Bass lute cister

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The bass lutencister is a stringed instrument . Apart from the original instrument in the department for old instruments in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna , no other instrument of this type is known. Nobody knows the sound and mood of the original because it can no longer be tuned. A faithful reconstruction was carried out as a project in the technical school for string and plucked instruments in Hallstatt in 2013.

History of origin

The bass lutencister was probably created around 1594/95 in northern Italy . 1596 was the first time in the inventory of Wunderkammer of Castle Ambras "loud mer ain large selzame with twain collars and three star" in Tyrol with the wording stated. The original instrument is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and can no longer be played. The dendrochronological examination suggests dating to the end of the 16th century . The youngest annual ring could be determined with the year 1576. But judging by the stylistics and formal language of the body outline and the peg boxes, this instrument should be placed in the early Renaissance and the fish-bubble rosettes are designed in a late Gothic manner. The master or masters consequently used old style elements. There is no signature in the instrument, but research by Diego Cantalupi shows that the bass lutencister was commissioned by Alfonso II. D'Este . Christofano Heberle was a German violin and lute maker based in the area around Padua, who was verifiably visited by Alessandro Piccinini in order to build a lute with a long body. In the Kunsthistorisches Museum, however, this lute is attributed to Wendelin Tiefenbrucker. The so-called "Corpo longo" is located in the KHM Vienna and is a similar prototype to the bass lute recorder. The "Liuto dal corpo longo" was a mistake in terms of sound and playing technique. The large distance between the two bridges makes it difficult to achieve an optimal stop next to the string suspension.

At the express request of Duke Alfonso II, Piccinini was to find one or more violin makers in Padua who were willing to make a strange lute with a strange "hump". This lute was not completed immediately, however, as the violin makers (including Piccinini) knew from the start that this instrument would be difficult to play and that the sound would not achieve the desired goal. The bass lutencister is probably this described instrument with the strange "hump". For the basso continuo , instruments were required that allowed a range in low registers.

description

The tuning of this instrument can be derived from the existing placement of the frets and bridges. However, the bridges of the original instrument were moved later, which made it difficult to prove the original tuning. It is a mid-tone tuning , most likely a quarter-tone mid-tone tuning. The frets are set in such a way that as pure thirds as possible can be played as intervals on the fingerboard. The disadvantage of this tuning is that other intervals no longer sound pure. These so-called " wolf fifths " sound wrong and should therefore not be played. In the circle of fifths of the mean-tone tuning, the thirds are pure at 386.31 cents, with a few exceptions. The fifths are slightly lower at 698.58 cents. It is noticeable that when the thirds are added over the circle of fifths, the circle does not close, but a difference of 41.04 cents arises in the G sharp or A flat. This corresponds to almost half a semitone (one semitone = 100 cents). G sharp / A flat cannot be confused enharmonically in the mean tone tuning (see enharmonic confusion ). So the two tones don't sound the same.

Reconstructed tuning of the instrument
Bass choirs with octave strings:
Contra C / Capital C;
Contra D / capital D;

Contra F / capital F; Contra A / Capital A;

Play choirs
Lowercase D / lowercase D;
Lowercase G / lowercase G;
Lowercase C / lowercase C;
Lowercase E / lowercase E;
Lowercase A / lowercase A;
D '/ D';
Treble strings
g ';
c ';
f ';

The instrument is a mixture of cister and lute . The dimensions of the instrument are: 1754 mm × 570 mm × 194 mm. The construction is typical for cisterns with a frame structure and fixed frets (tastini). Three multi-part rosettes made of maple, walnut and parchment are set into the ceiling. The bass lutencister in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna has a primed and varnished surface, a spruce top (in a radial section), a spruce base (in a flat or tangential section). Due to the large width, the ceiling and floor are joined several times. The Basslautencister has sides made of maple, two loud pegboxes for bass and playing strings and different scales of 1,268 mm (Grand jeu) to 296 mm ( Petit jeu ). Three single treble strings reach high pitches and cannot be shortened. The bass strings are double-choir (with octave strings ) and designed as drone strings . Except for the highest pair of strings on the Grand Jeu, these cannot be shortened. The bass lutencister has 13 courses, 4 times 2 bass, 6 times 2 playing and three treble strings result in a total of 23 gut strings. It was probably an attempt to cover the largest possible range with this instrument .

literature

  • Sebastian Kirsch / Josef Rath Documentation on restoration measures Bass Lautenzister (16th century) from the collection of old musical instruments of the KHM Vienna (Inv.No. SAM 55), Institute for Conservation-Restoration, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna 2012, p. 6.
  • Diego Cantalupi La tiorba ed il suo uso in Italia come strumento per basso continuo , Cremona 2006, p. 41.
  • Cantalupi, La tiorba, p. 41.

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