Regarding the combination of the violin with other instruments we know that at the end of the fifteenthcentury there existed in Louvain an ‘orchestra’ composed of a harp, a flute, aviol, and a trumpet. There is recorded an account of another ‘orchestra’ belonging to Duke Hercules in Ferrara, who employed a great number of musicians. It included flutes, trumpets, lutes, trombones, harps, viols and rebecs. We should not assume, however, that all of these instruments were played simultaneously. Each class of instrument had its own part and if all of them played together they must have made noise rather than music. We are also informed that previous to the year 1450 popes and princes employed ‘orchestras’ which combined ‘the voices, organ, andotherinstruments into the loveliest harmony.’ In spite of the almost entire lack of music for the violin we know that it was a favorite instrument and consequently that the players must have produced on it pleasing music of some kind. Indication of its popularity is found in the works of Fra Angelico (1387-1455), whose famous angel holds a viol in her hands, and in Boccaccio’s novels, where we learn that violin music formed a considerable part of the entertainment of all classes.
Regarding the combination of the violin with other instruments we know that at the end of the fifteenthcentury there existed in Louvain an ‘orchestra’ composed of a harp, a flute, aviol, and a trumpet. There is recorded an account of another ‘orchestra’ belonging to Duke Hercules in Ferrara, who employed a great number of musicians. It included flutes, trumpets, lutes, trombones, harps, viols and rebecs. We should not assume, however, that all of these instruments were played simultaneously. Each class of instrument had its own part and if all of them played together they must have made noise rather than music. We are also informed that previous to the year 1450 popes and princes employed ‘orchestras’ which combined ‘the voices, organ, andotherinstruments into the loveliest harmony.’ In spite of the almost entire lack of music for the violin we know that it was a favorite instrument and consequently that the players must have produced on it pleasing music of some kind. Indication of its popularity is found in the works of Fra Angelico (1387-1455), whose famous angel holds a viol in her hands, and in Boccaccio’s novels, where we learn that violin music formed a considerable part of the entertainment of all classes.
The sixteenth century brought the violin to a perfection that was still far in advance of the technique of the players. At the same time there was a distinct advancement in the recognition of instrumental music, although vocal music continued to maintain its preeminence. This was due partly to the limited technique of the instrumentalists and partly to the greater appeal of music wedded to words. Violin players then knew nothing about changing of positions and therefore could play only in the first position.[44]Thus the toneregister of the violin was small. Some players, however, attempted to reach higher tones on the first string through the stretching of the fourth finger. Simple melodic phrases or figures were lacking in even quality of tone, in smoothness and in fluency. The art of legato playing was unknown and violinists could not play two or more notes with ‘one bow.’ Neither did they endeavor to conquer the technical difficulties of playing on the G string. They made practically no use of the fourth string until the end of the century. In addition, the instruments were badly constructed, equipped with strings of inferior quality and tuned in a low pitch, all of which militated strongly against purity and accuracy of intonation. Hans Gerle (a flute player of Nuremberg), in his ‛Musica Teutsch, auf die Instrument der grossen und kleinen Geigen’ (1532), advised that intonation marks be placed on the fingerboard, and this naïve advice was in use as late as the middle of the eighteenth century.[45]
The same writer points out that instrumentalists in improvising their parts were prone to vie with each other in demonstrating their ability as contrapuntists, a perfectly comprehensible habit, which must have affected instrumental music in the sixteenth century as badly as the vagaries of coloratura singers affected operatic music in the eighteenth.
Gerle’s book, incidentally, contained a number of German, Welsh, and French songs, and a fugue for four violins. Among other early books on the violin mention may be made of these:
S. Virdung:Musica getuscht, 1511.Judenkönig: A truly artistic instruction * * * of learning upon the lute and violin, 1523. (Contains 25 numbers for violin and flute.)Agricola:Musica Instrumentalis, 1528. (Here the author refers to the vibrato as a device that ‘makes the playing more sweet.’)La Franco:Scintille di Musica, 1533.Silvestro Ganassi:Regola Rubertina che insegna suon di Viola d’arco, 1543.Ludovico Zacconi:Prattica di Musica, 1592 (Zacconi stated here that the compass of the violin was g-ciii).M. Prätorius:Syntagma Musicum, 1619.
