Roman and Neapolitan Gut Strings 1550-1950

PATRIZIO BARBIERI
Roman
and Neapolitan
1550-1950
a letter dated
1816, Beethoven asked a close
a
friend?a
dilettante cellist ?for
reference on a servant he wished to hire. To
In
Viennese
compensate
him for the inconvenience,
he added
B
I must confess that this unexpected humour from
such an impressive figure had so far discouraged
me from publishing the results of almost twenty
years of archive and bibliographic research on the
subject. I have decided to do so now because the
current revival of gut strings is increasingly in need
of documentary
support, which would also help
a
truer
provide
rendering ofthe sound of Beethoven's
compositions by performing them with the stringing
ofthe period (see ?6 below).
The material brought to lighthas been divided into
?
two articles. The first
mainly concerning historical
details
of the Roman
were
string-makers,
whose
?
Bd
The
i.e.
second,
this
present
article,
1
Emily Anderson
Nikolaus
Zmeskall
(ed.),
The Letters
(Vienna),
5 Sept.
of Beethoven
D
D'O
147
String
XXXV-1
text.
Idem, documents published inAppendices
(the lettersBd are followed by the year of the
e.g.: Bd,
1591).
Catalogo di saggi de prodotti della industria
presentati
nella
Comunale,
1834),
pp. 38-40:
armoniche'.
See Appendix
solenne
esposizione
'Corde
2 ofthe
present
Nicola Giuseppe Durini, 'Delle corde di
minugie', Annali civilidel Regno delle Due
Sicilie,
(Sept.- Dec.
Verbal
communication
D'Orazio,
pp. 5-9.
1835)
string-maker
with
the late Roberto
of Salle
(Pescara)
_1989._
L
Antoine-Germain
S
L'art du
Labarraque,
[...] (Paris: Huzard,
boyaudier
1822).
Philippe Savaresse, 'Cordes',Dictionnaire
arts et manufactures
[...], ed. Charles-P.
L. Laboulaye,
3rd ed., vol. 1, (Paris: Lacroix,
des
Sk
_[1865])._
Made
Philip Skippon, An account ofa Journey
thro' Part
and
ofthe
& Osborn,
Germany,
in A Collection
[...], 3rd ed., VI
1741),
of December
Padua).
Low-Countries,
France,
Italy
and Travels
pp. 373-749:
of Voyages
Lintot
(London:
545-546
(end
1663:
in
of viol-strings'
'Making
1 ofthe present
See Appendix
article.
(above) Abbreviations used for works which are
citedfrequently in this article.
[...], vol. 2 (London:
1816.
Gut
musicali,
article.
with
which provides, however, no technical assessment.
pp. 3-127
nazionale
deals
the technology of string making. With
this
end in view, it also refers to some of the documents
published in an appendix to the previous article [Bd],
Studi
de' 30 maggio 1834 [...] (Napoli, Stamperia
of strings, shop inventories (about twenty, from 1573
to 1821) and biographical details about 180 string
makers.
'The Roman
Barbieri,
document,
C
Strings
1550-1950',
(2006),
products
in great demand throughout Europe
is about
to be published in Studi musicali
(see [B] in the
table of 'Abbreviations'). It is accompanied by two
appendices of documents which relate to purchases
Patrizio
makers
jokingly,
Iwill soon send you my treatise on the
'Don't be annoyed.
out very systematically;
four violoncello
strings, worked
?
the first chapter
is about guts in general
the second
?
and so forth'.1
chapter deals with gut strings
Gut
Macmillan,
1961),
p. 596:
Beethoven
(Baden)
to
148 The Galpin Society Journal
This article is divided
into the following 10 sections:
?1. Roman gut string-makers: an historical outline
?2. The nature of the gut
String manufacture
Bass
?4.
strings: roped vs overspun
Treble
?5.
strings: from cantini rinforzati to
modern steel chanterelles
?3.
STRING-MAKERS:
GUT
AN
In order to provide historical context, this section
the salient steps of the development
These are comprehensively
of string production.
summarises
illustrated, with full bibliographic references, in the
article referred to here as [B].
Contrary to the opinion of several modern scholars,
the profession ofthe string-maker does not originate
in the fifteenth century, but was already established
in theMiddle
Ages. Corporations of such craftsmen
at Florence and Venice in 1216 and
1329 respectively. At
the
sixteenth
century,
least until the beginning
however,
Italian
strings
of
were
unsatisfactory, being mainly 'false' because of their
inconsistency which caused aperiodic vibrations. In
a letter addressed to Isabella d'Este in the year 1500,
the luthier Lorenzo da Pavia, who worked inVenice,
complained that Italian strings caused a disturbing
'frying' sound due to their skimming on the frets
(friggere sui tasti), so that he was obliged to use
those made inMunich. This is the oldest evidence
that strings from Munich were better than those
produced in Italy, and anticipates a similar judgement
given in theCapirola Lute Book, amanuscript written
at Brescia
these
Rome,
turnover
artisans'
appears
unusually high to us: typical single orders and shop
inventories comprise hundreds or thousands of
HISTORICAL OUTLINE
are mentioned
they jealously guarded their profession. They also
moved to other Italian towns where a considerable
amount of lamb was consumed, particularly Naples,
In
?9. Appendix 1: String making in Padua, 1663 [Sk]
?10. Appendix 2: Gut stringcatalogue, Naples, 1834 [C]
ROMAN
and for at least three centuries
Salle)
as well as to France (where they quickly established
a monopoly) and Spain.
?6. Pitch and stringing
?7. Violin family: scaling of diameters
?8. Plucked string instruments
?1.
Musellaro,
cl517.
The Italian situation seems to have changed by
1574 when Adrian Le Roy states that the best lute
strings come from Munich,
together with those
in Italy. Abruzzo, whose chief town is
was
the centre of sheep-raising in Italy
still L'Aquila,
and could therefore supply large quantities of lamb
the most
gut which was needed to manufacture
from Aquila
stressed strings, 'chanterelles'. The
mechanically
fame of strings produced in L'Aquila rapidly gave
way to those produced in Rome, towhere Abruzzese
string-makers began tomove in the second half of the
sixteenth century. Reasons for this are suggested in
[B, ?1.2]. These craftsmen all came from three small
villages in themountains near Sulmona (Bolognano,
dozens of strings. Furthermore, itappears that Lyons,
Rome's greatest competitor in this sector in themid
seventeenth century, replenished its stocks from
Rome (at least during the period 1630-41) through
a 'compagnia di corde di liuto a uso di Francia' set
up there by two French merchants. These merchants
commissioned work from the Papal States. Around
in exporting 300,000
they succeeded
strings of all types to France each year (see
?8.1 below, and [B, ?1.3]).
1639-40
400,000
The
of master
number
string-makers
operating
in Rome rose progressively from seven (in 1589) to
twenty (in 1735). In 1735, however, the number was
limited to twenty by law, due to the decline in sheep
raising and consequent decreasing availability of raw
[B, ?11.1]. From themid-eighteenth century
we witness a progressive merging of these twenty
firms, which, in less than fiftyyears, was to lead to
a monopoly of the Roman market held by just two
material
'factories' {fabbriche). One of these was called 'Pica
& C and the other belonging to the Ruffini family
(however, both the owners and the workers of these
two firms came exclusively from the three Abruzzese
villages mentioned above). From this time onwards,
the Roman producers survived mainly through their
production of delicate first and second strings for
violins,
because
the
viol
consorts
and
numerous
that had
plucked instruments
feature of the Renaissance and Baroque
[B, ?11.2].
disappeared
in the mid-eighteenth
Also
company
many
of Roman
and
of
the
been
a
periods had
century, the first
Neapolitan
string-makers
set up (1752) and, as we shall see below, this
had an impact on manufacturing
technology. The
was
Messrs
'Pica, Angelucci, Tofani & C,
company
was
whose Neapolitan member was Domenico Antonio
Angelucci. The life of this company (today known to
in the 1769
scholars only because itwas mentioned
publication of Voyage d'un Francois en Italie, fait
dans les annees 1765 et 1766 by Jerome de La Lande)
was initially fixed for 18 years, but a suit concerning
Angelucci's
management
occurred
quite
soon.
In 1758 the
of Naples
'Supremo magistrato di commercio'
condemned him to refund as much as
3,000 scudi: from that year on, the company kept
Barbieri?
itsNaples branch, but this time with a Roman as
a director. The Angelucci family,who were natives
of Salle and were considered the most important
at Naples,
string-makers
had
amassed
an
immense
fortune. In 1793 their last descendent
(Maria Irene)
thanks to a
to
of
title
the
duchess,
acquire
managed
a
thousand
several
of
marriage propitiated by dowry
came
the
Then
ducati
[B, ?11.2].
Napoleonic
(1793-1815), during which the string
occupation
damage, first because of
the closing of the frontiers as a result of the wars
in Europe, and second because of the dissolution
makers
suffered economic
of corporations. This latter measure
encouraged
a fearsome French competitor to move to Rome:
father
Savaresse
Sarra (1810-15), whose
Andre
Nicola was
a native ofMusellaro
[B, ?11.3]. This is
the rise ofthe firm ofAndrea
the period thatmarked
Ruffini. Andrea's son Pietro became distinguished
as a patron ofmusic in his palazzo
(near the central
Teatro Argentina), where he was responsible for the
firstRoman performance ofHaydn's Creation (1812).
had business relationships with the publishers
He
Peters and Breitkopf & Hartel
[B, ?1.4.1], among
others. He also owned an interesting collection of
musical
instruments, including a dozen belonging
to the violin family, an inventory (1815) of which is
published in [B, ?1.4.1].
industrial
After the Napoleonic
occupation,
and
stagnation
the
inexorable
fall
in
lamb
consumption in Rome favoured the string-makers'
where working
definitive
transfer to Naples,
conditions were more favourable thanks to the
Bourbon monarchy's
relaunching of the industry,
of lamb and a
the much greater consumption
season
to
October
lasted
which
[B, ?11.4].
working
Putti, who had married the
is indicated in 1841-44 as the best
The Roman Antonio
Pica heiress,
(his product catalogue for
string-maker inNaples
1834 is included in [C]). In 1844 the firm Andrea
Battista
Ruffini
(then managed
by Giovanni
Ruffini, although the firm retained the founder's
its production to Naples. At the
name)
1873 International Exhibition in Vienna, the firm
also moved
was
awarded
the prize
as
'the best
manufacturer
of
musical gut strings in the world'. Having reached
the height of renown, the Roman-Neapolitan
firms could not have imagined that their end
was
nigh. Their decline began with competition
from the Venetian manufacturers
(Bedin, Bella,
was
followed
and
by the much
Righetti, Venturini)
As we shall
Germans.
of
the
tougher competition
2
Filippo
1933),
pp.
Chiappini,
1, 10, 80.
Vocabolario
romanesco,
149
Gut StringManufacture
postumous
see in ?5.4, the Germans had discovered how to
standardise the diameter of their strings, enabling
of the 'perfect fifth'
industrialised
production
type which was suitable for professional players.
such as silk and
The introduction of materials
steel had, however, already seriously undermined
the entire gut industry (?5.5). Immediately after
the Second World War, the success of nylon gave
it the final blow. In any case, from the beginning
of the twentieth century gut strings had become
increasingly rare in Italy. Even the few cordari still
operating in Salle had to search all over Italy to
find dried and salted guts, often of inferior quality:
the
for example,
see,
maker Roberto
ofthe
correspondence
string
Salerni
[B, II.6].
In 1989 I visited Salle, where I had the pleasure
of interviewing Roberto D'Orazio
(1937-1996), the
owner of a string factory formusical
instruments
(at one time also operating at Naples) which started
operations during the first half of the nineteenth
century. He informed me that up to about 1956 they
had only used gut, after which nylon was adopted,
first for some strings only and then, after 1985, for
the whole production. He willingly provided me
with precious details about the equipment used by
his predecessors, which I used in compiling ?3.
?2. THE NATURE OF GUT
for gut strings was mostly taken from
The material
sheep.
These
animals
their age:2
Abbacchio:
were
to
according
categorised
before the creature was weaned.
slaughter (abbacchiatura)
October and May
Its
took place between
Agnello (lamb): after weaning up to almost one
year old, when ithad already been shorn twice.
In Rome, its slaughter (agnellatura) took place
between Easter and the feast of St John (24 June),
although in other Italian cities it took place all
year
In Rome,
round.
during
the
agnellatura,
the lambs slaughtered were mainly those called
(i.e. those born between 1August
primaticci
and the end of September) and mezzarecci (born
between 1October
Ciavarro
Pecora
above,
Castrato:
and the end of January)
from
(or ciavarella):
or montone
after
three
castrated
(sheep
years
or
one
ram):
to three
the
years
same
as
of age
sheep
Capra (goat): at Rome mentioned only in 1617
18 [Bd, 1617a, 1618a]; itwas, on the other hand,
ed. by Bruno
Migliorini
(Rome,
Casa
Leonardo
da Vinci
150 The Galpin Society Journal
used much more
at Naples,
owing to the wider
of unweaned
kids
consumption
(capretti)
practiced in southern Italy [D, 8]
A set of documents dated 1613-18 and relating to
both Rome and Naples was high, and since (unlike
today) the fresh guts usually could not be exported,
string production was high in both cities. In Rome,
stringmanufacture lasted from Easter until the end
of June,whereas
in Naples
it continued until the
autumn. In seventeenth-century
Italy, it appears
that besides the above-mentioned materials,
the
orders for strings by Cristoforo Del Forno (a luthier
in Rome) provides us with details about the use of
these materials
according to the range of notes to be
produced:3
Canti
cantini
or
documents
same
in these
(= chanterelles:
the two terms appear to have the
meaning):
or
agnello
castrato.
sometimes
For violins, the strings were composed
of
2 strands (fill), rising to 4 in the nineteenth
century (?5.3); theywere also known generically
as 'thin strings' (corde sottili)
(middle range): castrato or even pecora;
2 strands
Tenori
or goat; 3,
Bordoni and bassi (low range): pecora
4, or 5 strands
guts of dogs and sinews of particular kinds of snake
were also employed.5 In 1822 Labarraque describes
?
practical experiments carried out
invariably with
?on
results
the
guts of donkeys,
unsatisfactory
dogs,
Raccoglitura
Collection [ofthe guts
from the butcher]
Politura
Cleaning
Scarnitura
for violins'
(le corde d'agnello debbano
esser per chitarre, e quelle di castrati per violini)
of lutes, guitars and violins, because
maximum thinness and mechanical
combined
they
resistance (this is confirmed by Philippe Savaresse
all documents
(1865): see ?5.3 below). Almost
chanterelles
Concia
of pecora
'second
or
were
ciavarella
or
quality,
Stovewith sulphur
Ribattitura
Rewinding [on the
wheel]
cordelle
[Bd, 1613,1617a,
e fabbricatore
1618a],
di corde
Tables
armoniche
1 and 2 below.
nella
read
For examples
Cutting
ed Incannellatura
and
see Patrizio
Barbieri,
(1718-32).
'Cembalaro,
Con
quali
(bionde),
[...], vol.
ab amicis
si fabricano
see Table
chitarraro
organaro,
notizie
sui
e cembalari
liutai
le corde
2 (Brescia:
communicati
di seconda
o siano
qualita,
ordinarie,
4.
Ricciardi,
1686),
fieri posse
invenio,
manuscriptis
(p. 424):
ex
ad collum
funicolo
vocamus,
quos vulgo Cerbinos
serpentes
longioribus,
ligati in aqua
ex
omnia
absumantur
donee
chordae
facile
nervos,
praeter
quibus
parantur'.
praedictae
see
'weathers'
[i.e. wethers],
6
Michael
[L, 79-80,
127-8].
final Rolling
187.
colle
naturae
mihi
Stove
Tagliatura
di Pinaroli
horsehair
ropes
another
Stufa
Oil bath
Forno
technica
of'blondes'
Terzi, Magisterium
'In secretis
Del
Polyanthea
a Roma', Recercare
1 (1989), pp. 123-209:
operanti
4
o ciavarelle,
'intestina
di
[Bd, 1787b]:
pecore,
e mezzane'.
cioe bionde,
5
See Francesco
Lana
On
with
Rubbing
di crino
Bagno di olio
that is the blondes and middle-range strings'.4Unlike
other European cities, the consumption of lamb in
3
con
Strisciatura
strings,
ordinary
thimble
Stufa con zolfo
altra
used
a
with
Scraping
detale
Rota_Wheel_
seventeenth century thick strings cost at least 50%
less [Bd, 1631b, 1677b, 1687]. In a deed dated 1787 we
the guts
Tanning
con
Strisciatura
thin and thick strings by
distinguish between
In
next two centuries, in the
contrast
to
the
price.
that
Stripping [ofthe fatty
membranes]
[Bd, 1660].
It is clear that lamb guts were the ones used to
produce the strings most subject to tension, i.e. the
to manufacture
pigs.6
According to a report by the Papal administration,
the string manufacturing process was divided into
the following stages [Bd, 1825]:
document
(1660), mentions
strings of
(6.6 scudi per 100 dozen) and castrato
agnello
(4.5 scudi per 100 dozen), surprisingly specifying
that 'agnello strings must be for guitars, and those
read
and
?3. STRINGMANUFACTURE
Another
of castrato
cats
horses,
p. 433;
chordas
fluente
For
on
snake
suavissimi
immersi
the guts
strings we
soni, si
detineantur,
of wolves
and
[Sk].
seems
to a passage
in Shakespeare's
draws my attention
which
play Cymbeline,
Fleming
was
not
I
to suggest
'If
will
that in England,
the
material
used
for
this
consider
your
penetrate,
sheep gut
strings:
only
eunuch
music
if it do not, it is a vice in her ears which
horsehairs
and calves' guts, nor the voice of unpaved
the better;
jl! '. ? -' ' i"
jMwiJllL
r..i
.i.i
151
Gut StringManufacture
Barbieri?
i i-
ii i .r '
im mi
in-,
nuMtiij-p,
:
Sp|BL?
'
l0"
'
-:-N
?"
all'Arte del*
Jltsb Appaireitteti
^?,^^_ CordaT^&Bttdeftey
^^^m^m^^^^^^?
??w??^??mi..
,
^^
^^
^^
^
5.
^.
BHHHHBR
^Ib^S^
'
f -:JbbbbbbbsI^^^^^^^^BIp-
*
^^^^
ii"im
i iSiiniiin
api
\7:
la. Roman
string-makers'
Figure
Technica
Pietro Pinaroli,
Polyanthea
Ms.
Casanatense,
Roma, Biblioteca
(Giovanni
equipment
[...], [Rome,
3006, f
1718-32];
.,
jniiiin;^
\. . -. .i,i...ii.?
.,,,,
?. ?n,i.i n. . i?i.nripmw.j.jji;;;;
?.??.;,.?
if.;.!!
f?1
Ti^UTti
Figure
Pietro
lb.
RjnjreTcarc;
&:
jtfairello,^:' iS^?mgrn^.
Roman
(Giovanni
equipment
string-makers'
1718
Technica
[...], [Rome,
Polyanthea
Ms.
Biblioteca
3006, f 147).
Casanatense,
Pinaroli,
32]; Roma,
146).
3_
The most complete information we have about the
people in charge of such operations is from the Baron
Durini (1835). His lands were at Bolognano which, as
(cordari) considered in this study. In 1989 I showed
these illustrations to Roberto D'Orazio, mentioned
? at
?
above, who
although they lack any comment
once explained to me the use of each of the items,
which he had himself used up to a few years before.
