Luis de Briceño
Spanish guitarist, music theorist and composer / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Luis de Briceño (also Briçeño, Brizeño;[1] fl. 1610s–1630s) was a Spanish guitarist and music theorist who introduced the Spanish guitar style in France, where previously only the lute was considered a serious plucked instrument. He travelled in high courtly circles in both countries, and is first cited as an authority on the Spanish guitar in 1614.[2] His Metodo mui facilissimo para aprender a tañer la guitarra a lo español (1626, Very Easy Method to Learn to Play the Guitar in the Spanish Style) is the main source of knowledge of the Spanish style,[3] since few books appeared during this period in Spain itself.[4]
His own transcriptions include villanos, villancicos, pasacalles, tonos frances, españoletas, romances, folías, seguidillas and a "Danza de la Hacha". A selection were recorded by Le Poème Harmonique, directed by Vincent Dumestre, for Alpha/Outhere in 2011.