Spanish composers for the Baroque guitar took borrowed material as a point of departure for unique and personal creative expression. In the simplest cases, phrases were added or omitted from existing works, or changes were made in ornamentation. Another technique was the use of a musical "module" that could be altered, expanded into two separate phrases, or serve as a sort of musical parenthesis. This type of recomposition is frequently found in passacaglias, variations, batallas, and obras de clarines. In other cases, a borrowed phrase may serve as a point of departure for an entirely new composition. At other times, motifs may be borrowed to serve as unifying elements in a new composition, especially a suite.

Works: Libro de diferentes cifras de guitarra escojidas de los mejores autores (1-10, 14-15); Santiago de Murcia: Passacalles y obras de guitarra por todos los tonos naturals y acidentales (12-17), Obra por la O (18-22); Ruiz de Ribayaz: Luz y norte musical para caminar por las cifras de la guitarra española y arpa (16-17).

Sources: Gaspar Sanz: Instrucción de música sobre la guitarra española (2-10, 14-15); Antonio Martín y Coll: Flores de música (11-13); Antoine Carré: Prelude (14-15); Henry Grenerin: Gigue Aymable (14-15); Arcangelo Corelli: Sonatas from Opus 5 (15-16); François Campion: Nouvelles découvertes sur la guitarre (17); François Le Cocq: Recueil des pièces de guitarre (18-22).

Index Classifications: 1600s, 1700s

Contributed by: Felix Cox