According toDurini, factory hands were divided into
six hierarchical levels, in the following order: mastro
?3.1. COLLECTION
collected
mazziere
carried out by each, using the documents published
in [Bd, 1573-1825] and the drawings illustrating the
manuscript by the Roman G.P. Pinaroli from 1718
32 (see Figures la, lb and lc).7 Until a few years
ago, the utensils shown in these pictures were still
familiar to the last descendents of the string-makers
everyone without exception helped him turn out
the evil-smelling contents and wash them. If this
was not done immediately, the guts would remain
we have seen, together with Salle and Musellaro, was
one of the three littleAbruzzi villages where almost
lived.
all the string-makers of Rome and Naples
(manager of all the operations), torcitore, capatore,
strisciatore, lavorante, mazziere
[D, 6-7; B, ?1.1.1].
I shall now attempt to reconstruct the operations
6 (continued)
t0 bootj
can
neVer
amend.'
(Act
II, scene
AND
CLEANING.
The
the guts from the butchers in
bunches (mazzi) of 12 pieces, placing them in a bag
tomake them easier to carry [Bd, 1598a: saccocchie
da portar budelle]. On his return to the shop,
permanently stained and their quality would also be
we
compromised. In a purchase contract dated 1696
read that the strings 'must all be white, except for a
3). Sinews
from the backs
of horses
were
also
employed
in Italy:
Timoteo Rosselli, De' secreti universali [...],part II (Venice: Tivani, 1677), p. 237 (chapter 123: full description ofthe
process,
7
On
for musical
instruments).
the latter, see Barbieri,
'Cembalaro',
pp.
123-4,177.
152 The Galpin Society Journal
as a rule
lavorante,
assisted
by
the
strisciatore.
Figure lb(8) shows the tub (mastello) fromwhich
the still whole gut was taken, using a pole (stanga)
to carry itmore easily [Bd, 1593b, 1638e]. It was
through the mouth of the table shown in
Figure la(2), where, using the scrapers in Figure la(3)
(i.e. cannucce [D'O] fashioned from pieces of marsh
cane), itunderwent an initial scraping off of the fatty
passed
on the outside of the 'strong'membrane
1593b:
Tavole da scarnare]. By means of an
[Bd,
in [L, 44], itwas then turned
described
operation
membranes
inside
out
to remove
the
inner
'mucous'
membrane.
As we
shall see, Italian strings were composed of
tubular strands, i.e. intestines that had not been
cut along their length. The guts were then divided
according to quality and distributed among the bowls
shown in Figure lb (10) (scodelle or catini), about 12
for each bowl [Bd, 1593b: scodelle di agnello, scodelle
di castrato; 1631d: scodelle di budelle grosse]. These
containers were kept on a shelf (scafare), of planks
(tavole) resting on a scaffolding of beams [Bd, 1585a:
tavole da scafare and scalette da scafare]. The process
of decomposition
of the residual fattymembranes
facilitated
here,
began
by adding a special alkaline
solution to the bowls (tempra or lescia). This solution
lc. Roman
Figure
string-makers'
Pietro Pinaroli,
Technica
Polyanthea
Ms.
Roma, Biblioteca
Casanatense,
was of a special kind of potash made by calcination
in a small stove of the lees (feccia) from the bottom
of wine barrels [Bd, 1581b, 1596a, 1678a: cenere di
(Giovanni
equipment
[...], [Rome,
3006, f
1718-32];
148).
come out brown' [Bd, 1696a].
to start by spending several
had
Every string-maker
at
the
hard
task
ofthe
mazziere
years
[D, 6].
few that bymisfortune
AND
SCRAPING
TANNING.
The gut is
of
three
of
membranes,
substantially composed
which only the very thin 'strong' membrane, about
5% of the total volume, is used for string-making:
hence the name
'thread' (filo), which
in slang
?3.2.
was
given to each of its component
two
other
?
and
('mucous'
outer
the
one
'submucous')
('serous'),
?
were
strands. The
and
the
eliminated
inner
by
These operations,
scraping and decomposition.
which will now be described, were the task of the
8
Mentioned
[Giovanni
as
Pagnini
as 1300-1350
early
Delia
del Ventura,]
cenere digrevella).
9
'ma imanifattori
feccia].8 It was treated with water, probably in the
wood sfumatore shown in Figure la(6) [Bd, 1622c,
1729, 1747: tavoloni per sfumare], then filtered
[Bd, 1701:
through special canvas bags (saccoccie)
344 saccoccie da colar la feccia]. The solution thus
obtained (atNaples known as ranno [D, 9]) was kept
in one of the amphorae shown in Figure la(l) [Bd,
1643: vettine da tener lescia]. The other amphora
contained pure water. The cups (scodellette) in
Figure la(5) were used to take the right quantity of
liquid from each amphora, so as to obtain a tempra
whose strength was established on each occasion
by the shop's mastro. Baron Durini tells us that the
string-makers always used this type of ash, adding
that 'when by chance this was lacking and they
were obliged to use soda or potash, the strings were
always
defective'.9 Roberto
D'Orazio,
who
Balducci
La pratica
delta mercatura,
by Francesco
Pegolotti,
published
Decima
and Lucca:
Bouchard,
[...], vol. 3 (Lisbon
1766), p. 379 (tartaro
used
in
and
le ceneri clavellate,
e sieno
ed ove per avventura
per il low ranno
adoprano
queste mancassero,
a far uso delta
o potassa,
soda
le corde riescono
Durini
does
sempre difettose
[D, 9]. Unfortunately,
not describe
the nature
of the defectiveness.
see Mimmo
On
the use of this kind of potash
'Italian
violin
PerufFo,
and nineteenth
centuries:
and principles
of stringing',
strings in the eighteenth
typologies,
techniques
manufacturing
essi
costretti
Recercare
9 (1997),
pp.
155-203:
164-5.
153
Gut StringManufacture
Barbieri?
commercial potash, told me that, up to about 1950,
his father Donato used the ash obtained fromwine
lees (fieccia) in the traditional manner.
coperto tutto di piombo}. They also sloped
to
facilitate drainage of thewaste liquid into
slightly
the catino in Figure lc(14). The gut was passed from
persone
one bowl to another, each one containing an alkaline
The bating (maceration) process lasted eight days.
to
concentration
ofthe
alkaline
solution with a different concentration from the
the
Durini,
According
one.
solution was progressively decreased during the first previous
four days, and increased during the last four, so as
AND TWISTING.
If the strands
to begin and end with pure ranno. He emphasises
?3.3. SELECTION
were
not
to
was
to
be
used
the
that this
immediately they were kept
degrease
justified by the need
in salt [L, 102]: this probably explains a 'case with
gut vigorously during the first stage, facilitate the
natural decomposition of the remaining fatty parts
in themiddle stage, and clean the gut thoroughly in
the final stage [D, 9]. On the other hand, according
to Skippon (1663) and La Lande (1769), as well as
the process
described
in the Encyclopedie
was
concentration
the
(1754),
increased
gradually
from
could be
beginning to end.10 The decomposition
slowed by adding vinegar [Bd, 1585a, 1638e, 1643;
the weather was excessively hot and
L, 45]. When
the muscular membrane
itself was threatened by
putrefaction, all theworkers had to lend a hand [D, 6].
Needless to say, such work was a hazard to the health
Roman
of those living in the area. Consequently
string-makers were obliged by law to live close to the
Tiber, so that they could discharge their dangerous
liquid waste into its flowingwaters [B, ?1.1.2].
Each lavorante looked after 12 bowls. Thrice
a day [D, 9; D'O]
the guts were passed to the
in Figure lc(12-13), where the
shown
rinfrescatore
lavorante 'refreshed them' using the pan (tegame)
in Figure lb(7) [D'O] and removed the parts of the
mucous membrane that had decomposed
[Bd, 1585a,
1593b: refrescatori]. To do this, the gut was drawn
between the index finger and the thumb, which
was fitted with a special metal thimble shaped like
a finger-nail (Figure la(4)), which was very smooth
to avoid nicking the underlying muscular membrane
[Bd, 1638e: 12 detali; 1678a: 12 ditali d'ottone;
Sk, 1663: thimbles of brass]. To protect themselves
from the inevitable splashes of tempra, the workers
wore special aprons [Bd, 1585a: zinali] (they were
also protected by the sliding parapets in Figure lc(12)
[Bd, 1678a:
The
noce].
sei parapetti;
1821b:
which
rinfrescatori,
17 parapetti
were
often
di
lead
lined, were of different sizes so that several workers
could work there at the same time [Bd, 1638e: un
rinfrescatore
10
Paris:
arts
da
due
persone;
[Sk]; Jerome de La Lande,
Desaint,
etdes
1769),
metiers
p. 410;
un
rinfrescatore
a
sei
in a Roman inventory [Bd, 1678a:
salt' mentioned
una cassetta di sale]. Otherwise, they passed to the
= to
select) the
capatore [D, 6] who sorted {capare
use.
to
The
their
intended
thinnest
guts according
and
most
were
resistant
to become
chanterelles
for
violins, lutes and guitars; those with a slightly larger
diameter were used for the thicker strings, less
stressed than the former,while the largestwere used
by hat-makers
In ?3.1 we
rather
than
cotton
and
saw
that
'white'
manufacturers.11
some
strings
so, for aesthetic
came
out
reasons,
stained,
they
were
dyed [S;D'O]. The dyes used for this in Italy were
litmus for deep blue (turchino, i.e. turquoise) and
cochineal for red [Bd, 1821b: tinta detta tornasole,
tinta difondo di cocciniglia]. 'Strings dyed deep blue
and red' are recorded at Rome at least as early as 1591.
The colour functioned not only to conceal staining,
but also to mark the strings for use on particular
instruments, such as harp, lute or guitar [Bd, 1591b:
corde colorite turchine et rosse; 1654: una vettinella
con tinta rossa dentro}. Colour was also employed
to distinguish quality, but so far no key has come
down to us. In an inventorywe find,mixed together,
'blond'
treble
(i.e.
strings
lcantini
from
a castrato,
see ?2), 'white' and 'deep blue' [Bd, 1785b].
The guts to be twisted were lined up on the
rinfrescatore (in Rome), or on special frames
(in Padua:
[Sk]). It is reported that some makers
salts, whose
impregnated them with alumina-based
astringent effectmade the strings harder and more
rigid, though also more fragile [S]. String-makers in
(1663) are reported adding a small quantity
of 'roach allum' to the alkaline solution employed to
Padua
control the above described process of decomposition
ofthe gut [Sk]. Baron Durini
ofthe fattymembranes
also
mentions
this
additive,
and inconclusive manner
but
in a
rather
evasive
[D, 9: allume]. Such salts do
en Italic, fait dans
les annees
1765 et 1766
and
[...], vol. 6 (Venice
a
ou dictionnaire
raisonne
des sciences,
des
boyau', Encyclopedie
et al., 1754), pp. 205-207.
vol. 4 (Paris: Briasson
Jean Le Rond d'Alembert,
Voyage d'un Francois
Denis
'Cordes
Diderot,
[...], ed. Denis
Diderot
and
The same also in [L, 113] and [S].
11
See,
of those
respectively:
for hat-makers,
[Bd, 1720:
see
cordoni
[L, 95,
107].
ad uso di cappellaro];
Table
1: cordoni
da battere
bambace.
For the manufacture
154 The Galpin Society Journal
not appear in any ofthe thoroughly compiled Roman
inventories that have come to light: only one of them
records alume difeccia and cenere difeccia, probably
two different terms for 'gravelled ashes' [Bd, 1596a].
confided that, for this purpose, he
used rock-alum and paraffin [D'O].
The strands were
then removed from the
Roberto D'Orazio
rinfrescatore, each time taking a suitable amount
to produce the string required: from only one to a
hundred, according to Skippon [Sk]. In order to
twist them, one end was fixed to a peg of the frame
in Figure lb(ll)
[Bd, 1598a: telaro], while the other
was fastened to the hook (fuso) of the twisting
frame (Figure lc(15)),
its axis rotated rapidly by
a reduction gear driven by a wheel of much larger
?
?___^^ri>^
_________i__Pifi:^ .#
^^Srtt
/. '^^w____________H_I^^^Bi^^^
"r?--#?
'
i>_.^'_flB_________H__lli^
ibi?
<9__l_lslL
Stf!;-: -,
[Bd, 1593b: la rota e renfrescatore e
see
also Figures 2a and 2b. Roman and
torcitore]:
are silent about the details of
documents
Neapolitan
diameter
these
so we
operations,
must
refer
to
the
accurate
description provided by [L, 116-7]. As in France [5],
so too in Rome during the nineteenth century we
encounter twisting machines with two hooks for the
simultaneous production of two strings [Bd, 1821b:
Quattro rotoni da torcere le budella con due fusi
per cadauno di ferro, e maniglie di legno incassate
In Rome, this device is reported in the
of
Andrea
Ruffini, the first to implement
factory
of the production processes; for
any modernisation
nel ferro].
example, they already used lead piping to convey
water directly to the vessels used for the processes
[Bd, 1821b]. It should be remarked, however, that the
process of twisting with a two-hook machine was
already employed by themakers operating in Padua,
and is described by Philip Skippon in 1663 [Sk].12
It is important to emphasise
that, contrary
to the ancient French practice and the one that
manufacturers are obliged to follow today, artisans in
this business were forbidden by statute from slitting
(spaccare) the intestines longitudinally, under pain
of a heavy fine in Naples and even expulsion from
Figure 2a. Tool (no longer extant)
one of the
former
string-makers
by theauthor, 1989)
system
was
illustrated
by Christoff
e specialmente
a Roma
e a Napoli,
gli agnelli
o
sei
mesi dalla
nascita:
tre,
quattro
dopo
non
le budella
tanto
essendo
quindi
grosse
eforti da
in tutta
la loro lunghezza,
le corde
poterle fendere
In Italia
si uccidono
italiane hanno ilpregio di essere composte di fila o
sane e tonde - i Francesi
budella
le direbbero
rondes
- e
come
che
tre o
aventi
dichiarate
vengono
quelle
ne
e
non
tante
intere
hanno,
quattro fila,
spaccate,
chanterelle by a French competitor made itpossible
to ascertain that itwas composed of three tubular
strands, each a fewmillimetres in diameter.13 Again
two-hook
by Roberto D'Orazio,
torcitore.
of Salle:
(photo
in 1873, in a report presented to theNaples Chamber
ofCommerce, in this connexion Alessandro Betocchi
states explicitly:14
the corporation in Rome, together with 'frusta e
galera', i.e. 'whip and jail' [B, ?11.1; Bd, 1589a, 1599c,
1642b]. A test carried out in 1822 on a Neapolitan
12
A
used
Weigel,
Abbildung
Der
Gemein-Nutzlichen
Haupt-Stdnde...,
(Regensburg, 1698).
13
The
chemical
section
diameter
was
to make
agents
so-called
ofthe
so small
that the examiners
the gut shrink,
'small'
intestine.
as
See
even have
or
that 'the Neapolitans
processes
thought
might
special
we attempted
was
a
to guess or do the same'
It
[L, 121],
evidently
also V. Beltrandi,
'Corde armoniche',
delle arti e Industrie,
Enciclopedia
itwere:
ed. Raffaele
Pareto, vol. 2 (Turin: Unione
Tipografico-editrice,
14
Alessandro
della provincia
Forze produttive
Betocchi,
1880),
di Napoli,
pp. 964-969:
vol.
2 (Naples:
967.
De
Angelis,
1874),
p. 292.
155
Gut StringManufacture
Barbieri?
as early as 1593
1598a,
1638e; 1678a:
1593b,
[Bd,
un mortaro colpestello da solfo].
The purpose of the sulphuric
anhydride thus produced was
are mentioned
not only to bleach and deodorise
the gut, but also, as noted by
in 1754, to
the Encyclopedic
it 'elastic'.16 To optimise
elasticity, sulphurization had to
make
be kept within certain limits.
This was shown by Labarraque's
in
He
1822.
experiments
former
string-makers
of Salle:
mentre
la meta
quelle
delle
Germania
per
tutta
piii
sottili,
fila
promesse.
Al
le budella
de'
fendono
la loro lunghezza
efarne
non
all'estero
fabbricate
alio
violin
with
frame
(photo by the author, 1989)
che
anche
presente
castrati
in
in tre parti
di ottenerefila
scopo
cantini.
at Rome
In Italy, and particularly
lambs
and Naples,
are
after birth.
three, four or six months
slaughtered
are not
Since their intestines
large and strong enough
to slit lengthwise,
the merit
of
Italian
strings have
or guts - the
made
of
round
strands
whole
being
and those stated as
French would
call them rondes
have them whole
three or four strands actually
having
abroad
those manufactured
and not split, whereas
have
only
half
the strands
the
stated.
intestines
they split
their entire length
throughout
chanterelles
strands
and make
Germany
At
present,
of castrati
so as to obtain
even
in
in three
thinner
of them
Probably some manufacturers were still using this
same technique, which they called 'whole gut', as
late as 1925 (unless by this phrase theymeant a gut
opened out into a ribbon, but still 'whole').15 Today
we have not yet managed
eliminating air bubbles
could make
to identify the process for
inside tubular gut, which
them blow up like a balloon in various
places during twisting.
Bachman,
An Encyclopedia
ofthe
Violin
same
17
of sulphide
links between
followed by strisciatura
Ribattitura],
(rubbing).
The strisciatore used the horsehair ropes shown in
Figure lb(9), repeatedly rubbing a group of strings
attached to the frame, so as to smooth and clean them
thoroughly [Bd, 1638e: lOpezzi di striscie da cordaro
and un strisciatore-, 1678a: un istrisciatore; 1825:
cordelle di crino]. During this operation, at regular
intervals, the sponges (sponghe) in Figure lb (9) were
passed over the strings, soaked in tempra. That these
in 1663,
ropes were of horsehair is firstmentioned
was
In
Padua
the
strisciatura
Skippon.
preceded
by
by oiling [Sk], In Rome this stage was completed
with a second sulphurization [Bd, 1825: altra stufa]
and further slight twisting. Some nineteenth
century authors also mention a final polishing, by
rubbing the strings (still fixed to the frame) with a
cloth soaked in oil and powdered pumice stone [S].
In Rome this must have been performed as early as
the second half of the eighteenth century, since this
in several
is mentioned
kind of abrasive material
of the
time.17
AND
Before being
CUTTING.
?3.5. OILING
removed from the frame, the oft-quoted Roman
an 'oil bath', which
document of 1825 mentions
explains how strings reached the purchaser
(New York
the long chains
and
strands,
dropped when
a certain optimal value [L, 130]. Sulphurization
is
now considered superfluous, and strings are merely
bleached with peroxide.
Next came a second twisting operation [Bd, 1825:
-
London:
Appleton
& C,
1925),
in what
makers
do not split the intestines,
but specialize
they call whole gut strings'.
16
a
et
This elasticity
'Cordes
'a la vapeur du soufre,
Diderot,
y prendre de l'elasticite'.
boyau':
to the formation
of
number
concluded that the breaking load
sulphurization was above or below
inventories
AND SCRAPING. Once
?3.4. SULPHURIZATION
the twisting operation was completed, the frames
were placed in a small chamber, where sulphur was
burned. In Padua (1663) this operation lasted for 'an
hour or two' [Sk]. The mortars forpulverising sulphur
15
Alberto
still mounted,
chanterelles
hanno
three chanterelles
compared
with the same diameter and
one of the
Figure 2b. Tool (no longer extant) used by Roberto D'Orazio,
of collagen
ofthe
gut: Peruffo,
'Italian
p. 152:
is now
violin
'Some
thought
strings',
packed
string
to be due
p. 166.
