Intabolatura de Lauto
The illustration above is of a page from the first book,
The publication of these books was a most significant event. It marked the beginning of an era when music became available to the leisured, albeit skilled, amateur rather than remaining the perogative of the professional. Indeed it may be supposed that the tablature was devised specifically to support Petrucci's enterprise since, together with the music itself, a simple guide to the principles of the tablature was included in each volume. Within a few years similar publications appeared in Germany, France, and Spain. Lute music in the same vein remained popular for a period of about one hundred and twenty years, and the original tutors were quickly augmented by a huge repertoire. Almost one thousand volumes - both manuscript and printed - have survived, and many tens of thousands of different pieces are contained therein. The repertoire is naturally variable, but contains enough music of such high quality as to offer the prospective lutenist the opportunity for a lifetime of pleasure. The publication of music was an expensive undertaking and as Petrucci was no philanthrope it is clear that his first lute- books were aimed at a specific market - and that the purchasers knew precisely what they were buying, and why. Learning to play the lute was one of the most difficult and time consuming adventures, and passing fashion was not enough to explain the sudden popularity of such a pursuit. We possess copies of the original books, instruments of similar type to those used by Petrucci's customers, and the necessary leisure - but we lack the frame of mind of the early renaissance lutenist.
