Duo & Fantasía 51 - Miguel de Fuenllana

Miguel de Fuenllana was one of the most remarkable — yet often overlooked — instrumental composers of the Spanish Renaissance.

His monumental collection, Libro de música para vihuela intitulado orphénica lyra (1554), published in Seville, is the largest single body of vihuela music to survive. Containing 160 pieces across six books, it combines intricate original fantasias and duos with intabulations of vocal works by leading composers of his day.

Fuenllana’s music represents the height of Renaissance instrumental sophistication, bridging vocal and instrumental traditions while expanding the expressive and technical possibilities of the vihuela.

Duo

This duo, an abstract work in two voices, uses imitative sections punctuated by cadences and is the only extant two-voiced fantasia preserved in the vihuela repertoire.

Fantasía 51

Unlike most of Fuenllana’s fantasias, which closely imitate the style of vocal polyphony, Fantasía 51 explores a more idiomatic instrumental character. This piece is based on redobles—ornamental passagework designed to showcase technical agility and expressive nuance on the vihuela.

Played on a Michael Gee guitar.

#vihuela #renaissancemusic #fuenllana