Book excerpt: Melchior de Barberis (1500-1549) was an Italian lutenist and composer.His book "Opera Intitolata Contina" was published in Venice in 1549. Most of the book is dedicated to the lute, but the final few pages of the book contain 4 pieces (fantasias) for the renaissance guitar. Barberis refers to the instrument as the chitara da sette corde (guitar with seven strings). Giacomo Gorzanis, (1525 - 1578), was a lute virtuoso, blind, and possibly a member of the nobility. He was born in Apulia, near Naples, and probably trained at the Spanish court in Bari. Gorzanis traveled to Austria where he became a citizen and where he published four collections of lute tablature and two collections of Neapolitan lute songs.