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Johannes Hieronymus (or Giovanni Girolamo) Kapsberger was an eminent lute/theorbo player and composer of the late Renaissance-early Baroque era. His instrumental works are characterized by improvisory style sometimes lack of well defined structures. Nevertheless they often are very innovative and are full of stunning virtuosity .  This is the first time Kapsberger's compositions are extensively explored for guitar.

Theorbo (or chitarrone, tiobo, archlute) is an ancient lute-like plucked instrument, with larger size, even more bass strings (total 14-16) and a very long neck. It has an incredible sonority, but you can imagine it's very bulky to carry, store and cumbersome to get it tuned. Kapsberger was a famous composer for this instrument. Many of the theorbo pieces are (unduly) considered non-playable for standard guitar. However, they are quite playable on 10 or 11-string guitar, and many even can be suitable for standard 6-string guitar, as manifested by the transcriptions on this page.

Kapsberger's lute/theorbo music is best represented by Paul O'Dette's fine CD: Kapsberger "Il Tedesco della Tioba" (Harmonia Mundi). You can find transcriptions of many pieces on this CD in this page. during transcription, I have made liberal editorial changes of the tablature according to Paul O'Dette's interpretation. 

Unless otherwise noted, most pieces are transposed to a minor third lower than the original keys. So it is recommended to use Alto-guitar, or apply a capo over the 3rd fret on the regular guitar.

 * All the transcriptions are my original and independent works, with exception that many enthusiastic and supportive readers provided suggestions, corrections, etc. My aim is to promote neglected music and multi-string guitars, and I don't claim to be scholarly.  Readers are encouraged to refer to other sources in this field.                            

** Fingerings are only suggestive. Readers are welcome to try and explore other options.

             
Downloads
Works: Titles: PDF MIDI Comments:
Libro I d'intavolatura di Chitarrone, 1604 Toccata Arpeggiata (in original key)---for 6-string guitar
Toccata Arpeggiata ---for Alto-guitar
Air di Fiorenza
     Partita 1
     Partita 2
     Partita 3
     Partita 4
     Partita 5
     Partita 6
     Partita 7
     Partita 8
     Partita 9
Gagliarda 11a---NEW!
Toccata 5a---NEW!
Libro I d'Intavolatura di Lauto, 1611 Toccata 1 These Toccatas are very challenging. Repeat listening to Paul O'Dette's CD will be helpful. They were written for 10-course lute, so it's best to adapt to Alto-guitar. However, with minor modification they can be played on 6-string guitar.
Toccata 3
Toccata 5
Toccata 6
Toccata 7 This one is not on Paul O'Dette's CD. Please refer to the excellent  YouTube  playing by Chinese lutenist  He Qing.
 
Libro IV d'Intavolatura di Chitarrone, 1640 Bergamasca (in original key)---for 6-string guitar
Bergamasca ---for Alto-guitar
Canario
Kapsberger
Colasione
Corrente 2a---NEW!
Toccata 1a---NEW! These two Toccatas from Volume 4 of the Chitarrone collections are profound and demanding, but very worthwhile to explore.
Toccata 2a---NEW!
             
This page was last updated on: 07/15/2008.  Contact : leyenda168 at yahoo dot com