Speaker: Joaquín González Rodríguez.

Abstract: In this talk we will present an overview of two extremely popular plucked musical instruments in XVI century in Europe, the Lute and its Spanish version the Vihuela. Sharing a common tuning and playing characteristics (technique, gut strings and frets, etc.), both instruments were widely used for playing popular music (songs, dances, etc.) but also polyphonic music through a technique known as intabulation, allowing lute and vihuela musicians to play the works of the masters of Renaissance polyphony as Josquin des Prez, Palestrina, Tomas Luis de Victoria or Cristobal de Morales. During this talk, we will have the opportunity to hear several samples of music illustrating the different musical practices of the period.