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FoMRHI Comm. 160 3 Steve Heavens
Schmelzer's Violino Piffaro
A Sonata per chiesa e per camera by Johann Schmelzer published as a modem edition in
1995 by Musikverlag Alfred Coppenrath contains some unusual instrumentation:
Flauto, violino piffaro, violino I, violino U, viola I, viola U, fagotto, organo.
The flauto (recorder) and the 'violino piffaro' play together throughout as a concertate group
separate from the normal violins and violas which themselves form a 4-part choir. The
range of the violino piffaro part is quite nanow, from a* to b"; i.e. playable on a normally
tuned violin on the top two strings in first position.
It is not clear from the editorial commentary whether the original spelling was 'piffaro' or
'piffero', but since the instrument pairs with a recorder, the intended meaning is presumably
not Praetorius' piffaro = shawm = Schallmey-Geigl as the editor describes it, but rather
fiffaro = pipe or fife = piffero in modem Italian.
I could find no reference to a 'violino piffero' (or piffaro, or pifferato) in any of the standard
references. It seems that the only article so far contributed on this instrument is that of
Markus Spielmann "Violino pifferato and Viola di Fagotto" in a Viola-Symposium,
Innsbruck 1987. I have not managed to consult this article but the gist of it is clear from the
editorial commentary.
Web searches on 'violino piffaro' and its variants failed to throw up anything. 'Viola di
fagotto' yielded 2 references:
(1) a Viola da Gamba Society of America page, which reproduced H. M. Brown's entry in
New Grove: "a bowed string instrument with the tuning and range of a cello, but played on
the arm like a viola. Some of its strings were overspun with copper wire in such a way that
it produced a buzzing sound, like a bassoon (fagotto)." No sources or surviving evidence for
this are given.
(2) several invitations to "get a free adult site membership". This usage of musical
instrument terminology was reminiscent of Thomas d'Urfey's Pills to Purge Melancholy,
but after a couple more mouse clicks I decided not to pursue this particular line of enquiry.
The suggestion in the Spielmann paper is that 'violino piffaro' meant a violin with overspun
strings that produced a metallic or silvery sound, contrasting with the gut of the normal
violin band. I think it is more likely that the instrument was strung in a scordatura tuning,
either partly or completely with metal strings.
Amongst late 17th century Austrian violin music there is a fair amount of multiple stopping,
scordatura, pizzicato and other fancy techniques that make effective use of the resonant
qualities for which Jacob Stainer's instruments were renowned. The Austrians were
evidently keen on creating varieties of sound colour with the violin band for representational
or theatrical type music, such as bells, animals, fencing matches etc. So a predilection to
experiment with different methods of stringing could be expected.