Ortiz, Diego
(1510–1570)
DIEGO ORTIZORTIZ, DIEGODIEGO ORTIZ [* ca. 1510-† ca. 1570] A sixteenth-century manner of improvised performance, foreshadowing the Baroque convention of figured bass, was described by Diego Ortiz, whose rare Trattado de glosas (1553), though primarily a compendium of cadential diminution formulae, offers terse instructions for creative interaction between a viol player and keyboardist. With only a bass as a guide (and no figures), the keyboard player was advised to devise a chordal…