Battuto and Pizzicato

Battuto and Pizzicato — the Story of the Baroque Guitar, told by Lex Eisenhardt. With many music examples, including some from his personal audio archives.

Towards the end of the 17th century, solo works for guitar appear for the first time in Spain, in books by Gaspar Sanz and Francisco Guerau. It is worth noting that this music is mainly in the plucked style (punteado in Spanish), and that strummed chords (rasgueado) are largely absent.

In contrast to Italy, where guitar books had been published since the beginning of the 17th century, the French repertoire in the battuto-pizzicato style emerged only about half a century later. In a short time, between 1671 and 1686, a considerable number of works appeared in print.

The heyday of the battuto-pizzicato repertoire was in the second half of the 17th century. The guitar’s greatest success was mainly due to a few charismatic virtuosi such as Francesco Corbetta, who was a welcome guest at the courts of Europe.