[Bd, 1786: libbre 1500 circa lapis bianco; 1821b: smeriglio inpietra]. To this end, the 'finelypowdered pumice
156 The Galpin Society Journal
in 'paper so soaked in oil that
itmight be said that theywere
Agoodftryng.
in the liquid'.18
swimming
This lubricant is mentioned
inmany shop inventories [Bd,
1654: due vettine da olio],
but animal
fat (unto) was
probably also employed for
this operation [Bd, 1638e: una
libbra d'onto and un pezzo
d'onto di 9 o 10 libbre in circa;
?
1643: tre mezzi pezzi d'onto].
The use of such a quantity
of lubricant would
explain
A&feffayng.
rancid
why strings became
to
when old. This happened
Andrea
Ruffini as a result
of the economic
depression
the
Napoleonic
following
wars (?1): many of his more
than 100,000
strings were
as
inventoried
because
'unusable'
were
they
1
'rotten'
Figure
3. Testing
instruction
of a gut string, from Adrian
1574). The string's great flexibility
the
'trueness'
Le Roy, A
and
briefe
[Bd, 1821b]. To prevent such
should be noted.
(London:
plaine
fermentation, Savaresse (1865)
used a 1% laurel extract as an additive. Roberto
but also between long and short. The former were
on the other hand, used to grease the packaged
in hanks 'of 18 twists' (de 18 pieghe),
D'Orazio,
a
with
whereas
the
of
short ones had only '12 twists' and cost
found
seed-oil,
strings
light layer
having
not
it
that
about
half
the
did
become
rancid
also
(he
price ofthe longer ones [Bd, 1573a,c].
by experiment
was
as sketched
told me that,with olive oil, the coils eventually tend To the purchaser,
their appearance
in Figure 3.19
to stick together). Lastly, the strings were removed
from the frame using special knives [Bd, 1678a: due
Until 1642 long strings were manufactured mainly
in Rome, while short ones came from other towns in
cortelli da ricogliere le corde] and wound in skeins
(gavette) on theforme shown in Figure lc(16), which
incorporated a bench [Bd, 1671: dui banchetti usati
the Papal
usati
either of wood
per
AND PACKAGING.
At Rome, as
?3.6. LENGTHS
early as the sixteenth century, distinctions were
made not only between thin and thick strings,
con un
di musica
(polvere
saggio
impalpabile
sopra
I'arte di
are described
later in [S]).
operations
18
'Le commerce
frangais ne fait venir
dans
du papier
tellement
huile,
qu'elles
dipomice)
suonare
d'ltalie
nagent
is also mentioned
pour
des
ainsi
[...], vol.
scelta.
'Le corde
Parte
per
seconda',
chitarra
II Fronimo
tra il Settecento
30
(April
2002)
Elementi
Galeazzi,
by Francesco
1 (Rome:
Pilucchi
Cracas,
1791),
chanterelles,
dire
19
Figure 3 is taken fromAdrian Le Roy,A briefeandplaine
Peruffo,
romanesche
from
kinds of strings were sold with a lower number of
twists than the previous standard, i.e. 8 and 7 twists
il violino
que
corde
are documented
were more valuable, from the forastiere (which had
to be shorter, usually between 6.5 and 8 palmi (=
145-179 cm). Later, however, this standard was often
not observed [B, ?11.1]. At least from 1726 these two
incavettare].
17 (continued)
stone'
the names
the sixteenth century [Bd, 1597c]. This distinction
was optional before the 1642 statute. In Rome, the
frames had to be at least 10 palmi long (= 223 cm),
so as to distinguish the romanesche strings, which
or stone [Bd, 1678a:
d'incavettar
cantini, due pietre da
cinque forfecchie
10
1821b:
torcoletti di legno di
ingavettare corde,
busso
whence
and corde forastiere, which
di albuccio per ingavettar le corde con le sueforme].
The latter, known also as forfecchie or torcoletti,
were made
States,
dans
e l'avvento
del
pp. 50-61:
57.
qui
arrivent
ce liquide'
par paquets
de
teorico-pratici
p. 74 (the same
trente
cordes
ployees
[L, 110].
instruction (London: 1574); also published inMimmo
nylon.
Tipologie,
tecniche
manifatturiere
e criteri
di
157
Gut StringManufacture
Barbieri?
the end of the sixteenth
respectively.20 Towards
wholesale
strings were sold in packs of 10
century,
dozen (each one of them known as a grosso) or 5
dozen.21 Due to the increasing popularity of the
violin, during the Seicento, we find only packs of 60
strings (for lute or guitar) or 30 (for the violin, which
did not have double strings), known as corolle,gavette
or simply mazzi?1 From 1787, at least as far as the
main
for manufacturers
problem
at least when
today,
recreating the strings used during these historical
periods. A possible explanation of the need for
in coils may be the fact that towards the
and Neapolitan
century Roman
mid-eighteenth
on
chanterelles for violins,
exports focused mainly
which required high tensile strength (as we shall see
packaging
Roman and Neapolitan firms are concerned (see ?1),
the above specifications for length disappear. They
in ?5.3), with consequent additional stiffness. This
shows how an apparently insignificant detail like
packaging can provide important information about
were
construction
replaced
by
for the number
rules
of
tirate,
i.e.
the number of instruments that each string could be
used for [Bd, 1787b, 1821b]. This practice is probably
in origin since La Lande mentions it as
Neapolitan
early
as
Its meaning
1769.23
is made
in a
unequivocal
Neapolitan price listdated 1834 [C],which states, for
the violin: 'length %palmi, i.e. 84 English inches, i.e.
4 tirate\ The same price list also shows that, for each
type of string, the price was rigorously proportional
to the number of strands employed and the number
of tirate?*
As packaging methods
were
hanks
the old twisted
developed,
The
abandoned.
manner
modern
?4. BASS STRINGS: ROPED VS OVERSPUN
PROBLEM. A string of a given length,
to
tension T, has a vibration frequency/
subjected
proportional to the square root of the ratio of T to
itsmass M, i.e.:/ ? (T/M)m. For bass strings, this
ratio needs to be low,which is achieved by lowering
?4.1. THE
T and/or raisingM. Compared to chanterelles, Tcan
only be lowered a little (to avoid the string becoming
too slack, as we shall see in ?7.1), so the only option is
to raiseM, which can be achieved in various ways:
1. By increasing the diameter. Such an increase
a high degree
creates
of inharmonicity
of
packaging in coils isfirst found inNaples in 1765-66.25
It also occurred inRome at least by 1785.26 This type
owing to the increased stiffness. The sound
is consequently dull, of brief duration, and
delayed with respect to the attack of the bow.
is nowadays employed exclusively:
of packaging
if the old-fashioned, narrow 'bents' in Figure 3
were to be used, the strings would be damaged
irremediably. Indirectly, this shows that during the
and
Renaissance
Baroque
were
strings
periods,
20
Philemon-Louis
des Brulons,
Jacques
Savary
The
Jansons,
(Amsterdam:
1726), coll. 1502-1503.
21
In 1593 the grosso
is also
[Bd, 1585a,
1591b].
di spese musicali
alia
corte di Ferrara
corde fatte venire da Firenze').
22
The use of this terminology
Dictionnaire
Also
universel
according
de
coll.
to the Statute
di Stato,
'Le mazzo,
a
string
Savary, Dictionnaire
same number
of twists
reported
(Fasano
in Florence:
di Puglia:
in [Bd, 1585a,
1502-1503;
ofthe Neapolitan
60 for the guitar: Naples,
Archivio
23
La Lande,
pp. 413-4:
Voyage,
such
string-makers
compose
universel
Elio
Schena
'Cordes
dated
Maggiore,
Durante,
editore,
example,
Favetta,
quand
than
6th edn.,
commerce,
'Cordes
Anna
Martellotti,
p. 33
1982),
vol.
1
a boyau'.
Un
('per grossi
decennio
vinti
di
On the number
of strings, see Savary,
La Lande,
(see footnote
10).
Voyage
boyau;
30 strings, and
the mazzi
for violin
included
1685
a deux
e
Congregazioni,
b. 1182,
fils, ou chanterelles,
coute 5 carlins,
dire ,de tirata forestiera,
le autres a proportion'.
24
As also
is confirmed
stated by La Lande
(see footnote
23). This
by a document
firm [Bd, 1787b]
and, in 1865, also by [S]. In ?2 we saw that, in contrast,
Neapolitan
thicker strings cost less than
25
La Lande, Voyage,
p. 412:
petits paquets,
qu'on assemble
rate
1821b].
a
Statuti
de 30 cordes
de
in 1754: Diderot,
1656,1677a,
Diderot,
Cappellano
at a greater
is increasing
a thinner one fingered at the same point (which
is the
(1587-1597)
is documented
commerce,
Furthermore, when fingered, the frequency of
less
rigid (and therefore less inharmonic), which
technology.
de
inc. 54.
six palmes,
c'est-a
to the said Roman
relating
in the two previous
centuries
thin ones.
'on les plie autour d'un mandrin,
sous differentes
ensuite
formes,
l'assemblage
des paquets
from the frame) were
that the strings (removed
26
a Roman
Indeed,
inventory
a une
placed
forme
en rond
ou
cylindre
et auxquels
cylindrique'.
et en paquets,
de bois,
on donne
pour en faire de
on les appelle,
par
also states
Labarraque
appelle Bussolotto,
differens noms;
In France,
i.e. wound
in 1822,
in coils
[L, 118].
of strings, in only one case stating that they were
'bent'
a clear indication
that at that time the others no longer were
the large strings for the
[Bd, 1785b].
Perhaps
(piegate),
were
a document
in coils already
in 1678, when
see
basses
mentions
in a 'round box':
them as preserved
packaged
Table 1 below [Bd, 1678a].
dated
1785
lists various
hanks
158 The Galpin Society Journal
have to be compensated by angling the
frets or the bridge)27
2. By increasing the diameter and decreasing the
stiffness by using a high-twist string or, better,
would
by twisting two or more thin strings together.
In 1976, Abbott and Segerman suggested that
this latter solution had been adopted by the end
sixteenth
ofthe
century,
i.e. a
'roped-gut
string',
they term a 'Venice catline' (a name
retained in their commercial price lists).28 So
far,however, this solution had been documented
by only one source, in 1588.29 In ?4.2 we shall
which
The earliest clear evidence in this
?4.2. ROPED.
connexion is provided by Ugolino ofOrvieto (cl380
1452), amusical theoristworking permanently at Forli
and
for the second: towards 1676 for the violone, and
at least 70 years later for the violin.
27
Trattato
that
when
de
see Patrizio
e de
generi
by J.-B.Mercadier
modi
'The
Barbieri,
delta
musica
inharmonicity
(Rome:
of musical
Around
Bologna.
rotundus uniformiter, when the string's
is constant, like (he adds) copper alloy
wire drawn on the drawing bench
diameter
2. Nervus
rotundus uniformiter difformiter, when
swells at equidistant
intervals'
'its thickness
('Latitudo
cuius
est
diffbrmis est
uniformiter
excessus
aequalis
a
latitudo
se
inter
graduum
It produces
aequidistantium').
'less
sharp'
sound than the one described
in point 1 ('causat
sonum
quam
remissioris
acuminis
uniformis
nervus subtilis')
3. Nervus rotundus difformiter difformiter, i.e. a
false
string.
2 clearly belongs to the category of roped
strings, now generically
designated,
following
Abbott and Segerman, as 'catlines'. Ugolino adds
some theoretical evaluations
in order to explain
Number
their acoustic features, which are clearly based
on Aristotelian
theory.32 Until recently, it was
two gut strings of different
diameter
that
same fret, is
at
the
fingered
already mentioned,
fact
The
unison
to
close
1.Nervus
during the next two centuries
3. By soaking the gut with finely powdered heavy
metals
(e.g. copper) in order to increase its
density and thus make possible the use of
its stiffness. In ?4.3 we shall see that this fourth
solution was introduced inRome as a substitute
towns
in writing about musical
instruments,
makes a distinction between the corda
Ugolino
aenea (= string of copper alloy) and various kinds
of nervus contortus (= gut string).31He classifies the
latter as follows:
see that itwas already in use in the first half of
the fifteenth century and, in any case, at Rome
smaller diameters. This hypothesis was put
forward by Mimmo
Peruffo in the 1990s, but
there is no evidence to confirm it30
4. By adopting a small-diameter gut string and
twisting around it a spiral of thinmetal wire, so
as to make it heavier without greatly affecting
two
Ferrara,
1430-40,
are not in
in unison
when
plucked
unstopped,
for example,
Giambattista
del
Doni,
Compendio
by
of
Fei, 1635), pp. 45-6. On historical
problems
compensation
an unpublished
With
memoir
(1543-1993):
string instruments
sound
(1784)', Studi musicali 27 (1998) pp. 383-419: 407-08. In machinery applications, the earliest
are found
causee
in Guillaume
of string stiffness
'De la resistance
dans
tant
les machines,
Amontons,
les
frottemens
des
les
la
et
roideur
des
cordes
la
maniere
de
par
que par
parties
qui
composent,
y employe,
qu'on
avec les memoires
calculer
l'un et 1'autre', Histoire
de I'Academie
des
et
de
de
sciences,
royale
mathematique
physique
valuations
1699 (ed. Paris,
[...], annee
1718), pp. 206-227.
28
4 (October
'Gut Strings', Early Music
431.
Abbott,
1976) pp. 430-437:
Dijlda
Ephraim
Segerman,
29
-A
Bass
FoMRHI
Gut
16th
C
78
Reference',
John Downing,
1995), pp. 22-23
'Roped
Strings
Quarterly
(January
was
a
a
in
The
reference
found
translation
of
treatise
Le
et artificiose
Diverse
Ramelli,
1318).
(Comm
by Agostino
machine,
30
See
(Paris,
1588).
in the sixteenth
'The mystery
of gut bass strings
and seventeenth
centuries:
the role of
5
to
traces
Recercare
115-151.
salts
have
the
of
metallic
been
found in
now,
(1993), pp.
Up
loaded-weighted
gut',
only
in
'A
silk strings manufactured
Baud
the
late
19th
of
Cache
Albert
Cohen,
century:
by
Strings', Galpin
18th-century
Society
the
e.g. Mimmo
Journal
red was
36
found
Peruffo,
(1983),
pp.
especially
the strength
37-48:
rich
48.
Before
in mercury,
a solution
with
covered
being
and the blue with
significant
were
coloured:
they
The
of this
downside
'Silk Strings?
Putting Another
38-42
39.
(Comm.
1796):
of arabic
traces
of
gum,
lead.
treatment
is that
of the fibre is significantly
reduced:
John Downing,
FoMRHI
106 (January 2002),
ofthe
Sources',
pp.
Spin on Interpretation
Quarterly
31
musicae
Declaratio
ed. Albert
Urbevetanus,
disciplinae,
Ugolinus
Seay, vol. 3 ([Rome]:
seu nervorm
IX ('De cordarum
instrumentalium
1962), Liber quintus,
Capitulum
Musicology,
pp.
112-118.
32
Patrizio
Barbieri,
(2001), pp. 201-232: 223.
'Galileo's'
coincidence
theory
of consonances,
from Nicomachus
American
Institute
subtilitate
et grossitie'),
to Sauveur',
Recercare
of
13
Barbieri?
Gut StringManufacture
159
'
./'
a rope (ourdir une corde).
Figure 4. Tools for making
two (a-b) strands (Henri-Louis
du Monceau,
Duhamel
de
la corderie
perfectionne,
2nd edn.
Desaint,
(Paris:
The figure
Traite
1769), p.
thought that 'catlines' were an invention of the late
sixteenth century, which led to the hypothesis that
they had made it possible to extend the bass range
in two
also
for gut,
used
gut
since
they
whereas
recorded
1585d]; see also
cordoni piccoli
In other
34
Roman
Ephraim
From
corderie
violino
[Bd, 1586, 1638e, 1654].
for the violone, and bassi da
corde
[=
grosse] appear in the same list
[Bd, 1678a].
There was no good reason to use the etymologically
(= roped
term
contradictory
strings)'.
33
cordoni
Segerman,
Henri-Louis
perfectionne,
inventories
'Strings
Duhamel
2nd edn.
of
through
the
(Paris:
sixteenth
the Ages',
du Monceau,
Desaint,
Traite
1769),
unless
The Strad
de
of individual
in both types the size can be Targe' or 'thin',
[Bd, 1678a], corde
e.g.: cordoni grossi e piccoli
even
mixed with cordoni [Bd,
grosse and sottili,
'Uno orditore.
[Bd, 1624b]: 'Una rota con lefusa et I'orditorio
per far cordoni', i.e. a wheel with its hook (
torcitore) formaking corde (= ordinary strings)
'an orditore for making
cordoni by the number
strings.
[Bd, 1598a]:
and
both
thick and
centuries,
to be distinguished
from
two terms are treated differently:
corde, also the large ones for the basses, are
listed by the dozen or the number of bunches,
inventories:
string-makers
three (a-g) and
ou Tart
les vaisseaux
for decorating hats (Table 1, year 1720), and in
instruments (violone, viol, violin, harp,
musical
trumpet marine, the strands for the snare head of
the drum). In fact, from Table 1we see that these
(possibly called 'warping mills')
hemp ropes are illustrated in Figure 4.34
Roman
ropes with
pour
strings (corde) by the terms cordone and
cordoncino (or cordonetto). They were employed
in cotton production
(i.e. per batter bambace),
Some old devices
They
seventeenth
seem
ropes
other
own elasticity, so as to produce a thicker string
that did not curl up once removed from the mill.
are
of hemp
des maneuvres
145).
thin
technological barriers.
The ropes were constructed on special machines,
known as orditori, that twisted a certain number of
strings together in a stable fashion, relying on their
were
la fabrique
and
of some instruments by half an octave.33 Ugolino's
evidence could, however, lead to a revision of this
hypothesis, in view of the fact that this innovation
was not based merely on the overcoming
of
formaking
the making
shows
de
-'
(January
la fabrique
p. 145.
it was
1988),
cord-on-cino
pp. 52-55:
des maneuvres
pour
(or
cord-on-etto)
a particular
to indicate
type of
53.
les vaisseaux
ou
I'art de
la
160 The Galpin Society Journal
Bd, 1581c
1000 cordonorum (ut dicitur) da batte
1000 cordoni, 'forbeating cotton' (as they say).
bambace.
Bd, 1585d
800 dozzene de corde sottile da leuto, item
400 dozzine de tenori, 800 cordoni da
hattere, 1000 pezzi de corde grosse.
800 dozens of thin strings for the lute, idem 400
dozens of tenors, 800 cordoni for beating, 1000
pieces of large strings.
Bd 1586
1000 cordoni da battere bambace [...]
1200 dozzine di corde piccole [...] 1300
of
pezzi di corde grosse.
1000 cordoni for beating cotton [...] 1200
dozens of little [= thin] strings [...] 1300 pieces
Bd, 1591b
grosse 30 di cordoni di violoni.
30 grossi of cordoni for the violone.
Bd, 1597c
149 cordoni fatti a gavetta [...] 104
cordonetti da batter bambace [...] 130
dozzine di corde di tenore; c[o]rolle, tra
149 cordoni in the shape of gavetta [...] 104
cordonetti for beating cotton [...] 130 dozens
of tenor strings; 28 corolle, both in tenors and
e cordonetti,
tenori
Bd, 1597d
n? 28.
cordonetti.
