•rf - FoMRHI

PRAETORIUS AND THE VIOLA BASTARDA
D Abbott and E Segerman
Interest in the viola bastarda is growing rapidi}' and it is necessary to correct some
misconceptions which we have heard stated and seen in print before they become too
rooted in the lore of modem early music culture.
Praetorius (1619) (1) gives 5 tunings for the viola bastarda, ali with 6 strings. Some
modem players say that 7 strings are needed to play the music which is typically in
a divided style and often with a range from At to d . They follow Bessaraboff (2)
(1941), p.426, who stated that "a 7-string viola bastarda is represented in a painting
by Domenico Zampieri (Domenicino) ca. 1H20". His identification of this instrument
could be based on the presence of the rose below the fingerboard. Such a rose appears
•n Praetorius's drawing of the viola bastarda and not on his other viols. But Bessaraboff
himself correctly stated elsewhere (p.430) "...a rose is not necessarily the sign of
a viola bastarda... " when arguing against Sachs who stated that it was. The size of
the instrument in the painting,with about 85cm string length;is rather large for the
technical demands of the music and there is no reason to believe that it isnone oiher hhcurì
a particularly large consort bass viol or a particularly small double-bass viol with
an unusually extended range. The earliest mention of 7 strings as a standard vi io1
\U
feature was Rousseau's (3) statement in 1689 that St Colombe introduced the use ;e of |
the 7th string simultaneously with metal-covered strings in about 1675.
Furthermore these modem players argue that Praetorius's 6-string tunings covering
that range are suitable for chords (lyra style) but not for passage work. We shall
later discuss the relationship between the viola bastarda and the English lyra viol but
we will now show how the instrument and its tunings and usage as described by
Praetorius are well matched to surviving viola bastarda pieces.
Figure 1. Praetorius's tunings for the viola bastarda
G> «^ O O rs
&
-/- & &
-Grr
~ > i ~ > £~r
-O O
%• 3. -e- 4. -e- S, -Gr-
Praetorius's tunings 1 and 2 are the same as for the consort bass viol in England.
Tuning 1 is also that of the German consort tenor viol. As Praetorius states (Bessaraboff's
translation p.277), the viola bastarda "is a type of Viola da Gamba, and it must be
tuned as the tenor of the Viola da Gamba (instead of which it can be used in case of
need). But its body is somewhat longer and larger (deeper)". His illustration
(Piate XX no. 4) shows an open string length of 73 cm which, according to our work
on gut-strings (4) just allows an open-string pitch range from A, to d' in Cammerthon
pitch standard which tunings 3, 4 and 5 indicate.
-21-