Romanesca is a melodic-harmonic formula popular from the mid–16th to early–17th centuries that was used as an aria formula for singing poetry and as a subject for instrumental variation. The pattern, which is found in an endless collection of compositions labeled romanesca, perhaps named after the Roma, is a descending descant formula within a chordal progression that has a bass which moves by 4ths. The formula was not to be viewed as a fixed tune, but as a framework over which elaborate ornamentation can occur. It was most popular with Italian and Spanish composers of the Renaissance and early Baroque period. It was also used by vihuelistas including Luis de Narváez, Alonso Mudarra, Enríquez de Valderrábano, and Diego Pisador. Origins Scholars are uncertain of the precise origins of the romanesca. Documentation of the term is seen for the first time in Alonso Mudarra's Tres libros de música en cifra para vihuela (Romanesca, o Guárdame las vacas) in 1546 and in Carminum pro testudines liber IV by Pierre Phalèse. The romanesca can be found in collections of 16th-century Spanish instrumental music, where it was exclusively associated with O guárdame las vacas ("O let us put the cows to pasture" or, "look after the cows for me", occasionally known as Seculorum del primer tono in reference to the similarity between the a g f e d melody line and that of the chief termination, "Seculorum, Amen", of the first psalm tone). In the latter half of the 16th century, instrumental settings and variations on the romanesca began to appear in Italy. They can be found in Antonio di Becchi's Libro primo d'intabolatura de leuto (1568), in Antonio Valente's Intavolatura de cimbalo (1576), and in several manuscripts of pieces by Vincenzo Galilei and Cosimo Bottegari. Geographic and historical variations The Italians in Rome used a specific melody to sing stanzas called 'romanaschae.' This melody was identical to the las vacas melody found in Spain, except for the meter. The metric variants on the identical melody in both countries were likely due to the simple practice of accommodating the romanesca formula to fit different texts (and languages). An example of the Italian parallel to Spain's O guárdame las vacas is Bella citella de la magiorana. While instances of the romanesca in Spain are found primarily in instrumental settings and variations, it was most commonly used in Italy as an aria for singing poetry, especially