Los Seys Libros Del Delphin – Review for vihuela by The Lute Society of Japan
Review by Tomoko Koide
A major edition of the vihuela repertoire
A critical edition by John Griffiths, creator of the Vihuela Database, a reference website gathering all the information available on this repertoire.
Los Seys Libros Del Delphin is freely available online. If you simply wish to play its contents, a printed version is not indispensable. However, this critical edition, prepared by a reliable scholar, abounds in valuable information that cannot be perceived through the mere reading of the original prints.
One remarkable aspect of this edition is the presentation of the complete pieces in two different notations, printed on separate pages.
In addition to being a major anthology of the vihuela repertoire, this publication has a strong pedagogical dimension. It contains clear explanations on how to read tablature and interpretative advice originally intended for sixteenth-century musicians, now translated into modern English.
An additional commentary, gathered on a single page, provides a sufficient list of errata and corrections — elements often difficult to identify for a self-taught player like myself.
The layout also deserves praise: the number of page turns has been reduced to a minimum to facilitate performance.
Finally, a remarkable aspect of this edition is the presentation of the complete pieces in two different notations, printed on facing pages.
I strongly recommend this of this vihuela edition to anyone hesitant to explore this repertoire because of the numerical tablature notation.