S. Virdung:Musica getuscht, 1511.
Judenkönig: A truly artistic instruction * * * of learning upon the lute and violin, 1523. (Contains 25 numbers for violin and flute.)
Agricola:Musica Instrumentalis, 1528. (Here the author refers to the vibrato as a device that ‘makes the playing more sweet.’)
La Franco:Scintille di Musica, 1533.
Silvestro Ganassi:Regola Rubertina che insegna suon di Viola d’arco, 1543.
Ludovico Zacconi:Prattica di Musica, 1592 (Zacconi stated here that the compass of the violin was g-ciii).
M. Prätorius:Syntagma Musicum, 1619.
Touching upon the use of the violin in the sixteenth century there is extant a wealth of historical references. From one of these, for example, we gather that at a public festival in 1520 viols were used to accompany songs. We may assume their popularity in England from the fact that they were used in the family of Sir Thomas More (1530), an ardent music lover, and that during the reign of Edward VI the royal musical establishment increased the number of its viols to eight. Violins were used at public performances in Rouen in 1558; at a fête in Bayonne for dance music in 1565, and in a performance of a Mass at Verona in 1580. In the year 1572 Charles XI of France purchased violins from Cremona and a little later ordered the famous twenty-four violins from Andrea Amati. In 1579, at the marriage of the Duke of Joyeuse, violins were used to play for dances, and Montaigne in hisJournal(1580) refers to a marriage ceremony in Bavaria, where ‘as a newly married couple went out of church, the violinists accompanied them.’ From this passage of Montaigne we may infer that, in Germany at least, the popularity of violin music was not confined to the upper classes. It must be remembered, however, that the terms ‘viola,’ ‘violin,’ ‘viol,’ etc., were often applied indifferently to stringed instruments of various kinds, and in view ofthis inaccurate nomenclature historical references must be accepted with a certain amount of reserve.
We know little of the music that was played on the violin before the last decade of the sixteenth century. Violins, we are aware, were employed in ensembles, in orchestras, and in unison with voices, and in looking for violin music we have not necessarily to consider compositions written especially for violin. By way of illustration we may cite a collection of French Dances (1617), published for ‘instruments,’ presumably for all kinds of instruments, and a collection of ‘Songs’ edited in Venice (1539) bearing the remark ‘to sing and play,’ and indicating no special instruments. Probably much of this sort of music was played by violin. Among examples of specific writing for the violin there has come down to us previous to 1539 aFugue(Fugato rather) for four violins, composed by Gerle. It is in four parts: Discant (first violin), Alto (second violin), Tenor (viola) and Bass ('cello), perhaps the earliest specimen of a composition for string quartet. The style is purely vocal, as we may see from the theme:
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There is no suggestion of the violin idiom in the piece and it throws no light on the development of violin music. Cortecci and Striggio in 1565 scored their intermezzi for two gravecembali,violins, flutes, cornets, trombones, and several other instruments. D’Etrée, an oboe player, wrote down the common lively tunes which had been previously learned by ear and published them in 1564. As a practical musician he undoubtedly considered also the violin. In the performance of Beaulieu’sCirce(1581) ten bands were used and in the first act ten violin players in costumes appeared. The famous violinist, Beaujoyeaulx (an Italian in the service of Henry III whose real name was Baltasarini), wroteballets (1584), dances, festival music, and other compositions, which were very successful at the court. Doubtless he played them himself. Castiglione in hisCortigianomentions a composition as being written for ‛quattro viole da arco’ which almost seems to indicate another specimen of early string quartet. Toward the end of the century we meet with theBallettiof Gastoldi and of Thomas Morley, some of which are printed without words and may have been intended for instrumental performances. Still, they are vocal in character and do not exceed the compass of the human voice. Besides these, there are other compositions and collections of dances, etc., that may be considered musical material for violinists of the time. Most of them, however, deserve no detailed notice.
