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| viola da gamba | |
|---|---|
| Name | Viola da gamba |
| Classification | String instrument |
| Hornbostel | 321.322–71 |
| Developed | Late 15th century |
| Range | Typically four to seven strings |
viola da gamba is a bowed, fretted, stringed instrument prominent in Renaissance and Baroque music, associated with courtly, chamber, and solo repertoire. Originating in Europe, it was central to musical life at courts and churches linked to figures and institutions such as Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Louis XIV, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Antonio Vivaldi. The instrument influenced and was influenced by makers, performers, and theorists including Gasparo da Salò, Andrea Amati, Marin Marais, and Carl Friedrich Abel.
The viol family emerged in the late 15th and early 16th centuries alongside developments by luthiers and patrons such as Gasparo Bertolotti, Andrea Amati, Nicolo Amati, and Antonio Stradivari in regions tied to Venice, Paris, London, and Lisbon. Courts of Henry VIII, Francis I, Philip II of Spain, and Catherine de' Medici fostered consorts and repertory, while theorists like Gioseffo Zarlino, Michael Praetorius, Johann Joachim Quantz, and Johann Gottfried Walther codified tunings and use. The instrument split into sizes—treble, tenor, and bass—with makers in Nuremberg, Bologna, Paris, and Dublin responding to demands of patrons such as Cardinal Mazarin and ensembles under Jean-Baptiste Lully. In the 18th century, the rise of the violin family, promoted by virtuosos like Arcangelo Corelli and patrons including Louis XV, saw gradual displacement; composers such as Georg Philipp Telemann and Johann Sebastian Bach nonetheless wrote significant works. The 19th century relegated the viol to antiquarian interest until revivalists in the 20th century—led by figures like Arnold Dolmetsch, Narciso Yepes?, William Christie, and scholars at institutions including Royal College of Music and Guildhall School—resuscitated repertoire and construction.
Construction techniques evolved in workshops across Cremona, Paris, London, and Brescia where makers such as Gasparo da Salò, Antonio Stradivari, Jacob Stainer, and Matteo Gofriller adapted arching, ribs, and varnish. Typical viols have flat backs, sloped shoulders, C-shaped sound holes, and tied frets; luthiers like Nicholas Hopfner and modern makers associated with Harrison & Harrison and workshops in Cambridge replicate period features. Materials—spruce tops, maple ribs and backs, gut strings—were documented by collectors and scholars such as Johann Georg Sulzer, Francesco Galeazzi, and curators at British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and Bibliothèque nationale de France. Tailpieces, bridge designs, and tuning pegs reflect regional styles in Amsterdam, Seville, Warsaw, and Vienna; surviving instruments by Thomas Molineux and John Rose inform measurements and setup used by modern makers trained at New England Conservatory and programs at Royal Academy of Music.
Playing technique combines bowed articulation, left-hand fretting, and ornamentation codified in treatises by Marin Mersenne, Johann Joseph Fux, Marin Marais, and Phillipe Couperin. Bow hold, described by teachers such as Alphonse Leduc and modern pedagogues at Conservatoire de Paris, varies across French, English, and Italian schools associated with performers like Christopher Simpson, Thomas Mace, Marin Marais, Sainte-Colombe, and Pablo Casals for cello comparisons. Repertoire ranges from consort pieces by William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, and John Dowland to solo and continuo works by Marin Marais, Johann Sebastian Bach, Carl Friedrich Abel, Henry Purcell, and Georg Philipp Telemann. Ornamentation and diminution practices documented in treatises by Giovanni Battista Lulli, Girolamo Frescobaldi, and Giuseppe Tartini inform improvisation and cadenzas performed in recordings by ensembles associated with Philippe Herreweghe, Trevor Pinnock, and Paul O'Dette.
Significant composers who wrote for the viol include Marin Marais (Pièces de viole), Christopher Simpson (The Division Violist), Marin Marais's contemporaries Sainte-Colombe and Antoine Forqueray, and Baroque figures such as Johann Sebastian Bach (Sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord), Carl Friedrich Abel (sinfonias and solo works), Henry Purcell (trio sonatas), Georg Philipp Telemann (solo fantasias), and Giovanni Battista Bassani. Renaissance and early Baroque contributions come from William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, John Dowland, Giovanni Gabrieli, and Claudio Monteverdi. Later repertory and homage pieces were composed by Ludwig van Beethoven admirers, revival-era composers including Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, and contemporaries such as Sofia Gubaidulina and Arvo Pärt who engaged with early instrument timbres.
Performance practice draws on sources from Marin Mersenne, Michael Praetorius, Johann Mattheson, and Francesco Gasparini, and on modern historically informed performance advocates like Christopher Hogwood, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, John Eliot Gardiner, and William Christie. Ensembles include viol consorts modeled on groups favored at Elizabethan court and Versailles, continuo pairings in chamber ensembles with Jean-Philippe Rameau keyboardists, and orchestral settings under conductors such as Ton Koopman and Paul McCreesh. Notable modern consorts and ensembles include Fretwork, The Consort of Musicke, The English Concert, Les Arts Florissants, The Academy of Ancient Music, and chamber collaborations with soloists who perform at festivals like Glyndebourne Festival, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Cheltenham Music Festival, and venues including Wigmore Hall and Carnegie Hall.
The 20th-century revival was shaped by luthiers and performers like Arnold Dolmetsch, Christopher Bodman, Loretta Kelley, and scholars at Oxford University, Cambridge University, and Harvard University. Recording and research projects by labels and institutions such as Deutsche Grammophon, Archiv Produktion, Harmonia Mundi, Naxos Records, and universities including Yale University and University of Oxford expanded repertoire and pedagogy. Contemporary composers and performers appear in festivals curated by Early Music America, Society for Seventeenth-Century Music, and ensembles associated with Boston Early Music Festival and Early Music Vancouver, while conservatories such as Juilliard School and Conservatoire de Paris incorporate historical performance, sustaining a renewed presence in film scores, crossover projects, and new commissions by composers linked to BBC Proms and contemporary music series at Lincoln Center.