Title

Book of Vihuela Music Titled Silva de Sirenas

Enríquez de Valderrábano (?, ca. 1500 - ?, post. 1575)

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Object history

Archer Milton Huntington bought the copy of Silva de sirenas from the German bookseller Karl W. Hiersemann, who had included it in his catalog 380, with item number 922, and it was published in 1910. Today, this catalog is considered a "rare book". Almost all of the music books and items offered in that catalog were from the collection of Federico Olmeda (1865-1909), a Spanish composer, organist and chapel master of the cathedral of Burgos and later of the Descalzas Reales in Madrid. Throughout his life, Olmeda built up a fantastic musical library, whose interest for musicologists lies in the fact that it contains some hitherto unknown works.

Description

The relevance of Silva de sirenas in the Hispanic Society of America Library in New York lies in the fact that it is one of the eight original copies of this publication that are preserved today. The vihuela was one of the most important instruments of the Spanish 16th century and its music and publications crossed the borders of our country, reaching the Indies, as well as the Italian colonies. Between 1535 and 1576, seven music collections were published in Spain, four of which were published in Castilla y León, between Valladolid and Salamanca.

This collection gathers all the genres that were heard at the time: transcriptions of religious music such as masses and motets, profane music, such as villancicos and romances, as well as original music for the instrument -fantasias and diferencias- by the most relevant Spanish and Franco-Flemish composers, such as Cristóbal de Morales, Juan Vásquez or Josquin des Pres, among others.

The book was published in 1547 in Valladolid, by Francisco Fernández de Córdoba. It consists of 104 pages of music in Spanish-Italian cipher for vihuela. Its content is divided into seven chapters. First Valderrábano presents an introduction in which he dedicates the work to Francisco de Zúñiga y Avellaneda -IV Count of Miranda, for whom he worked in the town of Peñaranda de Duero, in the current province of Burgos- some praises to the music of neoplatonic content and an explanation of the musical cifra and the signs found throughout its pages, so that the performer can understand the instrumental technique, as well as the polyphony. This structure is common in Renaissance publications, with a marked humanistic character.

The originality of this book is found in the IV book, which contains music for two vihuelas, hitherto unpublished. The way it is printed presents each page in different directions, so that with the same copy of the book, both performers can read from opposite sides of a table.

Another of the novelties of Silva de sirenas that the other vihuela books do not contain are pieces called "sonetos", which respond to certain melodies harmonized in a simple way.

This copy of the Hispanic Society Library has some deterioration in the binding, but in general it is in good condition and presents some errors in the numbering of the folios, such as confusions and repetitions. The copy has various use annotations, some changes or corrections of figures, but they are quite scarce.

Locations

• Unknown date

  private collection

  Federico Olmeda, Burgos (Spain) *

• Unknown date

  dealer/antiquarian

  Karl Wilhelm Hiersemann, Leipzig (Germany) *

• Unknown date

  private collection

  Archer Milton Huntington, New York (United States) *

• present

  museum

  The Hispanic Society of America, New York (United States)