Santiago de Murcia's Cifras Selectas de Guitarra (1722): a new source for the Baroque guitar
Alejandro Vera is a professor and researcher at the Instituto de Música of the Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Chile and also teaches as visiting professor in the doctoral programme of the Universidad Autónoma in Madrid. He has published a book entitled Música vocal profana en el Madrid de Felipe IV: el ‘Libro de Tonos Humanos’ (1656) and many articles on various aspects of 17th-century Spanish and colonial music
 |
Abstract |
|---|
This article presents a preliminary study of a new manuscript by the guitarist Santiago de Murcia recently discovered in Chile. The manuscript is entitled Cifras selectas de guitarra and is dated 1722. Among the c.80 works it contains, whether as single items or grouped together in suites, most are sets of variations on Spanish dances such as the villano, vacas and canarios, though French dances and even pieces of probable American origin, such as the cumbé, are also found. The article is divided into four sections: the first outlines Santiago de Murcia's importance and the previously known sources for his music (the Resumen de acompañar, printed in 1714, and the manuscripts ‘Passacalles y obras de guitarra’ and the ‘Códice Saldívar N°. 4', copied c.1732); the second analyses the structure of the Cifras selectas de guitarra, the circumstances surrounding its discovery and its contents; the third studies the concordances between this manuscript and others by Murcia as well as other collections; and the fourth presents some hypotheses on the context for its production and reception, putting forward evidence to suggest that it was not intended for Madrid and surrounding regions, but possibly for Spanish America, and even specifically for Chile. All this necessitates revision of some of the received ideas about Murcia and reveals the wide circulation of guitar music in the 18th century.
Key Words: Santiago de Murcia • Baroque guitar • villano • vacas • canarios • cumbé • new manuscript