Books › the history of the violin, 1864 › scan 187
Scan 187
the history of the violin, 1864
4 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 165. See the scan on archive.org.
1powerful bass ever made. The duke himself executed some airs on a bass he called his favourite. The baron was told by one of the Court that the duke had quite a passion for these instruments, and that any one wanting a favour, made him a present of one. The giant bass was given to him by one who wished to be made a privy-councillor, and succeeded accordingly. It must have surpassed by far the great bass, of which we have formerly given an account, where a page was concealed in the body; but appears to have been rivalled afterwards by a huge double-bass, mentioned by Gardiner in his gossiping book of Music and Friends: one made for a person called Martin, who kept a public-house. It was so large that it was necessary to cut a hole in the ceiling to let the neck through, so that in fact it was tuned in the room above the player; the bow was in proportion. Boyce, a fine performer on the instrument, and a tall powerful man, went to see and try it, and with one stroke of his bow made it roar and vibrate so, as to shake the house.
3In an unfinished treatise commenced by Louis Carré, who died in 1711, he mentions among the several instruments, the bass-viol, dessus de viole, archiviole, violin, poche, rebec, vielle (probably the hurdy-gurdy), and trumpet marine. Bonanni's curious "Gabinetto Armonico," 1722, abounds with representations of musical instruments, some rather fanciful, but still useful, to show the character of the instruments then in use. What he calls the viola, is like a very large violoncello, resting on the ground, with a very thick clumsy neck; the performer is sitting down; it has four strings, and no frets; the bow much like that of the double-bass. The violone is like a large double-bass, with considerable inward curvatures; there are but four strings in the representation,
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