105 cordonetti da battere bambace [...]
corolle di tenori, e cordoni [...] 150 cordoni
fatti
a gavetta.
large strings.
oi
105 cordonetti for beating cotton [...] corolle of
tenors, and cordoni [...] 150 cordoni in the shape
gavetta.
Bd, 1599b
100 dozzine di corde di leuto, cioe tenori e
canti renforzati; 52 cordoni grossi epiccoli
da batter bambace.
Bd, 1616c
cordoni 330 grossi
Bd, 1617a
le budelle delli castrati [the string-maker]
//debbafare d tenori di doifili overo corde
make
delle capre, etpecore esso ms. Rosato
debbiafare li bordoni e bassi di 3, di 4 et
with cows and sheep, mastro Rosato has
tomake bordoni and basses of 3, 4, and 5
330
sottili [...] et dellepecore et caprefarne
bordoni et bassi di tre d quattro fila.
Bd, 1618a
di 5 et 200 dozzine di tenori di pecora di
of
due fila.
Bd, 1638e
duzzine di corde digrosso romanesco
[...] 500 duzzine di cordeforastiere, cioe
mezzane sottili e tenori; 20 cordoni da
arpa,
Bd, 1639c
settime
romanesche
[...]
400
duzzine di bassi forastieri.
2 cordoni di tamburro, et 12 settime
una scatola con 40 pezzi di corde dette
settime [...] 5 mazzi di corde diverse fra
corde
Bd, 1675
tromba marina; 50 cordoncini da violino;
un cordone da tamburo; 85 coppie di
da
[threads], and 200 dozens of two-thread tenors
39 cordoni, 4 'sevenths' for the harp [...] 2
cordoni for the drum [...] 28 corolle oiforastieri
[...] 14 corolle of tenors and mezzane
[...]
13 ordinary cordoni; 800 dozens of Roman large
strings [...] 500 dozens offorastiere strings, that
is thinmezzane and tenors; 20 cordoni for the
basses
harp, i.e. Roman
forastieri
stiringare.
'sevenths' [...]400 dozens of
basses.
'sevenths'.
a box with 40 pieces of strings called 'sevenths'
[...] 5 'bunches' of various strings, both large
[from the bill of a luthier:] a cordone for viol [...]
a cordone
marina.
un telaro piccolo per fare cordoni [...]
60 mazzi di corde suttile bianche; 30
mazzi di bassi romaneschi; 20 cordoni di
cordoncini
with sheep and cows make bordoni and basses
of three or four threads.
and thin.
un cordone di viola [...] un cordone di una
tromba
Bd, 1676b
e sottili.
grosse
with the castrato guts [the string-maker] must
two-thread tenors or thin strings [...] and
2 cordoni for the drum, and 12 various
diverse.
Bd, 1654
cordoni, large.
sheep.
cordoni 39; 4 settimeper arpa [...] 2
cordoni da tamburro [...] 28 corolle di
bassi forastieri [...] 14 corolle di tenori
emezzane [...] 13 cordoni ordinar i; 800
cioe
100 dozens of strings for the lute, that is tenors
and reinforced canti; 52 cordoni, large and
small [= thin], for beating cotton.
stiringare.
for a marine
trumpet.
a small frame formaking cordoni [...] 60
'bunches' of thin white strings; 30 'bunches'
of Roman basses; 20 cordoni for themarine
trumpet; 50 cordoncini for the violin; a cordone
for the drum; 85 couples of cordoncini for
no.
n? 17settime.
1677'a
Bd,
15 corolle of basses for the violin [...] 30 cordoni
for the violone, both large and small [- thin]
[...] 139 cordoni forbeating, Marsilia type [...] 5
'bunches' of violin basses inside a round box.
tonda.
scattola
103 cordoni da battere [...] 19 mazzi
Bd, 1701
bassi
[...]
n?36
1. Roped
Table
[...] no.
The same principle
construction.35
viol-on-cello.36
From 1678 Roman inventories record cordoni only
for non-musical uses. No later Italian document is
5. The
centre
scale
shows millimeters,
Roman
documents.
?
instruments
that
the
was
process
the
same
for
grosses cordes of gut as for hemp.37
Before closing this section, it isworth mentioning
a particular type of gut rope ringing in the sealing
known which unequivocally records the use of roped
instruments, not even for the
strings for musical
Figure
cordoni.
plain-gut G of violins. In France, on the contrary,
?
the Encyclopedie
(1754) says
referring to musical
to the
applies
36
contract of the customs agent for all the strings
of guitar, lute and other instruments, and even
for cordoni employed by the hat-makers.
the original
strings:
[...] 19 'bunches' of
103 cordoni forbeating
di
basses
cordoni.
appalto della gabella di tutte le corde
di chitarra, leuto et altri istromenti, ed
anche cordoni ad uso di cappellaro.
Bd, 1720
term
17'sevenths'.
15 corolle de basse da violino [...] 30
cordoni da violone tra grossi, e piccoli [...]
di marsilia [...]
j139 cordoni da battere
5 mazzi de bassi da violino dentro una
Bd, 1678a
161
Gut StringManufacture
Barbieri?
(left) Gut-rope
ringing
in the wax
seal
of
a pope
Clement
VIII
bolla,
preserved inRome, Archivio di Stato, 30 Notai Capitolini, uff.31, vol. 59,f 801, 1 June 1602 (found detatched,
= 2.80-3.10
the pages
Rope diameter
ofthe volume).
= 30?-40?
its
twist), (right) Another
axis)
(medium
(with
between
mm,
angle
similar
strand
rope
sealing: idem, vol. 80,f 66, 17November 1612 (bolla byPaulus V).
35
In current
of the Gran
Italian,
Cordone
same:
Sebastian
entry
'Cordon
the meaning
or the cordone
Covarruvias
con
('cineuse
of the term
of Strings?',
Question
37
Diderot,
se preparent
'Cordes
Journal
a
les grosses
term cordone
with
knots
Orozco,
estos
As far as musical
by the cordonero.
to
the fourth
employed
designate
pp. 64, 74-5, 83.
36
On
the origin
ofthe
boyau'
cordes
Tesoro
see
ofthe American
(section
a
boyau,
are concerned,
'Des
avec
the famous
Musical
cordes
cette
a
article
Instrument
boyau
propres
difference
1.20,
rope twisting
in its original wax
that the cordones were
adding
in one case
the term cordone was
otros'),
Elementi
Galeazzi,
by Stephen
Society
Bonta,
3, (1977)
a la lutherie'),
[...] qu'on
?
see e.g. the order of
knighthood
In Spanish
the meaning
is the
Sanchez,
1611), f. 238v,
(Madrid:
o Espanola
in later times
of the violin:
(free)
dimensions),
to 'big string':
friars as a belt.
la lengua Castellana,
de S. Francisco,
y algunos
(overspun)
violoncello
is not equivalent
by the Franciscan
de
los religiosos
instruments
string
used
diameter
(same
teorico-pratici
di musica,
'From Violone
to Violoncello:
pp. 64-99:
p. 207:
(1791)
vol.
1,
A
95-6.
'C'est de
les tord et file comme
made
la meme
la chanvre'.
maniere
que
162 The Galpin Society Journal
of a 1602 Papal
wax
holla preserved in the Rome
(Figure 5).38 This string is obtained
by twisting together clockwise three strands, each
one of them pre-twisted anticlockwise. Thus, the
three components being not in reverse twist, this
Bd,
State Archive
1677a
mazzi
are
instruments,
Mimmo
Peruffo inVicenza
made
currently
corde
bassi
Johann Christian Dietz in his claviarpa
(1814-19):
i.e. to produce a 'soft and harmonic' sound like the
gut of a harp.41 There is no mention of gut strings
Bd, 1743
string
mentioning
large basses for
violin
fourths.
white cantini [...]
seconde
terze
[...]
e quarte
bianche.
di seconde
[...]
di
terze
white
seconds
white
thirds
'bunches' of
white cantini
[...] 'bunches'
of seconds
[...]
[...] 'bunches'
fourths,
Bd, 1747
whether
In Roman
idem.
2.
Table
Roman
do not specify
(Table 2). The documents
or
were
roped, and
they
'high-twist'
the inventories in ?4.2 also mention, beside the
cordoncini da violino, ordinary bassi da violino.
Violin
[...]
'bunches' of thirds
tutte bianche.
being replaced by covered strings. For the violin,
at least up to the middle of the following century,
the fourth string of plain 'white' gut survived in
[...]
and
fourths.
mazzi di quarte
that time inventories cease
cordoni (?4.2) confirms that theywere
even
and
tenors,
per
bianche
fact that around
and
three-thread
di violino.
mazzi
for a violone.43
employed
et anco
mazzi di cantini
bianchi [..] mazzi
weighted with metal winding until 1659.42 In Italy,
in Rome to be precise, they appear in 1676, when a
two-
even
cantini bianchi
[...]
mezzane,
and
grossi
quarte
Bd, 1729
strings
called
e tenori
a trefila, et anco
state
have
guitar
di
chitarra,
whether
The
the sellers
of
sheep,
above all tomake
dette
mezzane
of the Geigenwerck.40 He does
this was intended to improve the grip of
the rotating bow or whether the function was the
same as the silk-covered metal strings employed by
basses
strings made
castrato
and
essi
a due
fila,
not
was
with the large
primieramente
by
In 1618 Praetorius firstmentions
?4.3. OVERSPUN.
in parchment, used for the
metal strings wrapped
silver-wound
le corde grosse
fouths,white,
venditori difarne
(since 1994) and George
inManchester.39
Stoppani & Oliver Webber
Roman.
tenuti
inventory does not list any orditore could
have produced ropes. Strings of this nature, for
musical
romane.
di castrato,
fatte
e pecore
siano
whose
of
'bunches'
violin thirds and
Bd, 1677b
type of rope could bymade without the need for any
kind of orditore, but simply with an usual twister
hook. This sample proves that even workshops
four
quattro
[di] terze e quarte
di violino bianche
of
all white.
idem.
stringing,
the
all-gut:
original
documents.
Rome
38
have
be
30 Notai
Rome,
been
found
possible
in other
34
(ofthe
year
1595:
1616. The Roman
ofthe
Press,
the bottom
ones
same
is the same
this
in this volume).
of them is registered
39
to
thanks
Michael
Fleming
My
40
Michael
Praetorius,
Syntagma
Clarendon
equipment
the late eighteenth century:
uff. 31, vol. 59, f. 801, 1 June 1602: bolla by pope Clement
Capitolini,
was found, detatched,
between
the pages).
by the fact that the thin rope
same ufficio, e.g.: vol. 80, f. 66, 17 November
1612 (bolla
ofthe
volumes
Fig. 5), and vol. 90, f. 147, 29 April
some ancient volumes
[Bd, 1598b];
uff. 28, vol.
the corde d'argento and
workshops,
formanufacturing
them appear only in
notary
for the reference
musicum,
Other
(Fig. 5: measurements
can
similar
sealings
in
by Paulus V: reproduced
also making
very thin 'split' strings for bookbinding
are actually
bound with these strings, e.g. 30 Notai
Capitolini,
a deed of one
ofthe district;
who assisted many
string-makers
cordari
archive
VIII
were
to Stoppani's
II, De
& Webber's
construction
and
transl.
practice.
by David
ed.
Organographia,
are made
'The heavier
from thick brass or steel, wound
pp. 70-72:
strings
are
as thick as those ofthe great bass viol [...]'. See also Ephraim
Segerman,
nearly
1986),
Z.
Crookes
(Oxford:
with
fine parchment;
to Comm
'Response
1744 - "Strings of Silk and other Textiles'", FoMRHI Quarterly 104 (July2001), pp. 30-31 (Comm. 1767).
41
Nuovo
dizionario
universale
tecnologico
o di arti
e mestieri
[...] compilato
dai
italiana
traduzione
1832), p. 27.
[...], vol. 5 (Venice: Antonelli,
42
a certain
to
'Italian
been
invented
have
Peruffo,
appear
'Goretsky':
by
They
43
of
German
198
the
luthier
Alberto
Platner,
'Cembalaro',
Barbieri,
p.
(by
argento
et un altra
semplice'.
See
also
note
122 below.
signori
violin
origin):
Lenormand,
strings',
'due
Payen
[...] prima
p. 159.
corde
di violone,
una
di
un ordegno di
ferro per coprire
le corde ramate
Bd,
1785b
An
[...] n? 29 fourths
diverse cavette
consideration of 'high twist' acoustic features dates
from as far back as Graeco-Roman
antiquity, from
to
exact
be
c232-3
C.E., died in
(born
Porphyry
Many hanks of
silver strings
di corde
filo di Bologna
d'argento [...]
di
seta,
Rome c305 C.E.). Comparing the human voice with
stringed instruments and wind instruments made of
[...] silver wire
[...]
d'argento
corde
In ?4.2 we saw that roped strings were
recorded as long ago as the early fifteenth century.
We shall now see that an even more unexpected
STRINGS.
of silver.
d'argento.
Bd,
1821b
?5.1. PORPHYRYAND REAUMUR ON TWISTED
iron tool for
covering the
wound strings
[...] n? 29 quarte
of Bologna
[...]
silk strings and
e
animal
[...] a
silver wire
filare le corde
di seta, con suo
statim
et vox
propter
made
etiamsi
mollior
fuerit.
[...]
in the first
covered strings mentioned
document were given by the cordaro Donato Vincenti
to his colleague Andrea Ruffini. In Vincenti's shop,
only firsts, seconds, and thirds of plain gut are listed.
This suggests that, at least in those early times, the
covered strings were only made by order.
manibus
was
customarily
style',EarlyMusic
46
47
Reproduced
Porphyrius,
published
48
The
pipes
in Francesca
Baldassarri,
In Harmonica
statements
walls
'Antonio
the twisted
tangat
cum
as we
penetrating
[well-] dried
as also
istae
illae
emit
sunt
more
horns
that are
voces
too,
the
and
they
penetrating
those
sound,
et cornua
Operum
concerning
are less hard
Aristotelian
inMedieval
Acoustics
49
'The inharmonicity
Barbieri,
Cristoforo
Ptolomaei
[strings]
less twisted and
less dried will,
horns
on the contrary,
softer sounds.
emit
Even then, they noted that by increasing the amount
of twist, the string emitted a livelier sound.48 Now
we know that this is because by so
doing it acquires
less
inharmonic.
The problem
flexibility, becoming
was only tackled experimentally in 1783 and resolved
analytically in 1848.49
wire:
copper
in context:
Munari
new
Galeazzi,
perspectives
vol.
fresh horns
or are
damp
Organ-Pipe
of musical
are
emit
due
a
Elementi
teorico-pratici
from documents,
3 (Oxford:
'softer'
sound:
at the Sheldonian
pp.
Mss.
analysis
(of Aristotelian
see Patrizio
Barbieri,
Yearbook
388-94.
30
(2001)
di
and
52, 58, 85, 86, 87.
(Graece
Theatre,
belief
The Organ
instruments',
pp. 29, 45,
1998),
ex Codd.
primum
to the mistaken
Technology',
string
Motta,
(Milan:
nunc
commentarius,
mathematicarum,
and
sounds,
touching
a more
said
have
strings violently,
not softly. Since
emittant
minus
a silver-plated
Veracini
even
18 (Nov. 1990) pp. 545-562: 547 (violin) and 549 (violoncello).
in JohnWallis,
whose
Hill,
to mean
in
instruments,
[on p. 250], make
faciant molliores.
STEEL
used
itwas
same
strings,
contortae,
CHANTERELLES
vol. 1, pp. 74-5.
musica,
45
in JohnWalter
Reproduced
[...] The
occurs
Indeed
item e
crudiora,
before
softer.
et assata
duriorem,
quae
whereas
et siquis
violenter,
sonum
more
becomes
clearly
musical
contrario,
?5. THE TREBLE STRINGS: FROM CANTINI
term argento
also
penetrating
owing
to the [extra] force,
faciunt
Necessario
however, plain gut is still recorded around 1710-15.
Cristoforo Munari, a painter working both in Rome
(1695-1707) and Florence (1707-1715), has leftworks
depicting a violoncello (1710) and violins (1710-15)
strung with a thick, plain-gut 4th string.46
The
ante
non molliter:
be indicated as early as about 1685 in paintings by
Antonio Domenico Gabbiani
that show musicians
at the Medici
court.45 In less fashionable milieus,
MODERN
duriores;
chordas
[C] only
'silver' (argento) ismentioned for overspinning the
gut or silk strings.44At Florence the use of overspun
strings, both on violin and violoncello, seems to
44
vim,
ut dictum
est, voces
cornua;
It should be noted that inRome and Naples
TO
at once
violently,
the [human] voice
fit
et contortae
chordae,
more
is emitted
et idem
Perspicuum
est in instrumentis.
Nam
if the breath
Therefore
spiritum
durior
29
RINFORZATI
observes:47
violentius,
the silk strings,
with its foot
e noce.
The
siquis
intendit
of poplar
and walnut.
piede di albuccio
he
horn,
Nam
tool for covering
filo d'argento [...]
un ordegno da
163
Gut StringManufacture
Barbieri?
et Latine)
1699)
pp.
that
origin)
'Alchemy,
pp. 7-39:
editus,
183-355:
sounding
and
Symbolism
9.
251.
164 The Galpin Society Journal
100 dozzine di corde di leuto, cioe tenori e
Bd, 1599b
Bd, 1615a
canti rinforzati.
1000 dozens of strings for the lute, that is tenors
and reinforced canti [or 'reinforced both tenors
and canti'?].
1000 dozene di canti di violino di 2fill.
1000 dozens of two-threads canti for the violin
[see below].
Bd, 1619a
canti rinforzati di violino di 2fila [...] alia
misura di Roma.
reinforced two-threads canti for the violin [...] of
the Roman length.
1000 dozzene di cantini da violino
Bd, 1636b
1000 dozens of reinforced canti for the violin.
rinforzati.
Bd, 1638a
corde romanesche, cioe 3000 [dozzine]
sottili, et 2000 [dozzine] cantini
Bd, 1638b
corde di violino, et corde de rinforzate [...]
di lunghezza alia misura di Roma.
violin strings, and reinforced strings [...] ofthe
length prescribed in Rome.
Bd, 1638c
[1000 dozzine] di cantini rinforzati di
Peruggia, et dell'Aquila tutte di agnello.
[1000 dozens] of reinforced cantini of Perugia
and L'Aquila, all of lamb.
Bd, 1638d
[1000 dozzine di] cantini rinforzati
[1000 dozens of] reinforced cantini [ofL'Aquila].
strings, that is 3000 [dozens] thin ones,
and 2000 [dozens] reinforced cantini.
Roman
rinforzati.
[dell'Aquila].
Bd, 1638e
1800 duzzine di corde romanesche tra
1800 dozens of Roman
sottile e canti rinforzati.
reinforced
canti.
Bd, 1642a
cantini di violino rinforzati.
[prohibition ofmaking or selling] tenori
canti rinforzati di unfilo solo, ma
Bd, 1642b
debbiano
1657:Ms
note 140
essere di due fila.
3.
Table
'Reinforced'
strings:
now jump forward to the early Renaissance.
Hemp strings in non-musical use were known, by
We
as
'reinforced'
term was
still used
and
[byRoman statute, ch. 8: prohibition ofmaking
or selling] reinforced tenors [and] canti of a
single thread, but they have to be of two threads.
[ordered by the Spanish court:] two dozens of
bordoncillos to serve as violin seconds and thirds
[...] half 'bunch' of reinforced strings for the
violin, another half ['bunch'] of bordoncillos fat
and delicate [- not stiff?].
mazo de cuerdas renforzadas, otro medio
de bordoncillos gordos y delgados.
below
1460,
reinforced cantini for the violin.
