La Guitare Baroque Part IV

Angelo Michele Bartolotti, sa vie, ses oeuvres et l'adaptation de ses oeuvres choisies en ré majeur pour la guitare moderne

Université de Montréal

Par Amir Houshangi
Présenté à l'examen général de doctorat
Novembre 2021

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4.2.2. Instructions and signs in the second book:
In the second book, Bartolotti used illustrative examples with brief explanations to clarify the instructions instead of using long sentences, making these instructions easier to understand.
These instructions are explained one by one below:
1- “Arpeggio disteso /Lettere con segni per l'arpeggio”, Stretched Arpeggio / Letters with signs for the Arpeggio.
Unlike his 1st book, in the 2nd book Bartolotti, used the % sign to indicate chord arpeggiation.
Explained with a pictorial example, he clarified that if the symbol % is placed below each Alfabeto letter, that chord should be arpeggiated instead of strumming. (Fig.36)

_{Fig.36. : Stretched Arpeggio / Letters with signs for the Arpeggio..}
 

2- "Colpi in giù et in su": Down and up Strokes
This one is straightforward; if the note's stem is downwards, it means downstroke, and if it is upwards, it means upstroke. (Fig37)

_{Fig. 37 Down Up Down Up}

This style seems to be Bartolotti's initiative, especially in the case of Alfabeto chords as Monica Hall states:
"His Secondo Libro is also unusual in that instead of indicating the direction of the strummed strokes in the Italian manner with small stroke marks down or up from the lowest line of the tablature; he has adopted the French system of placing the note values on the stave with the stems down or up as appropriate. In an added refinement to this system, he places the note-head on the tablature line representing the lowest note of the chord, which may be on the third, fourth or fifth course."⁸⁹

_{89 . Hall. Monica,” Angelo Michele Bartolotti: Prince of Muse”s, 2013, (p-39)}

3- “Lettere tagliate”: Cut letters
In simple terms, Bartolotti sometimes removed the fifth string from the chord by drawing a small line on Alfabeto's letters to avoid unpleasant harmony and converting the 2nd inversion chords to their root positions. These letters with slash lines are called Lettere Tagilate or cut letters, and of all Alfabeto's letters used by him, only the letters G. P and F have cut letters version. (Fig.38)

4- Tenute: Tenute signs are diagonal lines placed on a group of numbers (notes) that indicate that
the first note (s) should be held while subsequent ones are played, at least in theory allowing the
underlying counterpoint to be reconstructed. Fig (39)

_{Fig.39. Because note's time values are not specified in the tablature example, this can be one of the interpretations.}

5- "Lettere con numeri sopra" Letters with numbers above: this is a general instruction fully explained in the Alfabeto System section (see Fig.24)
6- "Modo per fare i Trilli", Trill: represented by a) indicates an upper auxiliary note or descending appoggiatura in the tablature examples. In the absence of any accompanying written explanation, the correct interpretation of the tablature does bring up some ambiguities.
"In the first two examples (Fig.40), it is not clear why the main note is repeated with a trillo sign attached to it, but as the note makes the interval of a fourth with the bass, it is presumably intended that it should resolve a semitone downwards at some point as partially illustrated in the last two examples.
In the music itself, the sign occurs both in single melodic lines and attached to one note in a chord, particularly at a cadence. Depending on the context, either a simple descending appoggiatura or possibly a more extended trill starting with the upper auxiliary note could be played, although there is no mention of the latter.⁹⁰

_Fig.40

By presenting the figure above, Monica Hall has converted Bartolotti's instructions in tablature into a modern notation; however, as she herself has stated, this Trillo sign can be interpreted differently based on the context of the music.

_{90 . Hall. Monica,” Angelo Michele Bartolotti: Prince of Muses”, 2013, (p-34)}

7. "Modo per fare il mordente, "Mordant: if the letter x is placed next to a number (note), a lower auxiliary note must be inserted between two notes of the same pitch. Whether it's a half step or a whole step below the main note depends on the context. Fig.41)
 

8- "Strascin tirar le corde,metter li diti," Slurs: The slurred notes are marked with a curved line above or below two notes or more. If the curved line is placed above the notes indicates hammered slurring, and if the curved line is placed below, it means pulled slurring. (Fig.42)

9- Modo per appoggiar le corde; ascending appoggiatura.: If a curved line is placed above just one note, it is interpreted as ascending appoggiatura. (Fig.43)

_{Fig.43. Ascending Appoggiatura, *. Bartolotti drew the figure in reverse}

10- Corde Insieme, Corde separate strings at the same time, strings separated
If a vertical line connects two notes, those notes must be played simultaneously; if a diagonal line is between two notes, those notes should be played separately. (Fig.44)

Bartolotti's instructions in his 1st book seem to be more of basic information such as fingering, vibratos, etc. In contrast, in his 2nd book, he provided the performer with more detailed information and instructions that can be used to understand his music in terms of Performance-Practice better.
(Refer to table No.4 to compare the signs and instructions in the 1st book and the 2nd book)

It should be stated that although Bartolotti elaborated better on the instructions in both books' preface compared to other examples at that time, unfortunately, some of his explanationsare ambiguous and inconsistent when it comes to their practical implementation; this was one of the challenges in the adaptation process that this study will address it in the last section.

The last point that can be considered one of his indirect influences on the next generation of French guitar composers is the influence of his writing style in terms of signs and ornaments he has used. If we refer to the first and second books of Robert de Visée, almost all the signs and ornaments that he used are similar to Bartolotti's first or second books' instructions. It is not clear whether these signs were borrowed directly from his books or passed into the next generations by other Italians like Corbetta. But what is clear is that Bartolotti was the first to use these symbols in the same sense in the baroque guitar literature. Fig. (46)