Up to 1587 the leading instrument of the orchestra was the Cornetto (German ‘Zinke,’ an instrument of wood, not of metal). The earliest instance where the Cornetto alternates with the violins in taking the lead and where a part was inserted especially forviolinois to be found inConcerto di Andrea e Giovanni Gabrieli—per voci e strumenti musicali, 1587. Some of G. Gabrieli’s compositions, however, are still in vocal style, but some are decidedly instrumental in character, as we may see from the following illustrations.
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and
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p377-score3From a Sonata à 3 (1615).
From a Sonata à 3 (1615).
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and
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(Note the last example, where the intentional contrast betweenpianoandforteis distinctly indicated.)
In 1593 Florentino Maschera, one of the celebrated organists of his time, published a book of ‘Songs to play’ (Canzoni a sonar). The work consisted of seventy-one pieces which had family names for their titles, a custom that was often repeated in the first half of the sixteenth century. It is important to note that these pieces were printed in separate parts, so that they may be considered as the first specimens of independent though not direct writing for the violin. Thesecanzoniwere vocal in character and there was little that suggested instrumental technique. The style was that of the vocal compositions of the time—contrapuntal.
A genuine and daring innovator in the field of violin music was Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), who in some violin passages went up as high as the fifth position. Besides broadening the technique of the left hand, he demanded tremolos for dramatic effects in accompanying recitative:
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This passage fromCombattimento di Tanceredi e Clorinda(1624) offered so many difficulties to the musicians that at first they refused to play it. As we shall see presently, however, Monteverdi was not the first to introduce this effect (cf.p. 381). Another of his new effects was the introduction of thepizzicato, which he marked thus:Qui si lascia l’arco, e si strappano le chorde con duo diti, and afterwardsQui si ripiglia l’arco. That Monteverdi expected violins to produce acrescendowith the bow is apparent with the instructionQuesta ultima note va in arcato morendo. ‘Monteverdi with his two violins “alla Francese” in the score ofOrfeo(the first printed reference to the violin as an orchestral instrument in the modern sense), probably meant nothing more than that the violins were to be inthe fashion of the French, but in place of accompanying a dance, the character indicated in the opera was accompanied by two violins in a particular part of its music.’[46]In other violin pieces by Monteverdi, as in hisScherzi musicaliandRitornelle(1607), we see his superiority to his contemporaries, just as in hisSonata sopra Sancta Maria detratta, etc. (1610), he showed plainly his desire to improve violin music.
The first attempt at independent violin composition was made by Biagio Marini (1590-1660),maestro di cappellain Santa Eufemia in Brescia and a court concert-master in Germany, who may be regarded as the first professional composer-violinist. In his early compositions the violin parts were not difficult for the players. There were mostly half and quarter notes in slow tempi, displaying the quality of vocal compositions, and without much use of the G string. Witness the following example from hisMartinenga Corrente(1622):
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A passage from hisIl Priulino Balletto e Corrente(marked canto primo, secondo, and basso)
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is more instrumental in quality, though the second part of the Balletto reveals again the character of vocal music. The whole may be played on the A and E strings. More violinistic passages are to be found in his sinfoniaLa Gardana; for example:
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Marini’s dance compositions are characteristic of all dance music at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Among them, however, is one that possesses particular interest for us from the fact that it is the first extant composition marked distinctly ‘for violin solo.’ It is entitledLa Romanesca per Violino Solo e Basso(ad libitum), and has four sections, each consisting of two parts. The first section,Parte prima, has six measures in the first and second part; the second section has five measures in the first part and six in the second. The form of the third section is not so clear as that of the previous ones, although, as we may see from the basses, the composer endeavored to give clear-cut melodies. The same may be said of the fourth section, where the figures are in the bass. The third section—terza parte in altro modo—with new melodic and rhythmic material, has the character of a dance. The violin part moves in figures of eight, and there are sustained notes in the bass. The first few measures of each section will serve as illustration.
p380-score1Section I
Section I
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p380-score2Section II
Section II
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Section III
Section III
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Section IV
Section IV
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In his technique Marini does not go beyond the first position; consequently the fluency of the melody suffers many a break, for when he reaches the limit of the first position, he continues the melody an octave lower.Yet he is responsible for several technical innovations for the violin. He was the first to mark the bowing (legato playing) and to introduce—seven years before Monteverdi’sCombattimento—the coloring effect of the tremolo, thus:
p381-score1Tremolo con arco.