[ordered by the Spanish court:] dos
docenas de bordoncillos para segundas y
terceras del violin [...]para el violin medio
cited in
(rinforzate)
This
strings.50
in the late nineteenth
century,
that spago
several
explain
lexicographers
rinforzato (reinforced twine) is 'strongly twisted'.51
At that time itwas thought that twisting gave string
greater
mechanical
strength:
for
see,
example,
strings, both thin and
the original
Roman
documents.
Fabri (1669), Lana Terzi (1686) and Bellini (1696).52
Itwas believed that by twisting the string, first its
diameter
increased and secondly the individual
strands,
owing
to
their
inclination,
were
not
put
under traction by the entire applied force, but only
by the normal component for their section, while
the
them
50
Gabriele Giacomelli, Enzo Settesoldi, Gli organi di S.Maria
tangential
together.
component
served
In 1711 Reaumur
to
compress
demonstrated
del Fiore di Firenze. Sette secoli di storia dal '300 al
'chorda rinforzata';
Carlo Grigioni,
'Maestri
della Romagna',
Olschki,
1993), p. 328, year 1460:
organari
n? 5) pp. 271-273,
de
da Forli
d'arte
'octo cavelotine
Melozzo
[= gavette]
(1937-1938,
year 1499:
Rassegna
romagnola
in Agone,
del mandati
filo renforzato';
Doria
Filza
di S. Agnese
1667-68,
Rome, Archivio
spese mese
organo
Pamphilj,
busta
1667:
di
'libbre 33 corda di canape
di settembre
AS, Miscellanea
rinforzata';
statistica,
26, fasc.
'Delegazione
'900
(Firenze:
Industria
Spoleto.
51
'Rinforzato',
accresciuto
manifatturiera',
della
Vocabolario
da Giuseppe
year
Manuzzi,
1843,
lingua
2nd edn.,
between
corde di canapa:
'Spago
e rinforzato
assortito'.
ed ora corretto
ed
della
Crusca,
dagli accademici
gia compilato
839:
3 (Florence,
del
vocabolario,
'Corda,
1863), p.
spago, e
Stamperia
italiana
vol.
stretto'.
dicesi quello
ritorto, e fortemente
simili, rinforzato,
52
rerum corporearum,
vol. 1 (Lyons: Anisson,
id est, scientia
Honore
Fabri, Physica,
1669), p. 528, prop. XIII;
cordis (Leyden:
vol. 2, p. 488, ?XXI; Lorenzo
naturae,
Bellini, Opuscula
Terzi, Magisterium
[...] de motu
aliquot
republished
in Idem.,
Opera
omnia
(Venice:
Hertz,
1732),
pars
II, pp.
106-136:
121
(Propositio
V).
Lana
1696),
Barbieri?
that twisting actually produced the opposite effect,
explaining the weakening by the facts that first,
the
single
are
strands
an external
even
traction
under
already
the weakest
load, and secondly that when
strand gives way, all the applied force
contributes
to
without
the
overloading
ones,
remaining
triggering a runaway effect.53He concluded that such
strings should rather be called 'weakened strings'.
Between
'CANTINI RINFORZATV.
?5.2. ROMAN
1599 and 1657 Roman documents often mention
-
in connexion
with
lutes,
and
viols
violins
-
string-maker Andrea Ruffini took over from his
father Francesco in 1786, he found only three-strand
ones [Bd, 1786], inheriting a situation like the one
in Table 4. At the time of his death in 1821, the
shop also had four-strand strings: Table 5 provides
the first notice of this innovation, although we do
not know whether itwas introduced by him or was
between Roman and
the result of collaboration
(?1). The fact remains,
Neapolitan manufacturers
in
that
1821
his shop inventory shows the
however,
following changes since 1785 (Table 4):
canti,
four-strand chanterelles
cantini and tenori, all of them rinforzati (Table 3).
As we have seen in ?5.1, these were most probably
high-twist strings formedium and high registers.
They sometimes appear with others classified simply
as 'thin' (sottili), a term that also included the
chanterelles
we
the
remark
may
Schmidl of Trieste), and in 1931
(pricelist of Roberto Salerni of Salle).56
violin strings are no longer distinguished by
the firm Carlo
'2-strand
reinforced canti for violin', requested by the luthier
Cristoforo Del Forno as early as 1619, which must
have been similar to the strings he ordered in 1615
(Table 3,1615,1619). They were probably chanterelles
in Roman
(not 2nds) because
violin
the description Tong' and 'short' disappears and
is replaced by the number of Urate (?3.6); this
latter term was still in use in 1904 (pricelist of
(Table 3, 1638a, 1638e).
these
Among
strings
are
documents
known
respectively
as
in later documents.
Cantini
2nd,
3rd,4th (or basso).5* The specification 'reinforced' is
again found in an order placed in 1657 by Antonio
de Zulueta, violero de la Real Capilla of Spain, also
including 'corde di Roma' (Table 3, 1657). This term
is abandoned
colours.
the four
cantino,
In the above
deeds, the chanterelles for violin always
have two strands; those with three strands are found
first in 1729 and continue to be mentioned, together
with two-strand strings, throughout the century.55
Table 4 shows that violinists had a very wide choice
of both diameters and quality-price range.
Rene-Antoine
des
Ferchault
fils qui
de Reaumur,
composent
[...], annee
3 strands,
red, short
dark
2 strands,
3 strands,
short
blonde,
long
white,
2 strands,
short
2 strands,
1711
6 strands,
?
?,
7 strands,
short
dark
4 strands,
white,
long
3 strands,
7 strands,
short
8 strands,
short
white,
short
blue,
white,
long
5 strands,
short
white,
red, short
short
short
white,
short
?,
4 strands,
2 strands,
white,
blonde,
3 strands,
blue,
white,
3 strands,
short
blue,
white,
short
3 strands,
white,
long
Table 4. [Violin] strings:from the Donato
Vincenti
(Dark
blue
(ed. Paris
1785
inventory, Rome,
turchini.J
si la force des
pour connoistre
'Experiences
de I'Academie
cordes', Histoire
royale des
ces mesmes
et de physique
2 strands,
dark
'CANTINI A 4 FILI'.
?5.3. ROMAN-NEAPOLITAN
We have seen that violin chanterelles increased
from two strands (1615) to three (1729). When
the
forces
Thirds
Seconds
dark blue,
mentioned
53
165
Gut StringManufacture
cordes,
sciences,
[Bd,
1785b].
la somme
surpasse
avec
les memoires
des
de
pp. 6-16.
1714),
mathematique
54
on the other hand,
in the Veneto,
the mid-18th
the 2nd was,
1729, 1743 1785b]. Towards
[Bd, 1678a,
century,
two cantino
called a canto (and the adjacent
and tenore): Giordano
corde ovverofibre
elastiche
Riccati, Delle
(Bologna:
was
130.
In
S.
Tommaso
canto: Monica
1606
the
chanterelle
the
also
of
called
1767),
p.
Stamperia
d'Aquino,
guitar
Hall,
'Translation
of the tuning
instructions
in Girolamo
Montesardo,
Nuova
inventione
d'intavolatura
sonare
per
li
balletti sopra la chitarra spagniuola (Florence, 1606)', FoMRHI Quarterly 16 (Jan.2002) p. 43 (Comm. 1797).
55
in Naples
in 1765-66
also had three
[Bd, 1729, 1785b; Table 4]. The ones made
56
e deposito
corrente della fabbrica
Prezzo
di strumenti musicali,
corde armoniche
see
As far as Salerni
is concerned,
(Trieste:
1904), pp. 34-37
('Corde
armoniche').
are very
(Salerni
rare, and have
catalogue),
been
whom
brought
I thank.
to my
attention
by Renato
Meucci
(Schmidl
strands:
[...] della
[B, Table
catalogue)
La Lande,
casa
Voyage,
C. Schmidl
II]. These
p. 410.
& C?
two documents
and Giancarlo
Rostirolla
[...]
166 The Galpin Society Journal
Cantini
Seconds
In 1786,
Thirds
3 strands,
4 strands,
8 strands,
3 tirate
3 tirate
3 tirate
La
3 strands,
4 strands,
12 strands,
4 tirate
4 ?/rate
di grosso
4 strands,
grosso,
4 tirate
4 strands,
?,
This is confirmed by Table 6, which summarises the
samples of three of the best-known manufacturers
operating at Naples in 1834 (the best of these, as we
have seen in ?1,was of Roman origin: Antonio Putti).
Thirds
Seconds
4 strands,
1 tirata
?
5 strands,
3 strands,
3 tirate
4 strands,
3 tirate
7 strands,
?
3 strands, 5 strands,
?? I I
4 tirate
gut core
ma
grossezza,
And
dans
que
theviolin)
I
the gut does not
determine strength:
a small one has the
un
same
gros.
core
a trois
explains
with two strands, and
also explains why
2nd strings of three
strands are better than
jthoseof six.
Diameter
of Antonio
and
violoncello
strings: from
Avallone
Putti,
Guida, Naples 1834 [C].
Bros,
the price
Giuseppe
(p-dua)_
de^n
Girolamo
In a manuscript
Forni,
1986),
a string would
published
pp. 68-71.
in Roberto
be thicker.
Regazzi,
Table
12
0.70
Trevisan
(Bassano)
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was
already known that a string's breaking point could
be raised by increasing the number of guts, which
did not necessarily mean
0.69
0.68
Venturini
I
|
13
|
16
1
17
13
0.69 |
I(Vicenza)_[
6. Violin
|
| 0.70
Bedin
Giuseppe
(= 3rdof
the violin)
16
0.72
0.69
(Naples)_
8 strands
Breaking
(mm) j load(kg) \
_|
Rufini
(= 3rdof
the violin) II
lists
three
why
strand chanterelles
are better than those
Maker
7 strands
Table
resistance
as a big one. This
on
silver
gut
[S]
The thickness of
que celles
a six.
VIOLONCELLO
on
but
thickness
with fewer strands [...]
a trois fils sont
gut core
as does
than another of the
et explique encore
comment les deuxiemes
silver
us
shows
in 1865, the string-maker Philippe Savaresse
les chanterelles
8 strands,
12 strands
longer,
same
di
meno
fili [...]
I
meilleures
(= 3rd of
Marchi
also a stringmade up
ofmany strands rather
fils sont meilleures
que celles a deux,
4 tirate
Bolognese:
stessa
petit
4 strands,
5 strands
itself
lasts
corda,
Cela explique pourquoi
4 strands, !
3 tirate I
57
una
pure
de resistance dans un
on
silver
Nature
La grosseur d'un
intestin n'en fait pas
la force; il y a autant
VIOLIN
1 tirata
Antonio
states:
Fourths
3 strands,
ci
che parimenti sia
composta di piu fili, di
quello sia un'altra della
Table 5. [Violin] strings:from the Andrea Ruffini
Rome 1821 [Bd, 1821b],
inventory,
Cantini
stessa
natura
come
one ?/rata
I4 fr'rate
luthier Giovanni
that fine-grain spruce
dimostra, che l'abete
di vena fina e piu forte, is strongest, being
made up of a great
perche e composto di
e
cosi
la
number of lines, just
pure
piu linee,
as a piece of cloth,
tela benche sia sotile
e di maggior durata,
although very thin,
?,
3 tirate
the
observes:57
[
|
15
[
_|
7. Chanterelles
for
violin
presented
at
technical
survey
the
Paris Industrial Exhibition in 1881 byfour Italian
contemporary
manufacturers:
[Chouquet, 1881].
77 manoscritto
liutario
di G.A.
Marchi.
Bologna
1786
(Sala
A few lines earlier, Savaresse had remarked that
because the 2nd and 3rdof the violin were less tense,
at Naples during the early
they were manufactured
months
ofthe
the guts were
year when
less
was
not
only
an
from
advantageous
?
Anime
Gli
le facevano
e
si usavano
perche
ordinariamente
resistant,
donde
economic
?
Sound
posts
their
followers
It is probably to them that the Paris International
Exhibition scientific tests of 1881 refer (Table 7).59
One and a half centuries earlier (1729) the Dutch
which
physicist Petrus van Musschenbroek
a
out
(D)
similar
survey,
and breaking
'used
the
comparing
the
although
was
not specified. Converted
into modern units, his
data
the
experimental
gives
following results:60
1ststring: D = 0.78 mm
2nd string: D = 1.31 mm
= 13.34
kg
= 20.75
Tb
kg
Tb
italiana
enciclopedia
and
1877),
(with three
tipografico-editrice,
59
in Gustavo
Data
published
Chouquet,
36 (1881) pp. 59-77: 67. Measurements
Milano
Thibouville-Lamy,
60
van
Petrus
vitreorumque
Luchtmans,
1729),
pp.
eas
elegi quibus Musici
et diametri
crassior
0.05
he was
factors
da
were
to
deemed
Gerolamo
'below
mentioning
average
6th edn.,
Boccardo,
vol.
the ones
particularly
di
all'Esposizione
a micrometer
using
taken
be
4
size'.64
When
(Turin:
Unione
in Naples).
Gazzetta
(contin.)',
Parigi
invented by the Parisian
musicale
di
string-maker
J.
of a millimeter.
Physicae
attractione,
ante rupturam
sustinuit
libras 42.' From the context ofthe book, we may deduce
that
pollicis,
the livre ancienne
of Amsterdam
and the pied du Rhin
the conversion
(= 494.1
(= 313.85 mm);
using
grams)
are taken from Horace
Dictionnaire
et mesures
universel
et modernes
anciens
Doursther,
[...], reprint
despoids
1840 edition
ofthe
(Amsterdam:
61
Cozio
di Salabue,
Carteggio,
62
Patrizio
'Giordano
Barbieri,
26.
pp. 20-34:
63
e come
'Quale,
(Rome,
issue
giudizio,
in vece
che
borbottio
were
et geometricae
de magnete,
tuborum
experimentales,
capillarium
dissertationes
terrae, coherentia
corporum firmorum
[...] (Leyden:
magnitudine
C: 'Chordarum
coherentiam
etiam explorare
annisus
523-4, Experimentum
fui,
[ex intestinis]
erat 0.03 pollicis
una, cuius diameter
libras
utuntur;
27, altera
gestavit,
antequam
frangebatur,
Musschenbroek,
speculorum
[...]
did not possess.63 When Nicold Paganini arrived at
(cl801-06), the thickness of his strings caused
amazement, but at his concerts in Paris (cl831) they
four strands,
'La musica
to one hundredth
accurate
reason
the bridge,
for which
not very brilliant
were
Lucca
[...] ampliata
p. 985
very
were
their instruments, seeing that Signor [Gaetano]
Pugnani did the same', warning that this required a
hand with some strength,which they unfortunately
concerned, in about 1804-06 Conte Cozio di Salabue
makes the following statement, referring generically
to instruments ofthe violin family:61
Nuova
posts
as in Table 7.62This development is confirmed by the
fact that in 1785 an unknown columnist stigmatised
'some young people' who put Very thick strings on
the average for the chanterelles in Table 7, even
though itwas considerably thicker.
As far as the sound output of the chanterelles is
'Cantino',
then
achieve greater volume started with Giuseppe Tartini
before 1743 and Giordano Riccati, whose 1767 surveys
led to a diameter of 0.69 mm, i.e. practically the same
We may therefore conclude that the tensile strength
of the first of the two strings was a little lower than
58
strings
and
Stradivari
Although Salabue cannot be treated as a reliable
witness, this tallies with the cantini of only two
strands that were still being used in the early
eighteenth century (Table 4). In Italy, the tendency
to increase the diameter of the first string in order to
strings
instrument
the
per
[...]
to give their
very small,
and more
sound,
piercing
sharper
and because
longer popular,
were
the sound
and
used,
is no
e
them
outside
placed
usually
the cantino
and second
diameter
ponticello
e la seconda
Amatis,
made
a
instruments
carried
(Tb) of two gut
load
by musicians',
had
The
cui
del
il cantino
fina
piace
piu,
fine; e si colocava
assai
fuori
scuolari
piu
non
che
corde
l'anima
brillante
poco
point of view, but also, he states, because the strings
were less stiffand consequently less inharmonic.
Four-strand chanterelles were still inuse in 1877.58
thin
dove
per
picolissime,
ai loro stromenti
frizzante
e gli loro
una voce
Stradivari
Amatis,
allora
being taken from animals thatwere still very young.
This
167
Gut StringManufacture
Barbieri?
1785)
esser
lo strumento',
(?111. 'Delle
armar
presunzione,
grand'uomo
spento
ne
arrocchito,
1965),
by Renzo
on
Riccati
dee
questo
mutolo
Publ.,
transcription
pp. 245-247
e di molta
nei vani suoi
64
Francesco
Meridian
pp. 213
the Diameters
Giornale
corde'):
delle
'Vedeansi
di corde
cacciava
grossissime
fuori un suono
rinnovavan
and 415
la fama del
respectively.
ed. Giovanni
Bacchetta,
of Strings
and
e della
Iviglia
Pipes',
Storia
del
violino
in Piemonte
(Turin:
Cordani,
Society
1950),
p. 90.
38
(1985)
Journal
e poesia
musica
antiquariato,
di
minor
forniti
di
forze,
tempo
giovani
poche
i loro stromenti,
il
cosi
fare
Ma
veggendo
Sig. Pugnani.
essi non ne traendo
che un
limpido
pieno
pronunziato,
Belle
Arti
un
ranocchio,
incisione,
alcuni
che gonfiandosi
sforzi'.
Regli,
(Milano:
Galpin
Dalmazzo,
1863),
pp. 98-9.
per gareggiare
col bue
scoppia
168 The Galpin Society Journal
ordering chanterelles fromNaples in 1829 (probably
advertised in the
supplied by the manufacturers
other drawbacks, since the E, particularly in damp
weather, tended to whistle. This often happened
to Paganini and, according to Guhr, always had a
1834 pricelist [C]) he states, T wish them very thin
[...].Although very thin, theymust be made of four
strands to endure'.65 This is explained by the facts
damaging effecton the boldness of his performance.69
Later, however, according to theGazzetta musicale di
Napoli,
'every day we experience the felicitous effect
that:66
that violinists draw from the forced tightness ofthe
cantino', which must certainly have contributed to
the fame of those made at Naples.70
sometimes raised the tuning of the four
strings by a semitone, and the G even by a minor
he
third: this implies thinner strings (to avoid the
tone becoming 'hard and strident') and, at the
same time, a G of great mechanical
strength. The
idea was
to be
so
possible,
to use
able
as
open
strings
a more
to obtain
?5.4. THE CHANTERELLES'
The strings discussed
above
as
as often
sound.
brilliant
orchestra was
no
in
repercussions
in high-pitched positions, the tone quality ?
obtained with
of the harmonics
especially
as
known
'artificial'? is
double-fingered string,
for the pizzicato,
which
65
Letter
'Nicolo
dated
Paganini
also provides
Peruffo
of Paganini,
angle), with
reaching
a diameter
cause
The
could
were:
he
proportional to the length of the string when
fingered,with possible deviations of as much as a
semitone. The aperiodicity of the vibrations may
also make the strings skim over the frets, causing
the 'frying' sound complained of by Lorenzo
Pavia at the end ofthe fifteenth century (?1).
of thin strings had
da
inMimmo
to a correspondent
of his at Naples:
Peruffo,
quoted
July 1829 and addressed
a
12
138. In the article,
137-147:
Recercare
the
of
find',
(2000),
pp.
gut strings:
happy
history
at Genoa
the relics
out by him on a roll of strings preserved
the results of a test carried
among
a 'medium
twist'
used
chanterelle
violinist
the conclusion
that the famous
(c45?
presumably
31
Breslau,
and
vibrations.
inharmonicity, and rapidly dying away71
Instruments with frets, plucked or bowed: the
frequency of the note is no longer inversely
the fact that his violin was
Notwithstanding
considered
'very thinly' strung, an English critic
to produce a
in
1831 that he managed
reported
'round' sound.68 The adoption
multiples
aperiodic
were
overtones
Instruments without frets, plucked (such as harps
and the unstopped
strings of theorboes and
a
unstable due to high
muted
tone,
archlutes):
more agreeable with smaller diameters
with thick strings, the 2nd,3rd and 4th fingers are
not strong enough
frequently used.
some
their
of the fundamental,
be either a diameter that was irregular or ovalized,
or the varying linear density of the gut. Practical
in E flat and B flat67
unlike other violinists, he frequently played
the highest position
longer whole
causing
that
meaning
inharmonicity,
Raising all the strings by a semitone allowed
him, for example, to play in D and A when the
FIFTH'.
