The Baroque Double Bass Violone

In the nineteenth century, use of the violone, a bass instrument with many sizes and variations, was nearly eliminated from musical repertoires, and its traditional parts were parceled out to other instruments such as the violoncello. The following phases of revival of the double-bass have been hampered by a lack of physical evidence and diligent research into the historical uses of the instrument. The Baroque Double Bass Violone is a comprehensive study that examines a cross-section of standard works to enhance contemporary violone research, and provide information for musicologists, music publishers, ensemble leaders, and revivalists, all of whom have been unable to reconstruct an essential part of Baroque music. This translation finally makes the most exhaustive study of the double bass violone accessible to English-speaking musical enthusiasts. The book includes lists of terminology, the most comprehensive bibliography to date, and 48 illustrations that make this a compendium of string bass research.

This resource considers the Baroque cello's revival as part of the period instrument movement from the viewpoints of more than forty cellists from three generations and four luthiers who have worked on period cellos. What emerges is a nuanced and detailed picture of the cello in the past and present and the varied instruments now played under the label 'Baroque cello.' Period instruments played with appropriate techniques have become a major presence in classical music. For the cello, which changed substantially between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, it is challenging to describe specific traits for certain time periods. Through improvements in strings and the efforts of luthiers such as Stradivari, the cello became smaller and easier to play. Many controversies remain concerning the Baroque cello's form, including aspects of the bass bar, neck, fingerboard, and bridge. Although an uneasy consensus on technical matters has emerged for Baroque cellists today, one still encounters significant questions on important issues. Doubts compound when period performers enter the Classic and Romantic eras. By chronicling the searches of top cellists in England, Europe, and North America, the author reveals the great variety of forms that exist among what cellists call the 'Baroque cello.' This is the first study in which the revival of a single period instrument has been considered in such qualified detail. This book also offers many details concerning the history of the period performance movement in reference to famous ensembles and musicians. This volume will be welcomed by musicologists, luthiers, and anyone interested in string history.

Evidence indicates that the concertos of Vivaldi, Bach, Haydn etc were performed as chamber music, not the full orchestral works commonly assumed. The concertos of Vivaldi, Bach, Handel and their contemporaries are some of the most popular, and the most frequently performed, pieces of classical music; and the assumption has always been they were full orchestral works. This book takes issue with this orthodox opinion to argue quite the reverse: that contemporaries regarded the concerto as chamber music. The author surveys the evidence, from surviving printed and manuscript performance material, from concerts throughout Europe between 1685 and 1750 (the heyday of the concerto), demonstrating that concertos were nearly always played one-to-a-part at that time. He makes a particularly close study of the scoring of the bass line, discussing the question of what instruments were most appropriate and what was used when. The late Dr RICHARD MAUNDER was Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge.

String players face a bewildering array of terms related to their instruments. Because string playing is a living art form, passed directly from master to student, the words used to convey complex concepts such as bow techniques and fingering systems have developed into an extensive vocabulary that can be complicated, vague, and even contradictory. Many of these terms are derived from French, Italian, or German, yet few appear in any standard music dictionary. Moreover, the gulf separating classical playing from fiddle, bluegrass, jazz, and other genres has generated style-specific terms rarely codified into any reference work. All Things Strings: An Illustrated Dictionary bridges this gap, serving as the only comprehensive resource for the terminology used by the modern string family of instruments. All of the terms pertaining to violin, viola, cello, and double bass, inclusive of all genres and playing styles, are defined, explained, and illustrated in a single text. Entries include techniques from shifting to fingerboard mapping to thumb position; the entire gamut of bowstrokes; terms found in orchestral parts; instrument structure and repair; accessories and equipment; ornaments (including those used in jazz and bluegrass); explanations of various bow holds; conventions of orchestral playing; and types of strings, as well as information on a select number of famous luthiers, influential pedagogues, and legendary performers. All Thing Strings is expertly illustrated with original drawings by T. M. Larsen and musical examples from the standard literature. Appendixes include an extensive bibliography of recommended reading for string players and a detailed chart of bowstrokes showing notation and explaining execution. As the single best source for understanding string instruments and referencing all necessary terminology, All Things Strings is an essential tool for performers, private teachers, college professors, and students at all levels. It is also an invaluable addition to the libraries of orchestra directors and composers wishing to better understand the complexities of string playing. With the inclusion of terms relevant to all four modern string instruments played in all genres—from jazz to bluegrass to historically informed performance—this resource serves the needs of every string musician.

This collection of essays by some of the leading scholars in the field looks at various aspects of musical life in eighteenth-century Britain. The significant roles played by institutions such as the Freemasons and foreign embassy chapels in promoting music making and introducing foreign styles to English music are examined, as well as the influence exerted by individuals, both foreign and British. The book covers the spectrum of British music, both sacred and secular, and both cosmopolitan and provincial. In doing so it helps to redress the picture of eighteenth-century British music which has previously portrayed Handel and London as its primary constituents.

A compelling new study of instrumental music in early modern Naples and of the string virtuosi who disseminated it through Europe.

This classic reference work, the best one-volume music dictionary available, has been brought completely up to date in this new edition. Combining authoritative scholarship and lucid, lively prose, the Fourth Edition of The Harvard Dictionary of Music is the essential guide for musicians, students, and everyone who appreciates music.

Historians of instruments and instrumental music have long recognised that there was a period of profound change in the seventeenth century, when the consorts or families of instruments developed during the Renaissance were replaced by the new models of the Baroque period. Yet the process is still poorly understood, in part because each instrument has traditionally been considered in isolation, and changes in design have rarely been related to changes in the way instruments were used, or what they played. The essays in this book are by distinguished international authors that include specialists in particular instruments together with those interested in such topics as the early history of the orchestra, iconography, pitch and continuo practice. The book will appeal to instrument makers and academics who have an interest in achieving a better understanding of the process of change in the seventeenth century, but the book also raises questions that any historically aware performer ought to be asking about the performance of Baroque music. What sorts of instruments should be used? At what pitch? In which temperament? In what numbers and/or combinations? For this reason, the book will be invaluable to performers, academics, instrument makers and anyone interested in the fascinating period of change from the 'Renaissance' to the 'Baroque'.