Pisador was living in Salamanca and made a living as a tax collector. In his spare time he played the vihuela and was dreaming about publishing a book with tablatures for the vihuela. With this book he aimed at helping out people who wanted to learn how to play the vihuela. It took him 15 years to compile the book and then two years to print it. That was something he had to do himself, as the printing industry wasn’t that well developed. It cost him a fortune, and probably to cover the costs he sued his father and brother over the inheritance his mother had left.

The book contains 95 compositions, ranging from masses by some of the great masters of polyphony, like Josquin, Gombert and Morales, to Spanish and Italian secular vocal pieces—all intabulated by Pisador—and some fantasias of his own making. This disc contains the bulk of the Spanish songs—romances and villancicos—as well as four Italian villanesche by Adrian Willaert. Unfortunately the composers of the various pieces are not given in the booklet—only the four compositions by Willaert are easily recognizable.

The programme delivers an interesting survey of the kind of songs which were popular in Spain in Pisador’s time. There is quite some variation in the texts and the music. As one may expect, a number of them deal with love, including laments about the absence of the beloved (Partense partiendo yo) and the longing for love (Si te quitasse los hierros). Some are about (female) beauty, as the villancico which gave this disc its title, Si me llaman: “They call to the prettiest, I ensure they call me”.

Two specific genres should be mentioned. First, the three romances are related to the role of the Moors in Spanish history. Passeavase el rey moro, for instance, is about Alhama, taken by the Christian troops, ten years before the fall of Granada. The second genre is the endechas de Canarias: “Originally funeral songs, later they became laments for ill-fated love”, the programme notes say. An example is ¿Para qués dama tanto quereros?: “What’s the use of loving you so much, my lady? If I am to lose myself and to lose you, best would be not to see you again”. The character of the texts is also vary different. Quién tuviesse tal poder is quite sophisticated, whereas En la fuente del rosel is playful and lighthearted.

The first time I heard the Spanish alto José Hernández-Pastor was in the Early Music Festival Utrecht of 2008, which was entirely devoted to Spanish mumore....

In 1526 the young Diego took holy orders, but did not continue in an ecclesiastical career. In light of his father’s itinerant nature, Diego had charge of the economic affairs of the family and worked as the majordomo in the city of Salamanca, a position formerly held by his father. To put it bluntly: he was a tax collector. At mother’s death—after a legal battle with his father and brother over her estate—Diego inherited the lion’s share of the family fortune. In 1553, Diego sold the family home, and in 1557, father and son were still at odds. It is not unreasonable to conjecture that the family felt Diego’s resolve to push ahead with the huge task of compiling, editing, and printing a large volume of vihuela music had become an expensive obsession. In any event, the Libro de Musica de Vihuela was printed in 1552, in Salamanca.

José Hernandez-Pastor and Abramovich offer a broad selection of songs from Pisador’s Libro: romanzas, villancicos, and villanescas. The epic and tragic Passeavase el Rey Moro, perhaps the most easily recognized romanza in this genre, is ethereal without becoming maudlin. Villancicos of differing character are represented, although the duo avoids strong contrasts. Also included are intabulations of 4 villanescas of the Flemish Adrian Willaert. Several songs are only fragments in Pisador’s Libro, so the performers have, by necessity, completed several songs using other (sometimes primary; other times secondary) sources. Pisador was apparently confident that the middle-to-upper-class purchasers of his book would be so familiar with the complete texts that printing them in their entirety was unnecessary. Four pieces of Juan Vasquez which Pisador arranged for vihuela and voice did not appear in printed, polyphonic vocal versions until years after the Libro. And El Cortisano manages to include several of the better-known songs in this repertoire: “Y con que la lavare” and “Passeavase el rey Moro,” as well as chestnuts like Willaert’s “A quand’a quand’haveva.” The only repertorial anomaly on this recording is the complete absence of sacred music, which the Libro contains in abundance. Pisador made intabulations of 8 of Josquin’s Masses, as well as devoting a section to Motets by various composers, some of which are texted in one voice, suggesting strongly that they were indeed intended to be sung.

The excellent (and non-stuffy) insert notes by Francisco Roa tell us that Pisador&rmore....