Elsewhere the bass viol survived chiefly because its sustained tone lent a pleasing support to the harpsichord. Solo bass-viol playing continued in Germany and France into the 18th century. When that fashion died out in the late 1600s, the normal-sized solo bass viol, or viola da gamba (the name became synonymous with the bass viol as the other viols fell into disuse), was used in the instrumental forms of the Baroque period.
The bass viol, however, had by the mid-16th century developed a repertory of complex solo divisions, or ornate variations on a melody, often played on a small bass called a division viol. But as the style of instrumental composition changed during the 17th century, an expressive, vocal sound in the soprano register was emphasized, and the tenor and treble viols declined in favour of the violin, with which they were unable to compete because their deep bodies created a hollow, nasal timbre. The frets gave to each note the clarity of an open string-a clear, ringing, penetrating tone that was much prized.īy the second half of the 16th century the viol acquired a significant repertory of music for ensemble, for solo bass, and for the lyra viol, a small bass viol (also called viola bastarda). The breadth of the bridge, which was arched to give the bow separate access to each string, made forceful playing impossible, and the supine position of the bow hand, palm uppermost, encouraged a smooth playing style. Viols are characterized by sloping shoulders deep ribs thin, flat backs and, above all, a vertical playing position, with the bottom of the instrument resting on the knee or held between the legs-hence viola da gamba (Italian: “leg viol”). To these sizes was later added the violone, a double bass viol often tuned an octave below the bass. It was made in three sizes: treble, tenor, and bass, with the bottom string tuned, respectively, to d, G (or A), and D. The viol shares with the Renaissance lute the tuning of its six strings (two fourths, a major third, two fourths) and the gut frets on its neck. Viol, also called viola da gamba, bowed, stringed musical instrument used principally in chamber music of the 16th to the 18th century. The family's hist and most distinguished member, Nicolo, also taught Antonio Stradivari, perhaps the greatest violin maker ever. Northern Italy, the cradle of violin making, remained the major centre until the eighteenth century, especially under the Amati family of Cremona. while the fiddle was widelv used by troubadours and developed into the lira da braccia (the violin's closest ancestor). The rebec was popular at dances and later evolved into the kit. It derived from various medieval bowed instruments, descendants of central Asian models brought into tenth-century Spam and southern Italy by the Arabs. The violin offered an unprecedented range of expression, intensity, and nuance, and inspired great music and great performers.
The development of the violin family was a triumph tor instrument making. The great violin maker Stradivari planned to make a viola d'amore in 1716 (though if he did, it has not survived) and Bach made expressive use of the instrument in solo parts in the St John Vissiou. Developed from viols, they have additional strings that vibrate m sympathy with the bowed strings - a feature that points to possible Islamic origins. Mozart's father Leopold admired both the baryton and its shoulder-held relative, the viola d'amore. Otherwise, the instrument played a minor role m music and was little known outside Austria and southern Germany.
Joseph Haydn brought the baryton to its high point in musical history when he composed 175 works for the instrument tor his patron Prince Nicolaus Joseph Esterhazy. Unlike violins, smaller viols were also held body downwards, on the lap. the bass viol was held body downwards between the legs like a cello. Viols were eventually superseded by the louder and more expressive violin family, but Bach was still using the bass viol in his Passions and m the last Bniihlenbiiiv concerto m the early eighteenth century. Viols were probably carried to Italy by the famous Borgia family, two of whom became popes, and their use is recorded at the wedding ot Lucrezia Borgia in 1502. Their delicate, nasal sound soon made them popular as chamber instruments, though they lacked the percussive quality useful for dance music. This family of bowed instruments first appeared in the late fifteenth century in the Valencia region of Spain.
0 kommentar(er)