Tremolo con arco.
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Other innovations are to be found in hisSonate e Sinfonie Canzoni(1629) where in a Capriccio ‘two violins play four parts’ (due violini sonano quattro parti), thus:
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and a ‘Capriccio to be played on the violin solo with three strings after the manner of a lyre’ (Capriccio per sonare il Violino solo con tre corde a modo di Lyra).
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Besides Marini there were others who seriously endeavored to write in a distinctive violin idiom. Before considering them we may mention here Paolo Quagliati, who in hisSfera armoniosa(1623) made the violin accompany the voices and used it also as a solo instrument with the accompaniment of the theorbo in a toccata of the same opus. The violin part usually consisted of sustained tones that were to be embellished by the players according to the custom of the time. Quagliati himself was not a violinist and this fact serves to explain the simple technique of his violin parts.
Four years later Carlo Farina, a Saxon chamber virtuoso and concert master, who may be termed the founder of the race of violin virtuosos, published a composition for the violin, calledCapriccio stravagante. Here he strove toward new and unusual violinistic effects. The very title, ‘an extravagant caprice,’ explains his object. While the piece shows little improvement in form, the technique is noticeably advanced. Farina goes to the third position and points out how the change of position should be executed. Besides broadening violin technique Farina was among the first to venture into the field of realistic ‘tone painting.’ For he tried to imitate the whistling of a soldier, the barking of a dog, the calling of a hen, the crying of a cat, the sound of a clarinet and the trumpet. Farina’s experiments in tone-painting were, however, rather the product of a desire for sensational novelty than of a legitimate seeking after artistic expression. He lacks the genuine qualities of a true artist.
Although Farina did not use the G string, and did not go further than the third position, he recognized the power of expression latent in the violin. Besides rapid figures of sixteenth notes and considerable variety in bowing there are double stops:
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and a series of consecutive chords with the instruction that it should be executed with the stick of the bow:
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It was also his idea—not at all a bad one—to mark double stops with figures:
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The fact that he found it necessary to give instruction for the execution of double stops and tremolos, and the production of the required effects in his imitations indicates that these devices were entirely new in violin playing.
According to Gerber he published besides the Capriccio, a collection of ‛Sonatas’ and ‛Pavanes’ (1628), which, if they existed at all, are entirely lost. Of his other compositions (Dances, Arias) we possess the first violin parts containing the melody. He used the G clef and the term ‘violino.’
The compositions of Marini, Quagliati and Farina represent the beginnings of independent violin solo music. The first to write sonatas for violin solo was the violinist-composer Giovanni Battista Fontana (1630). His works, compared with the sonatas of Gabrieli, show a marked improvement in violin technique; they are characterized by the same polyphonic style, but they are not so conclusively vocal in character. The following selections will show the great improvement in violin technique; they virtually comprise the first ‘runs’ composed for the violin:
p383-score1From a Sonata for Violin Solo.
From a Sonata for Violin Solo.
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or
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or
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or
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Fontana strove toward a broader form and in doing so he took a part in the evolution of the later sonata. But he was not capable of fluent and even expression, hence the effect of his works on the whole is stiff and dry. We should not forget, however, that he lived during the period of transition from the old tonal systems to the new, and that, while he endeavored to write in the new style, the old one had not lost its hold upon him. The result was awkwardness in modulation and a general vagueness and uncertainty.
