The vihuela had a rather short life: little more than half a century passed from the edition of El Maestro (1535-36), which was the first tablature published in Spain, to the disappearance of the instrument. In this brief time span, however, seven books of tablatures were composed and published that, in their excellent artistic quality, place music for the vihuela at the peak of Renaissance musical production. On this CD, ancient guitar music specialist Massimo Lonardi performs this interesting, rare repertory. The result is an exhaustive and fascinating overview of this intriguing music.