Chapter XI: Early Violin Music and the Development of Violin Technique

The origin of stringed instruments; ancestors of the
violin--Perfection of the violin and advance in violin
technique; use of the violin in the sixteenth century;
early violin compositions in the vocal style; Florentino
Maschera and Monteverdi--Beginnings of violin music: Biagio
Marini; Quagliati; Farina; Fontana and Mont’ Albano; Merula;
Ucellino and Neri; Legrenzi; Walther and his advance in
technique, experiments in tone painting--Giov. Battista
Vitali; Tommaso Vitali and Torelli; Bassani; Veracini
and others--Biber and other Germans; English and French
composers for the violin; early publications of text-books
and collections.

I

The origin of string instruments of the violin family is involved in much obscurity and it would be impossible to discuss here the various theories concerning it which have been stated with more or less plausibility by musical historians.[42] A preponderance of authoritative opinion seems to favor the theory that the direct ancestor of the violin was the Welsh _crwth_, a sort of harp, which seems to have been played with a bow. Venantius Fortunatus (570 A.D.) mentions this instrument in the much quoted lines: _Romanusque lyra plaudit tibi, barbara harpa, Græcus Achillaica, chrotta Britana canat_. (‘The Roman praises thee with the lyre, the barbarian sings to thee with the harp, the Greek with the cither, the Briton with the _crwth_.’) The fact that the old English name for the fiddle was _crowd_ furnishes an etymological argument in favor of the _crwth_. It is, of course, possible that the idea of using a bow with the small harp was first suggested by some instrument already in existence. The Arabs and other peoples had instruments roughly approximating the violin type. One is inclined, however, to the assumption that the violin was not developed directly from any particular instrument, but came into being rather through the evolution of an idea with which various races experimented independently and simultaneously.

Ignace Paderewski.
_After a photo from life (1915)._

The immediate forerunner of the violin seems to have been the rebec, of which there is a drawing in an extant manuscript of the ninth century. The Benedictine monk Ofried, in his _Liber Evangeliorum_ of about the same period, mentions the fidula as one of the two bowed instruments then in use, though to what extent the fidula differed from the rebec we are unable to ascertain. In the psalm-book of Notker (d. 1022) there is also a figure of a rebec and a bow. Drawings, written references and bas-reliefs enable us to follow the development of the violin clearly enough from this time on. In the abbey of St. Georges de Boscherville, Normandy, there is preserved a bas-relief which shows a girl dancing on her head to the accompaniment of a band which includes two instruments of the violin type, played with the bow. The _Nibelungen Lied_ speaks of a fiddler who ‘wielded a fiddle-bow, broad and long like a sword,’ and although this epic was completed in the twelfth century it is probably safe to antedate the reference considerably. There is in the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris a crowned figure with a four-stringed violin, and in the Abbey of St. Germain des Près there is a similar relic showing a man with a five-stringed violin and a bow. Both date from the eleventh century. From these and similar evidences it is plain that a violin of a rudimentary type was used extensively in the eleventh century. Its musical possibilities must have been very slight, and probably it was used chiefly to accompany the song or the dance.

As we may deduce from many contemporary references, the troubadours, jongleurs, and minnesingers[43] of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries played a very important part in the development of the violin type of instrument. There is extant, for instance, a manuscript of the period, containing an illustration of a _jongleur_ playing upon a three-stringed instrument very nearly resembling the modern violin. Jerome of Moravia, a Dominican monk of Paris in the thirteenth century, informs us in his _Speculum Musices_ that the two strings of the violin then in use were tuned as follows: . His _Speculum_, which is probably the earliest approach to an instruction book for the violin, also contains this very definite indication of the fingering:

Under the influence of the troubadours and minnesingers the popularity of the violin spread rapidly both among professionals and amateur musicians. It was especially popular as an accompaniment to dances. In the _Brunswick Chronicle_ (1203) we read of a clergyman who had his arm struck by lightning while playing for dancers. We may infer from this that it was considered quite a respectable recreation. The _Chronicle_ has the words _veddelte_ (fiddled) and _Veddelbogen_ (fiddle-bow) without any comment, so that they must have been quite familiar terms. A stained glass window, a Parisian manuscript and a miniature painting from a manuscript called _Mater Verborum_ (1202-12) show that the instrument then in use resembled in shape the modern violin. In Ulrich von Lichtenstein’s _Frauendienst_ we read of an orchestra which included two fiddles and which played a lively walking-tune or march for the purpose of charming away the fatigues of the journey. We may gather some idea of the vogue of violin playing during this period from the character of a decree, issued in the year 1261 and now in the archives of Bologna, which forbade the playing of the viol at night in the streets of that city. Despite its great popularity it held a place beside the harp as an instrument worthy of the dignity of a minstrel, as we may gather from an allusion of a French poet about the year 1230:

‘When the cloth was ta’en away
Minstrels strait began to play,
And while harps and viols join
Raptured bards in strains divine,
Loud the trembling arches rung
With the noble deed we sung.’