About the same time (1629) another composer, Bartolomeo Mont’ Albano, published hisSinfoniefor one and two violins (and trombones, with the accompaniment of the organ). These pieces are incoherent and lack inspiration and power. Their value is far below that of Fontana’s compositions. Mont’ Albano is only worthy of mention as showing that Fontana was not absolutely alone in his attempts to improve violin music. It may be noticed that he called his compositionsSinfonie, meaning nothing more nor less than Fontana meant in his sonatas—a proof that the technical terms at that time were not yet strictly defined.
Great improvement in technique is obvious in the works of Tarquinno Merula (1633). He used the G string freely, demanded skips from the G to the E string, also tremolos, changes of position:
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and octave passages:
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Mont’ Albano’s music was thought out rather than invented and it would give little pleasure to the modern ear. In the history of the development of violin musicthese early compositions should be considered simply as efforts or studies to advance violin technique and musical form.
While Merula helped the progress of left hand technique, Marco Ucellini (1669) made more demands on the bow, writing rapid thirty-second notes for certain tremolo effects in hissinfoniaentitledLa gran Bataglia.
A more pleasing musical quality is to be found in the sonatas of Massimiliano Neri, who was the first to make a distinction between theSonata da chiesaand theSonata da camera. In hisSonate e Canzoni a quattroand in hisSonate da suonarsi con vari strumenti, Neri followed the path of Gabrieli in writing for as many as twelve instruments. The frequent change of time and the restless rhythm are also reminiscent of Gabrieli’s peculiarities. Although Neri’s structure of phrases and periods is more normal, his modulation more fluent, and his music on the whole more agreeable to the modern ear than that of Fontana and Merula, his works still belong to the practical experiments of violin music, and are without great intrinsic merits. The same may be said of the sonatas of Biagio Marini whom we have already discussed. He may be termed one of the originators of the cyclical form of the modern sonata, since his sonatas were in four movements. The first, usually in slow tempo, was followed by an Allegro, this by a longer or shorter piece that led to the last movement (Allegro). While his style was still distinctly polyphonic, the development of his motives was considerably more pleasing. Improvement in harmony and modulation is found in theSonate da chiesaandSonate da cameraof Giovanni Legrenzi (1655), who did not otherwise accomplish much in forwarding solo violin music.
Turning to Germany, it is to be regretted that the works, which, to judge by their titles, might have shed some light on the development of early violin music,are irretrievably lost to us. They areAuserlesene Violinen Exercitium aus verschiedener Sonaten nebst ihre Arien, Balladen, Sarabanden, etc., and Musicalische Tafelbedienung von fünf Instrumenten, als zwei Violinen, zwei Violen, nebst den General Bass, by Wilhelm Furcheim (1674), concert-master at Dresden. The most important figure, among the earliest German composers for the violin from the standpoint of technical advance, is evidently Jacob Walter. His twelveScherzi da violino soloare in the style of theSonate da Camera(Suite) or in the form of variations. Eight of them are called sonatas, and contain three or four movements, mostly in the same key but in a variety of tempi. From a musical point of view most of Walter’s compositions are unattractive, as the form is stiff, the rhythm awkward, modulation poor, and the melody heavy and clumsy. His importance lies exclusively in the advanced claims his writings make upon execution, for he ascends as far asp386scoreand writes many difficult double stops, chords, and arpeggios. Walter was also fond of imitating other instruments, birds, echoes, and so forth. In a set of variations we meet with imitations of the guitar by playing pizzicato, of the pipes by going up high on the E string, of fanfares by playing on the G string. In another composition the imitation of the call of the cuckoo was his chief purpose; but we would hardly recognize the cuckoo’s call, had he not in every case taken the pains to mark the imitation. In another instance, inHortulus Chelicus, he endeavored to imitate the voice of some other bird. This work as a piece of art is more valuable, since here he attempted to write a duet for one violin. Another composition that is characteristic of Walter’s musical ideas is aCapriccio, where the C major scale is used as basso ostinato in forty-nine variations, as though thecomposer wanted to give as many kinds of motions and figures as he could.