Playable BooksCecil Forsyth · section 54 of 60
No. 50. The Viola da Gamba
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Fr. Viole de Gambe; Ger. Gambe.
This instrument, commonly known as the Bass-Viol, is mentioned merely because of its occasional appearances at antiquarian concerts and because John sebastian Bach provided it with parts in the st. John Passion and the Actus Tragicus Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zert.
The tuning has already been given on page 300. As the student will see, it divides the instrument into two halves: a lower and an upper half, each of three strings tuned in fourths. Between these two halves there is an interval, not of a fourth, but of a major third.! The notation was generally in the l-clei, but occasionally the C-clet was employed.
No instrument had a greater popularity than the Bass-Viol. It was to the sixteenth and seventeenth century amateur what the Cello is at the present day? It provided him with an easy recreation. Its
• An additional (7th) string was added about 1700. This was tuned to low A, a perfect fourth below the then existing bottom-string, D.
' Sir Toby Belch's highest praise of Sir Andrew Aguecheek is "he plays o' the violde-gamboys, and speaks three or four languages word for word without book."
pleasant, mbie all and ile camed los of the Vitamily chical charmingly inlaid with "frets," and these contributed not only to its handsome appearance, but also to its player's security of finger and peace of mind.
When Bach employs the Gamba he generally writes for it in two separate parts, using the alto-clei for the upper part and the tenor- or bass-clef for the lower. As the St. John Passion is so well known, it Will perhaps be better to quote an example from his Church-Cantata Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit. This work is scored throughout for Flutes and Gambas. The impressive Adagio opening to the Cantata begins as follows:
Example 270
Sonatina
J. S. Bach. Gotles Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit.
Molto Adagio.
2 Flutes.
Viola da Gamba I.
Viola da Gamba II. BaronAmi
