Dialogo.

Concordances

Project

We provide below literal transcriptions of all the full pieces Galilei included in the form of tablature in the 1584 edtition, courtesy of Göran Crona, who has done all the work of computer data entry. However, many of the pieces contain printer's errors. If you, the reader, make a corrected modern performing edition of a piece for your own use, please feel free to submit it, and it will be posted below for the enjoyment of your fellow lutenists. Submissions in digital form sent by e-mail will be most welcome. Ready-to-post PDF documents are preferable, but TAB, Fronimo or Stringwalker files will also be accepted. We may be able to handle small numbers of paper copies – write for a mailing address – but expect some delay in posting those.

A few ground rules:

  • Submitters' names will be given, so you get full credit (or blame) for your contribution. Check your work carefully before sending it.
  • No copyright violations – submitting someone else's work as your own is a no-no.
  • Where you make alterations to Galilei's original, please indicate the changes somehow, either by editorial brackets in the web-ready copy or in an attached descriptive note, or both.
  • There may be more than one right answer. A second submission of a different version does not displace a version of the same piece already posted (unless the original contributor specifically requests removal).

Transcriptions

It is suggested that you check these files against the facsimile before beginning your edition of a piece. For him to do this enormous amount of data entry completely error-free would be quite unlikely.

Modern Editions

  • Page 12. Cantilene à 2. A fantasia in two-part counterpoint, in both staff notation and tablature, courtesy of Doug Towne. (PDF 67.6 KB)
  • Page 37b. Fuga a l'unisono dopo sei tempi. A canonic duet at a separation of 6 measures, for lutes at the same pitch. This piece was edited by Douglas Alton Smith for the January, 1976, issue of the Newsletter of the Lute Society of America. He writes, “Two mistakes in the original have been corrected. The rhythm sign in bar 9, beat 2, was printed on the first beat, and in bar 27, beat 4, the note on the second course was printed on the third. Measure 26, missing in the print, has been reconstructed. Lute I begins first and plays to the end; Lute II begins when Lute I reaches the beginning of bar 7 and plays to the sign in bar 28. The little + signs are in Galilei’s original and signify a hold.”
  • Page 53. Se tra quest’ herbe e fiori by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, ed. Doug Towne. (PDF 75.3 KB)
  • Page 122a. Il dolce sonno in cui sepolto giace by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, ed. Doug Towne. (PDF 40.5 KB)

Bibliography

  • MacClintock, Carol, Vincenzo Galilei – Fronimo 1584. American Institute of Musicology publication 68.739, Hänssler Verlag, D-7303 Neuhausen-Stuttgart (1985). An English translation of the 1584 second edtion, complete with all the musical examples in the form of facsimiles.
  • Brown, Howard Mayer, Instrumental Music Printed Before 1600, A Bibliography. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA (1965), reprinted by iUniverse.com, Lincoln NE (2000). Provides a list of the musical contents for each of the Fronimo edtions and a facsimile of the title page of the 1568 edition. Cross-references are also given for modern editions of the madrigals that were available before 1965.
  • Canguilhem, Philippe, “Fronimo” de Vincenzo Galilei (Paris/Tours: Minerve, 2001), Collection “Épitome musicale” (PhD dissertation, Centre d'Études Supérieurs de la Renaissance, Tours), ISBN 2-86931-101-X, €40. In French. A careful and well-written study covering the biography of Galilei, the circumstances of the publication of the two editions of the Dialogo, the techniques espoused for intabulating vocal music, and a survey of the musical repertory included in the edition of 1584.
  • Harman, Alec, ed., The Oxford Book of Italian Madrigals. Oxford University Press, London (1983). Contains modern edtions of five of the madrigals Galilei chose to intabulate in Fronimo.
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Acknowledgements:  We are particularly grateful for the contributions of Göran Crona and Doug Towne to this page.

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Last updated 5 January AD 2005 – DFH.