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Enríquez de Valderrábano

Eulalia de Tarpeya vernan

 

Silva de sirenas (1547), fol. 22

va034

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Source title Soneto de tres minimas al compas. Segundo grado.
Title in contents   Villancico eulalia borgonela primero grado.
Text incipit Eulalia borgonela vernan


Music

Category song

Genre Soneto

Fantasia type

Mode 1

Voices 3

Length (compases) 39

Vihuela

Tuning E

Courses 6

Final IV/0

Highest I/5

Lowest VI/1

Difficulty medium

Tempo medium

Song Text

Language CA

Vocal notation texted cifras rojas

Commentary

A song apparently by Valderrábano, but possibly derived from popular material of some kind. The unusual text in Catalan is found in a section of the ensalada “La negrina” by Mateo Flecha the younger, published in 1581, bars 72-98 in the edition by Anglés (flecha1955, 17). Valderrábano named it a “Soneto” in Silva de Sirenas and in the Pujol edition it is “Soneto II” (pujol1965). The music is set like a villancico with an estribillo and copla, and a da capo, indicated with the phrase “Tornarse á al principio este soneto, y acabarse á en el primer calderón” at the end, but typeset in a way that makes it seem like the name of the following piece. There is some melodic similarity between the Valderrábano and Flecha versions, despite being in different meter. The Flecha text reads: “N'Eulália vol gonella, Bernat, N'Eulália vol gonella.” As Pujol points out, Valderrábano’s setting has a very instrumental texture in comparison to Flecha’s later setting which is largely homophonic. Valderrábano’s music is divided into three sections, each involving repetition internally: (fast, triple) A A — slower, duple b b — (fast triple) a’ a’. No attempt has been made here to translate the text.