Fantasia Quinta by Simone Molinaro is the quintessential Italian Renaissance lute fantasia. It has full bodied counterpoint that makes masterful use of the contrapuntal resources of the lute (or guitar) while ingeniously surmounting the limitations. Full expression of the counterpoint in performance does not come easily, however. It requires close attention to the weaving voices and to the fingerings necessary to sustain the notes for the indicated durations. If you succeed in this you will be rewarded with a remarkable musical experience, and one not provided by the usual guitar repertoire. If you are not familiar with this type of music some of the fingerings will seem awkward, but their logic will become clear with study. Transcription from the original tablature, as was done with this piece, requires deducing the countrapuntal structure and you may find places where it could have been done differently. Although you must tune the third string to F sharp I have included ample fingering numbers on this string as an aid to reading. You will notice that there are no bar lines in this edition. Modern bar lines imply a pattern of accents that do not apply in this music. Rather, you must examine individual voices to determine accent. [3 pages, 111KB]