Gasparo da Salò
Gasparo da Salò , also Gasparo Bertolotti (born May 20, 1540 (in some sources also 1542) in Polpenazze del Garda near Salò , † April 14, 1609 in Brescia ) was an Italian violin maker and double bass player .
Da Salo was the founder of the Brescian school of violin making. These instruments are more conservative in construction than the instruments of the Amati family made at the same time in Cremona . Many of the instruments he has survived are large violas, which were later often scaled down to make them easier to play. His son and Giovanni Paolo Maggini and most likely the Polish violin maker Marcin Groblicz (after 1540–1609) were among his students .
origin
Gasparo was born in Salò into a family of musicians and artisans. His grandfather Santino owned land and flocks of sheep and probably made strings for string instruments from sheep intestines.
His father Francesco († around 1561/1565) was a flautist. His uncle Agostino (* 1510), who was also in demand as a specialist in musical instruments, was the first concertmaster of the capella di Salò and in this role had the task of teaching singing to the clergy and the Schola cantorum of the cathedral. Agostino had four daughters and a son, Bernardino (* 1547), who became a musician and worked as a violinist and trombonist ( trombonista ), one after the other at the court of the Estonians in Ferrara, at that time one of the music centers of Northern Italy, then in Mantua at the court of the Gonzaga , as Claudio Monteverdi there , and later at the papal court in Rome. Gasparo's son Francesco also became an instrument maker.
Life
Gasparo received his first musical training from his father and uncle. Upper Italy, and especially Salò and Brescia, produced a number of outstanding violin players and other musicians who had been engaged at St. Mark's Basilica and many European courts since the early 1540s.
After his father's death in 1562, he moved to Brescia, where he bought a house with a shop in the Contrada Antegnati , where several instrument makers and musicians had settled. He probably continued the family's traditional business there, trading in strings. His business was so good that just three years later he was able to marry Isabetta Cassetti, the daughter of a local potter and glass manufacturer.
Gasparo maintained friendly relations with Girolamo Virchi (1523–1575), at that time one of the most important instrument makers in the city, referred to in the files as maestro de musica instrumentis . In 1565 Virchi became the godfather of Gasparo's first-born son, who was followed by six other children. Two of the sons died at an early age; Francesco was the only surviving son who later became a violin maker like his father.
Two famous organists of the Cathedral of Brescia, Fiorenzo Mascara and his successor Costanzo Antegnati , and the violin virtuoso Giuseppe Biagini lived in the same quarter . Like other musicians from Brescia, Mascara played several instruments and was considered an excellent viola and viola player. The friendship with these musicians and the frequent close contact with them opened up new musical horizons for Gasparo, especially in terms of perfecting the sound and improving the strings and building the instruments. A flourishing business is documented in a tax assessment from 1568. In 1575 he bought a house in the Contrada delle Cossere , which became the cradle of an instrument- making workshop, the importance of which grew continuously in the first half of the 16th century and which gained an excellent reputation throughout Europe. All types of stringed instruments that were in demand at the time were made.
With Gasparo the art of violin making reached a high level. His students, whom he trained in the art of violin making, include his son Francesco, the Frenchman Alexandro de Marsiliis (= Alessandro from Marseille), Giovanni Paolo Maggini from Botticino near Brescia, Giacomo Lafranchini from Valle Camonica and a violin maker, which is only passed down under his first name Baptista. His business was so good that he was able to buy extensive land near Calvagese including a villa and farmhouses. Gasparo supported the families of his siblings and acted as guardian for his three nephews when their parents, his sister Ludovica and her husband Rocco Cassetti, died of the plague in 1577.
Gasparo da Saló died on April 14, 1609 and was buried in the Church of San Giuseppe in Brescia. His grave has not been preserved, only a plaque on the church commemorates the city's great violin maker.
After his death, Francesco, Maggini and Lafranchini continued to work together and continued the workshop for a short time.
Gasparo da Salò's instruments
Gasparo built Viole da Gamba , Violoni , Violoncellos , Double Basses , Cisters and probably also Lire da Braccio and Lironi. Only a few of his musical instruments have been preserved in their complete original condition, most of them have been supplemented by later ingredients. Viole da gamba were often converted into cellos , some of his six-string bass viols into three- and four-string double basses.
Violins and violas
Violins are extremely rare. Developed at a time when violin making was not yet standardized, they are already very similar to modern violins in terms of size and proportions, although they are often large in size and can reach a length of up to 44.5 cm. While experts have judged da Salò / Bertolotti violins to be inferior to those of Amati and Guarneri in terms of quality, his violas are very popular with viola players because of their full sound, richness of overtones and depth. A Gasparo viola fetched $ 540,000 at Christie's 2010 auction. Hermann Voss , for example, played a da Salò viola as the violist of the Melos Quartet or Amihai Grosz , the first principal violist of the Berlin Philharmonic .
Double basses
His double basses are considered outstanding. The sound holes in the form of elongated sinus curves and narrow wings are typical of his bass .
Raw materials and labeling
The wood for the instruments was also imported from Venice, gut strings from Rome, documents exist for both. The wood for his stringed instruments was stored in individual cases for over 200 years. Unlike the Amati, he placed little emphasis on an aesthetically pleasing composition of the wood grain on the back of the instruments. Salo used a rather soft reddish-brown or amber-yellow varnish that darkens considerably over time. His label is Gasparo da Salo, In Brescia or Gasparo da Salo .
Illustrations of musical instruments
literature
- Walter Kolneder: The book of the violin . 2nd ed. Zurich 1978. pp. 105-108. ISBN 3-7611-0397-2
- Carlo Chiesa: Gasparo da Salò . In: MGG . Vol. 17. 2. revised. Edition 2002. Col. 583-585.
- Alfred Plangowsky: History of the double bass . Tutzing 1970- ISBN 3-7952-0077-6
- Giovanni Livi: I liutai bresciani . Milano: Ricordi 1896.
- Antonio Maria Mucchi: Gasparo da Salò . [1940] Milano: Hoepli 1998. ISBN 88-203-2563-2
- Flavio Dassenno, Ugo Ravasio: Gasparo da Salò e la luteria bresciana tra rinascimento e barocco Brescia, Fondazione Civiltà Bresciana - Turris. 1990
- Flavio Dassenno: Per gli tatting e 'l core. Strumenti musicali nell'arte . Comune di Cortefranca 2004
- Flavio Dassenno [Ed.]: Gasparo da Salò, Architetto del suono . Exhibition catalog. Salò 2009.
Web links
Notes and individual references
- ↑ AM Mucchi: Gasparo da Salò. Milano 1940.
- ↑ [1] ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ [2]
- ^ Hermann Voss: Pecking orders in a square - pencil drawings by Hermann Voss. Res Novae Verlag, Aulendorf 2017, p. 64, ISBN 978-3981825510
- ^ Amihai Grosz, 1st solo viola | Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Retrieved June 11, 2019 .
- ↑ Dextra Musica ( Memento of the original from June 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Documents are printed in: Mucha: Gasparo da Salò. Milano 1940.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gasparo da Salò |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bertolotti, Gasparo |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian violin maker |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 20, 1540 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Polpenazze del Garda |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 14, 1609 |
| Place of death | Brescia |