El violó tenor en la música espanyola dels segles XVI al XIX

Abstract

The present thesis, based on the existence of the tenor violin in the Spanish music between the 16th and 19th centuries, focuses the research on two main areas: on the one hand, it clarifies the etymological aspects of the term ‘violón’ by determining which instrument this term corresponded in each era and each place. On the other hand, it provides evidence to support the existence and use of the tenor violin in Spanish music in this period. The etymological research is based on the consultation of various civil documents: deeds, historical dictionaries, scores, treatises, etc. The research on the tenor violin examines several aspects: first, it includes a database of about five hundred scores (with prominent violón parts) from about thirty Spanish archives. Of these, seventy-six works are analyzed in detail to provide objective data on the keys, range and pitch median of the tessitura employed, which is fundamental for determining the characteristics of the ideal instrument for performance of each. Secondly, it includes a database cataloging Spanish stringed instruments from the 17th and 18th centuries, confirming the existence of instruments with the characteristics of tenor violins. Finally, it presents a final database of Hispanic artworks from the 16th to the 18th centuries in which the representation of stringed instruments completes the information on the organological diversity of stringed instruments at that time. This research was carried out by comparing the results with the results of other studies on similar cases in European music of the same period. The results and the subsequent discussion of the data lead to the conclusion that the tenor violin, in its various forms, had a place of its own, albeit a minority one, in Spanish music between the 16th and 19th centuries.

Date of Award	20 Jan 2021
Original language	Catalan
Supervisor	Jordi Ballester Gibert (Director)