'PERFECT
often suffered from
of about
0.70 mm.
Pietro
to the string-maker
Peters
publisher
66
L'art de jouer
Charles
Guhr,
Violin
chanterelles
Ruffini,
in 1824
of four strands
made
were
also
requested
by the Leipzig
[B, 1.4.1].
du violon de Paganini
n.d.), p. 3. See also Giancarlo
[...] (Paris:
Shonenberger,
Vita di Nicolo
Bartelli,
Conestabile,
1851), p. 246-7.
(Perugia:
Paganini
67
et membranes
Cordes
6 (1857), p. 321. Henry
di Napoli
musicale
Gazzetta
See also Tl violino',
Bouasse,
(Paris:
slackened
all their strings a bit in such a way
states on the other hand that some violinists
1926), pp. 277-8,
Delagrave,
that they were
obliged
to continue
order
to press
to apply
the nut
even when
'their abominable
vibratoV
the finger near
to the latter
68Arturo
Codignola, Paganini intimo (Bergamo:Municipio
'He strings
Athenaeum-.
delightful
69
Guhr,
fortes,
and
L'art
les cordes
his violin
very thinly; nevertheless,
there
playing
the former
open
they did
strings, which
in
di Genova, 1935), p. 340 (concert on 3 June 1831, by
is a roundness
[and]
silkiness
is at once
of tone which
astonishing').
de jouer
faibles
du
violon,
ont encore
avec des cordes
d'un violon monte
tire des sons plus nourris
qu'on
a siffler.
tres
est
Mi
surtout
les
le
cet inconvenient,
dans
expose
que
temps humides,
p. 3:
'Outre
sur la hardiesse
eu une facheuse
de son execution'.
et a toujours
influence
est souvent
arrive a Paganini,
accident
70
il felice effetto
tutti i gorni si esperimenta
6 (1857) p. 11: 'Dopo Paganini,
di Napoli
musicale
L., 'L'arpa', Gazzetta
alia Scala was
In 1885, when
the pitch at the Teatro
tensione
del cantino'.
i violinisti
dalla
forzata
che ritraggono
Cet
reduced
to an aJ = 432 Hz,
the violinists
of the orchestra
musicale
Gazzetta
al Teatro
alia Scala di Milano',
diapason
71
della Nuova
'Suono falso', Prodromo
Giordano
Riccati,
128:
96.
feared
that the chanterelle
di Milano
Enciclopedia
40
(1885)
Italiana
would
lose brilliance:
Tl nuovo
pp. 308-309.
(Siena:
Pazzini
e Bindi,
1779),
pp. 96
Gut StringManufacture
Barbieri?
Figure 3 illustrates the classical
way of testing the 'trueness' of
a
f
^i?^-?r^
$
string:
the
vibration
r
m^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Bs'
If the testers saw only two
immobile
sinusoids
(at
the upper and lower ends
of
169
r~i
envelope
respectively),
they judged
the string to be 'good' (the
upper illustration); in factwe
6. Sonometre
Figure
to check the 'trueness' of a gut string
by manufacturers
et membranes
The
(Paris: Delagrave,
1926), pp. 150-51).
so that the two parts
as and as' were successively
in the
used
Cordes
(Henry Bouasse,
o was adjusted
bridge
now know that although this
ratio ofthe octave,fifthand twelfth:ifthe stringpassed this test, the twopoints
condition is necessary, it is
s and
on the
s' were marked
with
the said section
could be mounted
ink and
not sufficient (e.g. a uniformly
conical
is
string
the test, the cursor STs was made
If it did not pass
on to a new section of string to be tested.
instrument.
even
'false',
stator
though itpasses this test).72
If, on the other hand, they saw the
of other strings within the envelope
illustration), the string was assuredly
A string that is deemed good at low
illustrated here) may no longer be good
silhouettes
(the lower
false.
tension
(as
at working
tension, since the lack of homogeneity of both gut and
twisting could give rise to uneven stretching.73 Itwas
for these reasons that authors such as JeanRousseau
(1687) advised checking by using fifths and octaves
after tuning the open strings. The tuning was then
completed bymoving the frets slightly up or down,74
iswhy gut-strung instruments have movable
in a
frets. 'Strings formaking frets' are mentioned
Roman inventory [Bd, 1701: corde da far tasti].
Not all chanterelles were of the highest quality.
which
In about 1822, in a hank of 30 violin chanterelles,
the percentage of 'good' ones was no higher than
50% forNeapolitan
strings and below 20% for the
72
73
et membranes,
Cordes
Bouasse,
to slide along
the
PP, passing
in 1926 the physicist Henri
observed that out often top quality strings,
violinists 'with a sharp ear' might have difficulty in
finding even one thatwas acceptable, and that often
even the eleventh was no better than the preceding
French ones.75 Even
Bouasse
ones.76 To improve the precision of their products, in
the late nineteenth century manufacturers began to
use special monochords
to identify the thicker parts
ofthe string,which they then 'rectified' by abrasion.
of this approach are the phonoscope
Examples
proposed by Plassiard (1879) and the sonometre in
Figure 6, illustrated by Bouasse (1926).77 In 1874 the
firm ofRuffiniwas also doing this, following amethod
invented by J.-B.Vuillaume of Paris.78 Nevertheless,
the first half of the following century was dominated
German
chanterelles called
by machine-polished
'da concerto' or 'perfect fifth'. The Weichold
brand
in the
for example,
appears,
1904
of
pricelist
p. 152.
en
a archet
et specialement
de celles des instruments
harmoniques
general
warn
must
I
the
reader
that
have
examined
another
work
honestly
already
is certainly
in
the most
ofthe
researchers
the problem
(1874) by this author, who
important
addressing
scientifically,
as 'Plessiard'
the article quoted
above
has unfortunately
been
of his surname
(footnote
62). The article's mis-spelling
Ms
later authors. His biographical
data can be found in Paris at the Archives
F.14.2301/1:
Nationales,
adopted
by several
a pupil at the Ecole
on 7
et chaussees.
Dossiers
des ingenieurs des ponts
Born at Luneville
1807;
August
Polytechnique
Joseph-Antoine
Chassel,
(Mirecourt:
Des
Plassiard,
1879),
pp.
cordes
5, 10, 36.1
a State engineer
in 1869, to
retired
Lorient,
(Metz, Bastia,
1832-1869);
on all ingenieurs
en
bestowed
In
(a decoration
classe).
chef de premiere
he completed
the mentioned
then put on sale in Paris at the shop ofthe string-maker
1878, at Lorient,
work, which was
on the
is already
with whom
he evidently
collaborated.
His research
cited in Camille
Jerome Thibouville-Lamy,
subject
ou
et al., 1855),
musicale
Technie
du
Mallet
Bachelier
Durutte,
(Paris:
systeme harmonique
Esthetique
loisgenerales
and
Ecole
Lorient,
des
as
p. 16.
74
Hubert
et Chaussees
Ponts
'ofncier
de
Le Blanc
5th at a considerably
(1827-30);
la Legion
(1740),
different
d'honneur'
too, advised
degree
that
forward
'two
and
same
strings of the
back': Mark
Lindley,
thickness,
viols
Lutes,
as clear
as rock
and
temperaments
crystal,
make
the
(Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1984), pp. 5 (Le Blanc) and 6 (Rousseau).
75
'Rapport
fait par M.
Robiquet
sur
le concours
du prix
propose
pour
21
(Paris,
de I'industrie
Bulletin
de la Societe d'encouragement
nationale,
76
et membranes,
Cordes
Bouasse,
p. 131.
77
Des
cordes harmoniques,
Cordes
Plassiard,
p. 11; Bouasse,
78
della
di
vol.
Betocchi,
provincia
Forzeproduttive
Napoli,
et membranes,
2, p. 292.
le perfectionnement
1822),
pp.
pp. 332-344:
150-51.
de
342.
l'art du boyaudier',
See
also
[L, 28].
170 The Galpin Society Journal
Messrs Carlo
o Weichold'.79
such strings even for their 'harpsichords'.)82
Silk strings were introduced in France about
invented by Baud.83
1803, thanks to a process
As a result of its approval by Francois-Joseph
Schmidl
of Trieste: 'Quinta perfetta
Germany even imported Neapolitan
re-exported them perfectly rectified
strings and
as 'Italian from Naples
and Rome'. Jealous of their
tradition but incapable of developing themselves,
in 1933 the manufacturers
in these two cities were
still hoping to emulate the Germans.80 As we shall
use'.84
ones
He
sound'.
excellent
adds
and Persia
See
'Corde
Tufari,
81
Giambattista
di seta
cruda
et autres
di minugia
acconcie
le quali
ritorta:
Questions
des
et Mendosa
cordes
see also
contre
John Downing,
The Origins
Bachmann,
the Middle
dove
vol.
better'.85
by Bachman,
Encyclopedia
Atti
musicali.
ofthe
riunione
della
sound and
p. 153.
Violin,
di esperti
in
tenutasi
sottili
de gl'instrumenti
retorte, qu'ils
ont de tout
qu'ils
Trigault
FoMRHI
'Chinese Catlines',
OUP:
(London,
of Bowing
non
materia
d'altra
si fanno'.
a leurs
mettent
1634), p. 146: 'Les Chinois
espinettes
ou de metal.
aux nostres
de boyau
(Car le Pere
preferent
1964),
pp.
temps
des
l'usage
Quarterly
notes
78-82
78
p. 24
(Jan. 1995)
that
On
clavecins.)'
silk
the Chinese
1319).
(Comm.
and metal
strings
were
Ages.
of 18th-century
Strings'.
84
de La Fage,
Adrien
della
'Ragguaglio
musicale
parte
tant de boyau
sur les cordes
Pierres,
de
que
de
On
1803).
suivies
di Parigi',
d'une
lettre du C.
et de Vextrait
see Cohen,
the subject
Musicale
dell'Esposizione
soie;
soie du C. Baud;
du
'A Cache
di
musicale
Gazzetta
14 (1856) pp. 49-52.
Pietro
Antonio
be
[...] (Paris: Villery,
sur les cordes a instrumens
de musique
[Baud,] Observations
a I'lnstitut national,
au C Baud;
du C. Gossec
du Rapport
Gossec
ce Rapport
de I'lnstitut national,
Proces-verbal
(Versailles:
relatifd
85
even
by chance,
may,
for its not very 'sweet and continuous'
in 1925,
le corde
harmoniques
de soie crue
soutiennent
of silk strings,
from
, et di Persia:
Cina
instrumens,
la Croix
Milano
dictionary (1869) states that
in Italy 'need not envy the French
e de'modi
della musica
[...] (Rome: Fei, 1640), p. 349:
de'generi
sia piu spiritoso,
l'altro con le corde
che vorremo
accomodare
un buonissimo
et peraltro
rendono
da noi ritrovata,
suono;
il compendio
in quel sistema,
in certa maniera
sopra
le corde
ne' Regni della
s'usano
82
[Marin Mersenne,]
known
83
and
strumenti
degli
about
chanterelle: gut, silk, acribelle and steel.88 Again in
1937-38 this last-mentioned material was criticised
is also mentioned
Artigianato
Annotazioni
Doni,
'[...] mantenendosi
origin
Werner
armoniche',
'common
started
il25 e 26giugno 1932-X (Florence: Vallecchi, 1933), pp. 61-63.
Napoli
de
type of string
56. This
footnote
Franco
into
the previously cited pricelist of Messrs
Schmidl
offered violinists as many as four different kinds of
returned from a long trip to the Orient and was his
in his musical experiments.81 (In this
Mersenne
adds that the Chinese used
connexion,
80
enter
in Venice
that of over-tiring the right wrist, since
was needed for the bow tomake them
effort
greater
vibrate.86 In Italy, in 1899, their 'sharp and oscillating'
timbre was not particularly appreciated.87 In 1904
collaborator
79
'acribelle',
defect was
in a certain way that we have
'the thin strings are not
made of any other material', so that very probably
he got the idea from Pietro Della Valle, who had
that in China
as
were
steel
chanterelles
Unwrapped
only
introduced for violins in 1883, at the suggestion of
Giuliano Hubar. At a demonstration at the Lieges
Conservatoire
it was noted that their greatest
he intended to reintroduce
an
that
during
known
to
managing
manufacture
those produced
to
practice, this author proposed
two
for
'more
the
brilliant'
of
the
and
employ gut
to 'adapt the other with strings of twisted raw
provide
popularity
version
and Beretta's musical
into musical
discovered,
Their
a
1830, apparently employing original techniques
devised by the 'mechanician'
Locatelli.
Barberi
In order to differentiate the timbre of two of
silk, which, finished
ever
without
?5.5. SILK AND STEEL. For bowed instruments, silk
ismentioned in Italy as early as 1640, byGiambattista
the pseudo-Greek modes
as
also
century,
now see, however, by that date other materials had
already made gut chanterelles obsolete, including
the 'perfect fifth'.
Doni.
it saw a certain
Gossec,
1 (Milan:
[as compared
Pirola,
1869-72),
to Baud's]
sembra, null'hanno
86
'Alia rinfusa',
for unwrapped
87
Leandro
88
Mentioned
Battista
Giovanni
Barberi,
da
steel was
446-7
pp.
dal meccanico
invidiare
0.26 mm:
// violino
in footnote
56.
Locatelli
Auguste
(Milan:
1 (Milan:
38
(1883)
[1899]),
p. 34. The
L'art
du
p. 13 ('aspro
di
seta
sono
vennero
normally
(Niort:
e oscillante').
pp.
tecnici
fabbricate
a fame
anche
chez
1836),
termini
dei
e si continua
diameter
luthier
Fontana,
universale
non
se, per avventura,
Tolbecque,
Pigna,
vol.
e da altri,
di Venezia
di Francia,
di Milano
musica,
enciclopedico
'Corde
armoniche'):
('Corde
a quelle
musicale
Gazzetta
Passagni,
e bibliografia
della
Dizionario
Beretta,
Dizionario
Lichtenthal,
anche
205-206
della
con
('Corde');
musica
nuovi
adesso,
[...],
metodi
e, a quanto
migliori'.
used
l'auteur,
at the end ofthe
1903),
pp.
129-30.
century
timbre, and its use was advised only for
home practice purposes.89 In 1939 the violinist Remy
Principe stated that the gut E was then Tittle used'
metallic
it was
because
too
to
sensitive
on
?6. PITCH AND
was
various
the
tension
of
the
'thin
stress. He
operation
i.e.
strings',
concludes
must
those
that when
e arte
storia
Liuteria,
Strocchi,
he says
especially
Giuseppe
used
chanterelles,
in turn
led other
commentators
ofthe
same
In
examine.
effects on the acoustic
He
states
that
musicians
which meant
that much thicker strings could be
employed.96 This explains why, as La Lande states in
cordari sent 'thinner strings'
1769, the Neapolitan
to Germany
than to France and England.97 Reliable
information about the stringing of the violin family
during Beethoven's time is provided by the German
violinist and conductor Franz Joseph Frohlich,
confirming the smaller diameters mentioned above
under
passage
now
shall
instruments.
(see Table 8).98
Cortesi,
sweaty
1937),
p. 217
hands);
to the opposite
criticises
(he also
Corrado
the sonority
// violino
Rovini,
Lischi,
1938), p. 162.
90
// violino
Giulio
1939), p. 42.
[...] (Milan: Curci,
Pasquali,
Remy Principe,
91
et
151.
Cordes
Bouasse,
membranes,
p.
92
Silvestro
Rubertina
Ganassi,
l'autore,
(Venezia:
1542), pp. 13-14.
presso
Regola
93
A History
Bruce Haynes,
Pitch.
The Story of A' (Lanham,
of Performing
Maryland,
a mistaken
corrects
ofthe
Press, 2002),
text, made
pp. 148, 206. Haynes
interpretation
had
than
lower
visiting Paris were struck by
the fullness of the sound of French orchestras and
attributes this quality to the low pitch they used,
in doubt
[...] (Lugo:
with
of stringed
performance
suit
by those
we
of evidence
pieces
German
greatest
it is best to keep the pitch slightly low, in order (as
he tells us was recommended by Nicolas Gombert
89
tones
one-and-a-half
that this had considerable
if the pitch had to be raised, the bridge
usual';
should be moved in the opposite direction. This,
he implies, provides proper resistance under the
this
to Florilegium
secundum
states that the French pitch
capital.95 Anton Felix Schindler, the conductor who
was one of Beethoven's
closest friends while he
was working in Vienna, informs us in about 1816
example,
viol, to suit singers, Silvestro Ganassi
(1542)
advised pushing the bridge closer to the tailpiece
and 'using strings as far as possible thicker than
that
'sweeter
high pitch, and vice versa.9* Leopold mentions this
fact again indirectly in a letterwritten from London
inNovember 1764, inwhich he says that violins in
London and Paris were strung more heavily than in
Austria, and that the pitch was 'very low' in the French
chanterelles.
on
recommends
a
1756 Leopold Mozart advised, as Ganassi had, that
thinner strings are well-suited to violins tuned to a
not only on the performer's
the pitch adopted. For
in order to lower the pitch of a fretted
He
even
strings
breaking.92
introduction
or
one
and at the
emit
pitch. He adds that he too would prefer it
low like the French, in such a case 'using somewhat
thicker strings'.93His statements are confirmed by
The tables given above in ?5 show that, even for the
same type of string, there was a fairlywide range of
diameters. Stringing was sometimes denominated
di grosso (Table 5), or faible or un peu plus forte
bow.
avoid
the
German
STRINGING
(Table 10), depending
preference, but also
that
(1698), Georg Muffat
that prompted the introduction of
screw
and
In his
response to the bow.90 A further defect of the gut
E was that, owing to abrasion by bow and fingers,
it became 'false' after about 60 hours' playing.91 It
was the steel E, however, owing to itsmuch higher
the fine-tuner
ensure
time
harmony'
and perspiration, as well as not being strong enough
for the 'pitch in use'. Steel was preferred, despite
its defects of timbre, lower sound volume and slow
Youngs modulus,
not to tire the voices
(cl495-cl560))
same
variations
climatic
171
Gut StringManufacture
Barbieri?
[...] (Pisa:
and Oxford:
by Arthur
Mendel
The
of silk
Nistri
Scarecrow
(1978),
who
conclusions.
94
Leopold Mozart, Griindliche Violinschule [...] (Augsburg: Lotter und Sohn, 1787), p. 8 (the firstedition of 1756
contains
order
these
remarks).
to strengthen
one's
He
adds
that thicker stringing
is also
(pp. 8,102)
must
to
This
have
been
known
fingers.