By this time professional instrumentalists had become a strong class and in various cities had begun the formation of fraternities which did not differ much in essence from our modern musical unions. The first of these, as far as we can discover, was the St. Nicholas Brüderschaft which existed in Vienna as early as 1288.

The many and varied forms and sizes of viols illustrated in manuscripts and elsewhere suggest that the instrument was used in the music of the church. Certainly instruments of some kind (apart from the organ) must have been taken into the church service, else Thomas Aquinas would not have argued against their employment. The church was not very sympathetic toward musicians and its attitude was reflected to a great extent by the world at large. Synods and councils frequently issued decrees against wandering minstrels and in the city of Worms they were even refused the privilege of lodging in or frequenting public houses.

The fourteenth century brought much greater recognition for instrumental art, which grew in popularity and in the favor and patronage of those in high places. When the French _jongleurs_ united in 1321 into the _Confrérie de St. Julien des Ménestriers_ they obtained a charter which called their leaders _Rois des ménestriers_ (later _Rois des violins_). The same charter alludes to ‘high and low’ instruments, apparently treble and bass rebecs or viols which were played in octaves to each other or perhaps in a primitive sort of counterpoint. Technique must have been very inferior, for musicians in Alsace were required to study only one or two years before taking up music as a profession. Their incomes, on the other hand, were probably substantial, as it is recorded that they were obliged to pay taxes. It is interesting to note at this early period that the city of Basle employed a violinist to play in a public place for the entertainment of the citizens.

So far we have endeavored to trace the progress of violin music through paintings, monuments and fugitive references in manuscripts, decrees and other documents. These references are not on the whole very clear and the nomenclature of early instruments of the violin family is very loose and confused. We know practically nothing about the music composed for these instruments. Their imperfect shape does not suggest music of an advanced kind, nor does it mean that the technique of the time was equal to very exacting demands. The famous blind organist, Conrad Paumann (1410-73), who could play on every instrument, including the violin, has left us in his _Orgelbuch_ several transcriptions of songs which he may have played on the violin as well as on other instruments, and the dances and other pieces of free invention composed for other instruments may also have served as musical material for violinists. But all this is mere surmise.

Relatives of the Violin.
Top: Viola de braccia, Pochette, Viola bastarda.
Bottom: Viola da gamba, Violone, Viola d’amore.

Regarding the combination of the violin with other instruments we know that at the end of the fifteenth century there existed in Louvain an ‘orchestra’ composed of a harp, a flute, a _viol_, 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, and _other_ instruments 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.

II

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 tone register 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.

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 his _Journal_ (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 of this 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 a _Fugue_ (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:

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’s _Circe_ (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), wrote ballets (1584), dances, festival music, and other compositions, which were very successful at the court. Doubtless he played them himself. Castiglione in his _Cortigiano_ mentions 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 the _Balletti_ of 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 for _violino_ is to be found in _Concerto 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.

and

From a Sonata à 3 (1615).

and

]

(Note the last example, where the intentional contrast between _piano_ and _forte_ is 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. These _canzoni_ were 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:

This passage from _Combattimento 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 the _pizzicato_, which he marked thus: _Qui si lascia l’arco, e si strappano le chorde con duo diti_, and afterwards _Qui si ripiglia l’arco_. That Monteverdi expected violins to produce a _crescendo_ with the bow is apparent with the instruction _Questa ultima note va in arcato morendo_. ‘Monteverdi with his two violins “_alla Francese_” in the score of _Orfeo_ (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 in the 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 his _Scherzi musicali_ and _Ritornelle_ (1607), we see his superiority to his contemporaries, just as in his _Sonata sopra Sancta Maria detratta_, etc. (1610), he showed plainly his desire to improve violin music.

III

The first attempt at independent violin composition was made by Biagio Marini (1590-1660), _maestro di cappella_ in 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 his _Martinenga Corrente_ (1622):

A passage from his _Il Priulino Balletto e Corrente_ (marked canto primo, secondo, and basso)

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 sinfonia _La Gardana_; for example:

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 entitled _La 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.