Paganini
advisable
if the violin
as he often
is a large model,
large violin
on a
practiced
and
in
strung
with
'almost as big as those of a violoncello':
Vita di Nicold
Conestabile,
p. 55.
strings
Paganini,
95
ed.
Wilhelm
1
Mozart
A. Bauer
and Otto
E. Deutsch,
vol.
Barenreiter,
[...]
(Kassel:
1962), p. 177.
Briefe
96
Arthur Mendel,
'Pitch inWestern
Music
since 1500. A Re-examination',
Acta musicologica
50 (1978) pp. 1-93: 84.
97
La Lande,
Voyage, p. 413.
98
Franz Joseph Frohlich, Vollstandige
[...] (Bonn: Simrock,
[1810-11]), part 4, pp. 7-8
theoretisch-praktischeMusikschule
fur
die
in
violin
Frohlich's
G
is
with the prescriptions
Geigeninstrumente').
agreement
('Allgemeine
Bemerkungen
perfect
given
viola,
in 1791 by Galeazzi,
Galeazzi
prescribes
Elementi
to use
teorico-pratici
a violin
D
as a core;
di musica,
this would
vol.
1, p. 75
suggest
(seconda
non molto
the equivalence:
viola
D
For the C of the
grossa).
=
(thin) violin D.
172 The Galpin Society Journal
1st string
Instrument
n? 17 = 0.52 mm
n? 16 = 0.63 mm
2nd string
4th
string
string
3rd
VIOLIN
DE
DA=
G
DD=
string:
more
than H larger
n? 15 = 0.73 mm
n? 14 = 0.85 mm
still more
than DE
than %
wound
on a thin DA
larger than DA
n? 12 = 1.07 mm
n? 11 = 1.21 mm
VIOLA
DA=
DD?
no
little more
info
than % larger
= CELLO
DA
DD
a thin DD
of the
xh larger
than
G string:
C string:
than DA
wound
wound
=
G string:
on a DA
wound
DA
on a DA
C string:
on a DD,
wound
thicker wire
violin
DOUBLEn? 2 ? 3 mm
BASS
E string:
DA
DGDD
little larger
n? 1
= bottom
n?
than
~
mm
4
hole
on a thin DD
wound
gauge
? 5-6 mm
but with
than viola
a
C
on a DD
in the early nineteenth-century
D = diameter,
8. Stringing
(Frohlich,
1810-11).
Germany
ofthe violin family
=
mm
millimetre
conversion
taken in scale on the same gauge
number
gauge
(Fig. 7(top), below). For
of Fig. 7,
Frohlich
recommends
the D string ofthe double-bass
thin wire for the covering, to assist the bow to grip the string.
Table
n? =
case. This leads tomore uniform diameters and
less total tension. This scheme was first reported
Robust stringing was also required for the vast and
acoustically highly absorbent Italian opera houses.
For the Teatro Regio at Turin, the contract for the
1768-69 season prescribed for the orchestra: 'as far
as violins
and
violas
are
concerned,
we
require
indicates
?7.VIOLIN FAMILY: SCALING OF DIAMETERS
vs FEELING. In ?4.1 we recalled that
?7.1. TENSION
a stringwith a given length, subject to tension T, has
a vibration frequency / proportional to the square
root ofthe ratio of Tand itsmass M, i.e.:/? (T/M)m.
tell us that the scaling of
documents
Historical
violin string diameters was calculated according
to the following schemes, only the first of which is
before themid-eighteenth century:
tension. T is kept constant, so that,
going towards the bass, M has to be increased.
The diameter of each successively lower string
increases by 50% (i.e. by the ratio of a fifth 3:2).
2.Progressive scaling of tension. Going towards
the bass, T is progressively decreased a little, so
1.Equal
thatM
has to increase less than in the previous
in 1767.101
Whereas
constant
scaling
ratio
of
Riccati
tensions
Lupot scaled tension arithmetically rather than
geometrically, leading to a proportionally smaller
size for the treble string.102
Both these schemes were later justified in various
ways, often using questionable
arguments of a
orchestra.100
mentioned
a
(0.67), in 1806 the abbe Sibire mentions
(on
the basis of notes made by the luthier Lupot)
variable ratios between one string and the next.
they
must be strung with grossi, as they use to say, that
ismounted with thick strings'.99Gaetano Pugnani's
preference for this kind of stringing (?5.3) may thus
be connected to the fact that he was the first violin
in this
Riccati
by Giordano
kind: equal
physical-mathematical
the
strings, equal resistance
plucking
one string to another,
from
passing
tone quality across the strings, load
the
feeling when
to the bow in
uniformity of
symmetry on
etc.
soundboard,
In 1855-74, Joseph-Antoine Plassiard worked out
a solution on a physical-mathematical
basis half
way between Riccati's and the equal tension theory.
concluded that the optimal ratio of diameters
two adjacent
strings is 1.355 (which
a
to
0.82
ratio
of tensions). This is very
corresponds
He
between
close to the ratio adopted inGermany at Beethoven's
time (see Table 8 above). Plassiard also carried out
scaling
investigations of diameter
experimental
and the decrease
when
stretched
in density that strings undergo
on the instrument. His results
99
Marie-Therese Bouquet, //teatrodi cortedalle originial 1788 (Turin:Cassa di Risparmio, 1976; collana Storia del
Teatro
vol.
Basso
coordinatore,
Regio di Torino, Alberto
come si suole dire, cioe armati di corde grosse'.
1), p. 177:
'quanto
a violini
e viole,
se esigge
di grossi,
che
sieno montati
100
Alberto Basso, //teatro della cittd dal 1788 al 1936 (Turin: Cassa di Risparmio, 1976; collana Storia del Teatro
Basso
vol. 2), pp. 26-28.
coordinatore,
Regio di Torino, Alberto
101
the ages', p. 55.
'Giordano
26;
Riccati',
Barbieri,
p.
'Strings through
Segerman,
102
in the ratio 19:17:15:13).
34
down
'Des
cordes
Plassiard,
(tensions
p.
harmoniques',
scaling
same.105Although Plassiard's measured densities for
the chanterelle and the second are difficult to believe
are summarised
in Table 9. This shows that his
ratio
of tensions between two adjacent
theoretical
= 7.00:8.75 before the
strings rises from 0.80 (e.g.
and may
1 E 1A 1 D 1G
8.75
tension
7.00
4.50
5.62
the
Actual
Drop
9. Tension
between
Vuillaume)
prior
6.75
5.50
-6.0
-3.5
-2.0
to mounting
most
the value
tuning,owing to thefall in linear density due to the
stretching
ofthe
string: Plassiard's
1879.
data,
A
DG
Source
Delezenne,
3rd STRING.
(cl711) and Laborde (1780),
open-wound D strings for
seen
be
in ?7.3.
on the concept
of
based
proposal,
timbre, was taken up by the luthier
homogeneous
Lapaix, as well as by string specialists such as
Baud's
E
0.61
0.82
on
1.02
wound
0.91 gut
on
Idem,
epais_O70_096_L39_wound
0.99
gut
0.60
0.90
1.35
0.15
brass on 0.90 gut
Idem, un peu plus forte
0.65
0.975
1.462 0.16
brass on 0.975 gut
Simoutre, 1900 (T, kg) [D,mm]
8-9
6-7
6-6.5
Durutte,
1855 (D, mm), faible
Tolbecque,
Table
[0.81-0.90]
_[0.62-0.68]
mm)0.60
1903 (D,
6
[1.21-1.30]_
1.150.14
0.80
=
T = tension. In Simoutre,
10. Violin
the [D] have been
diameter,
stringing: D
= 0.33 m, in the worst
1300-1400
kg/m3, vibrating
length
configuration
Plassiard,
104
Plassiard,
105
Diimt-te,
observations
'Des
cordes
'Des
cordes
Esthetique
sur les cordes
harmoniques',
p. 18.
harmoniques',
p. 14.
p. 17
instruments
musicale,
des
1385
(assumes
a archet,
silver (or copper)
on 0.85 gut
calculated
gut density
103
to
evidently due to the need to reinforce the bass-bar.
A similar effect on the open C ofthe violoncello will
data show that, when not mounted, the
of
violin gut strings was 1600 kg/m3 for
density
the chanterelle, 1500 kg/m3 for the second, and
1300 kg/m3 for the third.104Other French authors at
the time assumed the density of all three was the
Plassiard's
1853 (D, mm), mince
us
making also the neighbouring strings muted'. He
therefore proposed an overspun D on a silk core.108
The negative effect on neighbouring
strings was
in the actual
needed
warn
of the eighteenth century.107 In 1806 Baud
tells us that at his time it had become plain gut
again. Owing to its considerable diameter, it caused
'the inconvenience of being muted
itself and of
?
in violin
(J.-B.
strings
difference
the theoretical
value calculated
and
should
OF THE VIOLIN
According to Brossard
French violinists used
4.50
(kg)
of tension (%)
Table
8.25
this
erroneous,
?7.2. THE DILEMMA
tension after
mounting
be
stringing, which continued to have its supporters
(e.g. Durutte), as can be deduced from Table 10.106
string not
mounted, new (kg)
of
even
be prudent in calculating gut string diameters when
the documentation does not provide the value. The
introduction of progressive scaling of tension did not
cause the complete abandonment of equal tension
string is tightened) to 0.82 (= 6.75:8.25 tightened),
which is slightly closer to equal tension conditions
(ratio LOO).103
Calculated
173
Gut StringManufacture
Barbieri?
both
kg/m3); Charles-Edouard-Joseph
from Memoires
de la Societe
offprint
d
assuming
and
ofthe density
Delezenne,
des
sciences,
= 435
Hz,
T.
et
Experiences
de I'agriculture
et des arts de Lille, vol. 31 (1863) pp. 91-114
as an average,
1265 kg/m3).
(Lille: Danel,
1853), p. 15 (assumes,
106
N.-E.
amateurs
Aux
du violon
20;
Durutte,
Delezenne,
17;
musicale,
Simoutre,
p.
Experiences,
p.
Esthetique
et conservation
de cet instrument,
3rd edn.
chez
construction,
l'auteur,
(Paris:
reparation
1900),
Historique,
p. 56
a luthier, he
L'art du luthier, pp. 129-30
(Simoutre was a luthier); Tolbecque,
(in his preface he states that besides
being
has
in orchestras
played
107
'Giordano
Barbieri,
for 40 years).
Riccati',
p. 34. A
'wound'
D
is also mentioned
by
[Louis
de]
Jaucourt,
'Violon',
Encyclopedie
ou de cuivre').
319 (G and D 'sont filees d'argent
Faulche,
[...], vol. 17 (Neufchastel:
1765), pp. 317-321:
108
re
a
comme
23-4:
et
Te
n'etant
demi
autrefois,
file,
[Baud,] Observations,
pp.
ayant deja, par la grosseur
plus,
qu'il
a fallu lui donner
a
resister
son
l'inconvenient
et
encore
d'etre
sourd
d'assourdir
les cordes
l'archet,
pour
pour
compte
voisines
[...]'.
174 The Galpin Society Journal
Raoul, cl797 (n? of strands)
(D, mm: from Figure 7)
Romberg
Lapaix, 1853; from Plassiard, 1879,
faible (T, kg) [D,mm]
ldem,forte
on an A
7-8
12-13 wound
1.46
2.00
wire on 1.26 gut
12.59
9.64
8.55
12.39
[1.13-1.17]
[1.49-1.54]
17.46
13.05
[1.33-1.38]
[1.73-1.80]
brass
1.10
Tolbecque,
1.40
1.20
1903 (D, mm)
resistance,
Plassiard
among
only
(in the same year of 1853 Delezenne
confesses that few of them had allowed themselves to
be convinced), but also from La Fage, an authoritative
artistes:
produced'.111
We
in 1927 when
109
Delezenne,
110
Durutte,
Roret,
1869),
can
'some
see
itwas
the
which
1.74 times bigger).
that was
111
Cordes
Plassiard,
harmoniques,
d'annees,
on
seduisant,
mais
He
then goes
'les uns
p. 19:
seduits par la richesse
nue; les autres etaient
112
'La facture
des
Lucien
Greilsamer,
sons
des
length
assuming
= 0.68 m.
greater
sonority
and
clarity'.114
The inventories given in
?7.3. VIOLONCELLO.
little information about violoncello
?1 provide
stringing. The reason for this is supplied indirectly
to
according
by the cellist Jean-Louis Duport,
p. 19; La
W.
Maigne,
as having
'amass
l'absence
'Ragguaglio',
three
des
des
production
p. 51.
luthier
[...] (Paris:
complet
i.e. a diameter
the chanterelle,
du
manuel
times'
sons melancoliques
sons harmoniques'.
de
la grosse
corde
et dictionnaire
du
la musique
de
Encyclopedie
un
certain
1708-1752:
1738:
nombre
1927), pp.
'Depuis
Delagrave,
est tres
trait en aluminium.
d'un
de violon munies
[...] Son usage
instruments
a
Fage,
Nouveau
regrettaient
et la facile
part
Lavignac,
cordes
des troisiemes
fabrique
il ne s'est pas generalise,
probablement
on
calculated
archet',
II (Paris:
ed. Albert
a
has
harmoniques,
p. 17; J.-C. Maugin,
the third string is stated
musicale,
Esthetique
p. 222 (in which
been
vibrating
replaced by a 'chanterelle overspun with aluminium,
that
Cordes
p. 26; Plassiard,
values),
in
anomaly
informs us
the [D] have
use of a plain gut D.113Only in 1939 does the violinist
Remy Principe state that the latter string was often
the absence
regret
Greilsamer
Esperiences,
Conservatoire,
0.37 copper on a D
[C], 1904 (Trieste catalogue cited in
footnote 56), 1905 (Gandolfi), and that provided by
Tiby as late as 1933 agree in reporting the exclusive
the timbre itself that fascinated performers at the
time, in spite of the homogeneity aimed at through
using the scaling rules seen in ?7.1. This is confirmed
again
on
data for 1834
of themelancholy sounds produced by the big plain
string, while others were seduced by the richness of
the sound and the ease with which musical sounds
were
copper
century, of the long delay in adopting the overspun
G. The situation was no different in Italy, since the
Indeed, during the same period,
musicologist.109
du luthier (1869)
Durutte
(1855) and theManuel
in 1879
mention only plain gut thirds.110 Again
Plassiard affirmed that the overspun D had been
by various
0.26 brass on 1.65 gut
the use of strings wound with aluminium had not
become widespread,
'probably because it takes away
the characteristic timbre ofthe D-string'.112 Similar
problems were probably the cause, in the previous
It
(1855-79).
not
however,
violinists
esteemed
on
an A
and
(1853)
encountered
wire on 1.72 gut
gut_
0.15
=
T = tensions.
In Lapaix,
11. Violoncello
Table
diameters,
stringing: D
=
=
two
extreme
1300-1400
each
435 Hz, gut density
a'
ofthe
kg/m3 (for
Delezenne
on a D
wound
10.02
13.24
1.65 60.17
mm) 1.10
1855 (D,
Durutte,
A
D
GC
Source
to condemn
steel
parce
qu'il
enleve
a la corde
de re le timbre
qui
la caracterise'.
chanterelles.
113
Riccardo Gandolfi, Appunti intornoagli strumentiad arco (Florence: Galletti e Cocci, 1905), p. 11;Ottavio Tiby,
Acustica
This
riunite edit, siciliane,
Industrie
1933), pp. 167-8.
(Palermo:
degli strumenti musicali
organologia
three
for
the
Salerni
Roberto
cordaro
the
ofthe
1931):
(Salle,
top strings ofthe violin,
catalogue
by
with a fairly robust
a violin A string of this type is still in existence,
Of
is
mentioned
Table
Salerni,
[B,
II].
gut
in 1767 [B, II.6] and some
Riccati
0.89 mm given by Giordano
to the A
twist), i.e. similar
(0.91 mm, medium
e
musicale
is confirmed
only plain
diameter
of those listed
114
Pasquali,
in Table
Principe,
10 above.
// violino,
p. 42:
'Al re di budello
si sostituisce
spesso
un cantino
foderato
di alluminio
che ha
Gut StringManufacture
Barbieri?
|IIH|IIII|IIII|HII|IHI|IIII|IIII|IHI|IIII|IIII|IIII|IIII|IIII|IIII|IH
0 ^2436
5
7
8
9
1012
13
s
2
s/l
5
4
175
gut varied according to the type
of string (?2), the diameters
cannot be deduced
from this
11
data.116 The Neapolitan
pricelist
dated 1834 agrees with Raoul,
also letting us know that a violin
third was used as the cello first
\& iiiViiifXR
*?fr???SrnWrignfe-iif
(Table 6 above). This was also
in Germany
in
the practice
III/^^ 11^
Beethoven's
as
time,
in
shown
that can
be calculated from this table are
rather small. Only a few decades
Table 8. The diameters
we
later,
can
deduce
from
that the
Romberg's string-gauge
famous cellist used decidedly
<C^
stringing (Figure 7 and
Table ll).117
In 1879 Plassiard observes that,
robust
<*
(ho)
to
according
7.
Figure
shows
(scale
String-gauges
theoretisch-praktische
Vollstandige
4, p. 7.
[1810-11]), part
and
theoretical
complete
Franz
cm),
(top)
Musikschule
[...]
Bernhard
(middle)
Frohlich,
Simrock,
the
violoncello
(London:
Boosey & C, [cl840]), Fig. W (also in Idem, Methode de violoncelle
[...] (Paris: Lemoine, [cl840])). Using the symbols given in the diagram
it can
(bottom)
= h / cos 0.5a
be demonstrated
= 2L tan 0.5a.
D
very small
that D
assumed
a
reduces
whom
'our
2?:
than
(less
?
the violin
own
four
a
tolerance
the string
chanterelle
of less than
tension.
is under
'often
on
strings
D
is given
the string diameter
by:
the angle a of the real string-gauges
is
it has been greatly
it can be
increased),
in the figure
h, with
little when
the
0.1%.
As Frohlich
breaks',
are
contrary
very
the quality
114 (continued)
e chiarezza'.
sonorita
maggi0r
of the "Euterpe"
gut, the competition
For
of plain
it appears
concerned,
and viola
[Bd, 1934,1957].
Gioacchino Pasqualini
115
that
in 1957
he had
In about
1950
and
still not
a major
at Naples,
of the
solved
move
the problem
of overspinning
in this direction
had been made
sur le
Essai
(Paris:
Duport,
doigte du violoncelle
et casse
sont au contraire
souvent. Nos quatre
cordes
leur tension,
elles se derangent
peu'.
son du SoV.
Idem., Methode
Cordes
in 1765-66,
strings
were
used
the lowest string comprised
the string-makers
of Salle, perhaps
over-attached
to be unavoidable.
"Pirastro"
strings had begun
Imbault,
Jean-Louis
[cl840]);
118
Plassiard,
thinner
some
to their
As
tradition
far as Salerni
ofthe
strings
and
by the violinist
ofthe
is
violin
acoustician
[Bd, 1950a, 1950b, 1951] and the distinguished luthierPiero Sgarabotto [Bd, 1950c].
de violoncelle
Raoul, Methode
Jean-Marie
117
A complete
Bernhard
Heinrich
Romberg,
C,
much
however,
BASS. Data
about double-bass
?7.4. DOUBLE
rarer
even
is
than
for
its
smaller relatives.
stringing
Before the nineteenth century we know only that
de
violoncelle
harmoniques,
[...] (Paris:
theoretical
[...] (Paris:
p. 30:
chez
Pleyel,
[cl797]),
and practical
Lemoine,
'Le fort barrage
du violon
p. 132: 'la chanterelle
une fois
et cassent
rarement;
qu'elles
[cl813]),
tres-fortes
tres-delicate
prises
116
that 'the considerable
(Table 11).
Raoul, gives the number
the A and D, while for the two lower strings he
merely says that they were wound on an A and a
(Table 11). Since
adds
strengthening of the bar made
necessary by the great tension
attenuate
of the C must
the
D
warns,
Romberg,
once
tightened, they
cellist, Jean-Marie
of strands employed for
respectively
He
sound of the G', just as we have
seen for the third string ofthe violin (?7.2).118After
whereas
strong and rarely break:
move little'.115 In 1767 another
D
provided by the luthier Lapaix
in 1853 (Table 11).
forDelezenne
that
Since
performers'
string (C) 'has to be tighter'
than the third (G). This anomaly
is confirmed by the stringing
Romberg, A
Heinrich
for
school
practical
Joseph
(Bonn:
'the
opinion' and unlike the violin and
the viola, a violoncello's
fourth
[cl840]),
qui
necessite
p. 3.
school for
Planche,
est
ont
the violoncello
(London:
Boosey
&
Fig. W.
la grande
tension
de YUt
doit
affaiblir
le
176 The Galpin Society Journal
A G
C
Source
1853
Delezenne,
Whiters
(Plassiard, 1879),mm
Other English (Plassiard, 1879)
Tolbecque, 1903
D
3.9
3.15
4.20
2.80
3.95
E
G A
2.95
Tolbecque, 1903
no
5.65
Cstring
noCstring
4.56
3.70
2.90
FIFTHS_
4.1 Cno
string
3.8
Source
BY
_^__^_TUNED
no
0.43 silverplated copper (or
maillechort) on 3.55 gut
BY
_TUNED
D
3.70
C string
FOURTHS_
double wound: 0.31 ironplus
0.46 silverplated copper (or
0.43 silverplated copper (or
maillechort) on 3.55 gut
on 4.50
maillechort)
2.50
Tiby, 1933
Table
12. Double
doubt
One may
3.33
mm
bass stringing: diameters,
the reliability
ofDelezenne's
(all
the above
as
figures
to what
Plassiard
considers
119
La
Lande,
p. 440,
1650),
120
Delezenne,
121
Delezenne,
Voyage,
in Rome
supplement
p. 410.
ofthe
Ernst Gottlieb Baron wrote that 'the
caused the most vexation' when the
lute's pitch was high but that, after being lowered
Esperiences,
p. 20.
Experiences,
p. 20; Plassiard,
have
Cordes
Lina Montalto,
5, (1941),
pp. 83-97;
96
'Fra virtuosi
('il contrabasso
e musici
a connection
corte
di Teodosio
dalle
Kircher,
per
with
card.
corde
200,
180,
the instruments
Pamphilj',
d'argento').
Musical
125
Lana
2002),
pp.
of cardinal
Rivista
Corbelletti,
129-30;
58-65:
61. At
Benedetto
italiana
visiting
respectively.
luthier, pp.
11 (1934)
la storia musicale,
Benedetto
mentioned
1 (Roma:
100, 50, 30 guts
L'artdu
p. 33; Tolbecque,
among
del
vol.
universalis,
Musurgia
manufactured
are
strings
a traveller from Bologna,
123
Douglas Alton Smith,A History of the Lute from Antiquity to theRenaissance
America,
124
On
a Roman
where
the seventh course
also with
Covered
register.125
in 1731 when
harmoniques,
nella
instances
of the lute.124 In 1686, and this is our most ancient
witness concerning the use of silk for the lutes, Lana
Terzi reports that some preferred silk strings for the
bottom
were
are
'there
tone,
string [i.e. the chanterelle] lasted four weeks'.123 For
the basses, the cordoni called 'sevenths' (settime),
in Table 1 for the harp (1638-40), could
mentioned
e
musicale
Acustica
p. 168.
organologia,
122
d'archivio
'I liutai marchigiani',
Note
Riccardo
Gabrielli,
as 1681 a double
as
ismentioned
bass
'with silver strings'
early
in Rome:
one
by
or modify
violone
from the
knowledge
chanterelle
to Athanasius
According
the five strings
byfifths have only three strings).
to each other.
the German
ideal
twentieth century (Table 12).
following documents
similar
?8.1. LUTES. At least as early as 1599, the strings of
the medium and high registers were of 'reinforced'
type (Table 3), and were rather apt to break. In 1727
Naples in 1834 [C]. Giuseppe Baldantoni (1784-1873)
is deemed the first to introduce overspun strings on
the Italian double bass.122 As with the violoncello,
string diameters decreased progressively during the
The
tuned
is already common
literature on the subject.
(Table 12).121
In Italy, tuning by fourths was customary: (E-)A
D-G, initially limited to the three high strings, as at
?8. PLUCKED STRING INSTRUMENTS
basses
surprisingly
what
(3.8 mm) gives a fairly robust string.120 In contrast,
weaker
stringing was adopted by two English
luthiers at the end of the century. They employed
plain gut only (even for the G) and a scaling of
close
double
they are
120 guts.119 For subsequent periods, see Table 12.
For a double bass tuned by fifths (G-D-A), the
in 1853
diameter of the A provided by Delezenne
tensions
gut
wound
wound
Tiby,
least
Pamphilj
del dramma
(no place: The Lute Society of
p. 86.
the actual
use
of this
'seventh
course'
see Stephen
Bonta,
'Catline
Strings
Revisited',
Journal
of the American
Instrument Society 14, (1988) pp. 38-60: 56.
'fides sericas
naturae,
Terzi, Magisterium
in testudinibus
crassiores
vol.
2, p. 433:
aliqui
maxime
after
saying
approbant'.
'ovinae maxime
that strings
to now, the sole reference
Up
in usu
sunt'
adds
to silk in that
that
During the Seicento no specific detail emerges: we
have only generic mentions of 'white' and 'red' gut
strings, including di grosso, for guitars [Bd, 1677a].
In the following century, however, the fashion for
stringing guitars with metal wire caused serious
Augsburg, tells us that he saw an unusual keyboard
He
instrument 'with overspun strings like the lute'.126
not
does
one
this was
state whether
of the new
lutes,
reported after 1719 in Germany, whose range had
been extended by a 13thcourse in the bass.127 In 1757
overspun
on
strings
guitars
were
economic
of blurring
accused
the bass (owing to theirmore brilliant and prolonged
sound) and of wearing the frets.128Finally, in ?1 we
saw that in 1630-41, great quantities of strings were
dispatched from Rome to Lyons, including some for
the
'lutes
in France',
used
to the
Tike the sample' given by French Merchants
cordari of the Roman area [Bd, 1640a, 1641c]. A
possible interpretation is that the latterwere intended
for the 11-course lute,which was developing in that
country from the 1620s, while the Italians continued
to use
the old
tuning.129
The earliest information concerns
?8.2. GUITARS.
the commercial
activities
Roman
ofthe
string-maker
Tiburzio Tuzi. We learn from his will (1646) that he
ordered cases containing prefabricated soundboards
for the Spanish guitar from the Venetian
luthier
given under oath in 1747 by three of the
to this 'many years
chitarrari.
According
City's
was
custom
in Rome of using
the
introduced
ago,
guitars with steel strings, and little by little has
grown to such an extent thatwe currently no longer
manufacture
guitars with gut strings'.130 Other
sources confirm that the wire-strung guitars had
to replace the lute for basso continuo,
managed
even providing competition, according to Roger
North, for the harpsichord.131 The fashion must have
extended to the colascione, since one 'with steel
strings' is recorded in Rome in 1817.132Guitarists
as he traded with both foreign and
middleman,
Roman
luthiers whereas
for most of the latter,
contacts
Rome
outside
who
not
may
to have
appear
have
been
the
rare.
been
such
only
overspun
126
Oscar
was
the one made
on gut or silk:
Segerman,
who
by Playford,
to Comm
'Response
later reverted to gut strings. A Neapolitan
pricelist
shows that the diameters employed for
of 1834
guitars did not follow those for the violin, as
some believe, but were thinner. Indeed, the price
list explicitly states that the first string had only
two strands, while for the second and third, a
violin first and second were employed respectively
(Table 13). The three lowest were then wound on
as we
silk, whereas,
trader,
thus fostered a type of connection between the
luthiers ofthe two cities, and the impact on types of
string instruments deserves investigation.
125 {continued)
century
to
string-makers,
evidence
Giorgio Sellas, which he then re-sold to the Roman
chitarrari such as Magno Nolle and Bartolomeo
Frezza [B, ?1.4.2]. Tuzi was undoubtdedly an ideal
Tuzi,
for Roman
problems
the extent that they reported this crisis to the Papal
administration. Their petition was supported by
manufactured
expressly
177
Gut StringManufacture
Barbieri?
have
for bow
seen,
instruments
the same pricelist prescribes a gut core (Table 6).
This latter distinction
is confirmed both by the
Gazzetta musicale
di Napoli
(1854), and Barberi and
(1869).133 The reason for this
Beretta's Dizionario
in 1664 makes
-
1744
his well-known
of Silk
"Strings
and
other
reference
to bass
strings
Textiles'".
e cembalaria
'Notizie di storia organaria
nelle carte di Giambattista
32 (1998
Mischiati,
Martini',
L'organo
200 ('[...] e si invito il seguente
erano di corde
ad udire altri strumenti
pp. 89-222:
[da tasto] bizari, quali
giorno
e chiteroni.
come
li violini
Altri con corde ramate come
il leutto, varij sordini con corde di ottone
di budella
et altri di
1999)
budella
127
[...]'). This
appears
Ian Harwood,
Diana
to be
the only
Poulton,
David
document
surviving
van
to this matter.
referring
'Lute 3-4', The New
Edwards,
Grove
ofMusic
Dictionary
and Musicians,
vol.
342.
15 (London: Macmillan,
2001), pp. 331-343:
128
et al., 1757), pp. 1011-1012:
'Guitarre', Encyclopedic
author,]
[...], vol. 7 (Paris: Briasson
[Anonymous
described
here
has
five
A
double
with
of
those
the
and D tuned to the octave,
(A-D-G-B-E),
guitar
strings
the
lower
overspun
being
A
to the higher
string
of the A
octave).
strings
129
the 11-couse
On
lute, see Harwood,
130
Barbieri,
'Cembalaro',
p. 172.
131
Robert
Strizich,
'L'accompagnamento
(but he adds
van
Poulton,
del basso
that Robert
who
did
use
not
overspun,
The
the only
tuned both
'Lute 3-4', p. 340.
Edwards,
continuo
de Visee,
1011.
sulla
chitarra
barocca
-
Parte
prima',
77Fronimo
9-n? 34
(1981) pp. 15-26: 23-4.
132
Rome,
Archivio
the inventoried
Gut
goods
sez. 32, vol.
Generale
Archivio
Urbano,
Capitolino,
of a peasant
also include
'Un leuto, ossia calascione
are however
strings for the 'calascione'
133
da suono', Gazzetta
'Strumenti
musicale
core
for the lowest
three
strings
ofthe
guitar
recorded
di Napoli
and
in [Bd, 1701,
3 (1854),
for 'many'
con
(notary Giacomo
corde di acciaro
Scifoni),
poco
26 March
buono,
scudi
1817:
0.60'.
1785b].
p. 115
ofthe
85
harp);
(gut core
Barber
for the G ofthe
i, Beretta,
violin,
Dizionario
'untwisted
enciclopedico,
silk'
178 The Galpin Society Journal
E:
G:
2 strands, 1 tirata (= 1stmandolin)
3 or 4 strands (both
1stviolin)
4 or 5 strands (both = 2ndviolin)
D:
Silver on silk, 1 tirata
A:
Silver on silk, 1 tirata
E:
Silver on silk, 1 tirata
Table
13. Guitar
B:
stringing:
Naples 1834 [C].
MI
LA
[d]
two steel wires
SOL
the pricelist,
from
and
than
performance
two metal strings, each made of
two brass wires twisted together
(called bordone)
14. Neapolitan
Jeromede La Lande visited
Neapolitan
string-makers in 1769, he reported that
their first stringwas of gut, with two strands.135This
When
in the Neapolitan
pricelist of 1834,
same
the
for guitar
chanterelle
prescribes
is confirmed
which
(Table 13). In 1889, Branzoli gives
the stringing for the Neapolitan mandolin adopted
in the eighteenth century, adding that 'it is tuned
even nowadays in various areas of Italy' in this way
and mandolin
(Table 14).136His instructions are supported by those
published by Giovanni Fouchetti, with some slight
variations, in about 1771.137 In 1904, the catalogue
ofMessrs Schmidl of Trieste prescribes four double
for the Neapolitan
steel
strings
footnote 56).
mandolin
harps of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth
centuries could go as low as G in the bass.138 Strings
from Florence were particularly in demand for the
lowest register. In 1587 the Court of Ferrara made
for
payment
'four
hanks
of
stringing,
eighteenth
to Branzoli,
1889.
for use on His Highness's
for
strings
the
Furthermore,
in
Court
Roman
several
were
claviarpa
by the luthier of the Madrid
inventories
(1638-77) record cordoni (probably roped strings)
made on purpose for the harp (Table 1 above), stating
that the said low strings were 'called sevenths'. No
reason
is given for this latter denomination, nor is
it clear whether it had some connexion with the
special strings needed for the 7th course of the lute,
which was added to the bass from the 1580s. They
are in any case sometimes
indicated in Table 1
without specifying forwhich instrument they were
intended. For the middle
inventories
cited
and upper
no
make
to
reference
particular
Bartlomeo
However,
registers, the
a Roman
Giovenardi,
harpist employed at the Spanish court, mentions
'reinforced strings' forhis instrument in his Tratado
(1634).141Although he does not say so,
theymust have been the same ones already in use
for lute and violin (??5.2, 8.1; Table 3), as in Spain.
de la musica
?8.4.HARP.Someofthetwo-andthree-courseItalian
a
Florentine
harps'.139
the harp.
(see
according
expressly from Florence
purchased
gut.134
mandolin
centuries:
nineteenth
1658.140
?8.3. MANDOLIN.
copper wound on a silk core for the
g, thin plain gut for the g'
[g,g']
Table
is unknown, especially considering
that present-day string-makers deem that a silk core
gives
two violin chanterelles
RE [d]
differentiation
a better
[e11]
thick
strings
ordered
133 (continued)
voj
^ pp 317> 447 (brass on 'untwisted
In [C], however,
the sixth can also be wound
silk'
In the nineteenth
century, the oft-cited Neapolitan
1834
mentions
of
pricelist
plain gut strings for the
a
from
harp ranging
single strand (and thus even
ones
for guitar and mandolin) up
thinner than the
to a maximum of 18 strands [C].
core
for the E, A, D
ofthe
G ofthe
guitar;
violin
wound
on
on gut.
gut core).
134
'Le corde per chitarra
Peruffo,
p. 60.
[...]- Parte seconda',
135
410.
La Lande,
p.
Voyage,
136
Ricerche
sullo studio del liuto (Roma:
Branzoli,
Giuseppe
137
On
these latter, see Ephraim
Segerman,
'Highly strung'
198.
1988), pp. 195-201:
138
Fulton,
'Harp, V-5', The New Grove Dictionary
Cheryl Ann
Loescher,
1889),
('Strings
through
ofMusic
p. 54.
the ages',
vol.
and Musicians,
II), The Strad
part
10 (London:
(March
Macmillan,
2001), pp. 902-908: 904.
139
Elio Durante,
editore,
1982),
pp.
Anna
25-6,
delle arpe di S.A.'
140
Biblioteca
Madrid,
On
strings
produced
148-163:
141
Fulton,
157.
Un decennio
Martellotti,
on 25
June 1587:
nacional,
in Spain,
we
Ms.
know
'quattro
14047/184:
only
di spese musicali
gavettoni
'cinco
alia
di corda
docenas
corte di Ferrara
grossa
de cuerdas
that the first ordenanzas
fatta
(1587-1597)
far a posta
de florencia
que
for the string-makers'
([Fasano:]
in Fiorenza
escogio
guild
'Harp, V-5',
p. 904.
Schena
servitio
la claviarpa'.
para
of Madrid
in 1679: Cristina Bordas, 'TheDouble Harp in Spain from the 16th to the 18thCenturies', EarlyMusic
pp.
per
appeared
15 (May 1987)
Barbieri?
?9. APPENDIX
Gut StringManufacture
1.
Transcription
Making
after they have separated
them, and cleansed
excrements,
etc.
they
put
The guts are twisted after this manner
EFGH fasten'd at o to thewall,
on a frame
them
them
into the river for half a day, and then keep them for
in a great tub
eight or ten days in water mingled
with a good quantity of Griepoli, i.e. tartar, and a
small quantity of roach allum.
Note, That this water at the beginning is not so
strongly impregnated as at the latter end.
Before they use the water, they scrape off all the
fat, etc. with a piece of cane hollowed like an apple
scoop; then they take several dishes of the water,
and steep the guts in them, and draw them every
day twice out of the water, and twice out of dishes
without water; thus they are order'd for eight or ten
days together; for the oftener they are drawn so,
the fairer the strings are made. The workmen have
smooth thimbles of brass, through which the guts
are drawn. When
they are wrought enough, they
wind the gut upon the frame ABCD, on the pegs
abcdefghik
1663]
of viol-strings
In this city we saw the making of viol-strings, after
thismanner: First they take the small guts of lambs,
weathers, kids, wolves (but use no cats guts), and
the mesentery,
in Padua,
ofthe description, by the English tourist Philip Skippon, of string making
cited as [Sk] in 'Abbreviations used'.
[Padua, end of December
from
179
E|-5-1*
q\_Ih vSJ1
The middle of a gut is put about the peg i, and the
ends of it are fasten'd to the two hooks vv,where the
gut is twisted by thewheel 5, till the gut is shortened
to the length of the frame; and then the ends vv are
tied to the pegs nn, two sticks being put between the
two parts of the twisted gut or string, to keep them
from touching one another: Many strings are thus
twisted and fastened to the frame,which is put into
a pit about the length and depth of a grave, having
on one side of itwithin, a hole where brimstone is
burnt, and the pit being shut close with a wooden
cover, the smoak of the brimstone smothers within,
and makes the strings look white: After an hour
or two the frame is taken out, and the strings are
exposed to dry; and as the sason of the year is, so
they are sooner or later dried; then the strings are
oiled by drawing them thorow a piece of hat that is
oiled: After they have expos'd them to dry, they take
a small rope, made of horse-hair, and steeped in the
same liquor where the guts were, and rub iton six or
seven strings at a time, and then oil them, and at last
tie them up in little bundles for sale.
The smallest strings are made but of one gut,
and the younger
the greater
are made
the animal
of ten,
the finer the string;
twelve,
and
so on
to an
hundred twisted together.
Note, That the strings are double on each side of
the
frame.
180 The Galpin Society Journal
2.
?10. APPENDIX
The Gut string catalogue pricelist (Naples, 1834) cited as [C] in 'Abbreviations used.
Fabbrica
di corde armoniche di Antonio Putti
sita nelle rampe del Salvatore N. 31, 32, e 33.
Cantini
Seconde
Corde
a due
fill per prime
detti
a tre fili per
detti
a quattro
a quattro
di chitarra,
fili per violino
fili
0.60
e di diversi
prezzi.
Ducati
1.60
1.20
e di argento
colorate,
pacchetto
per ogni
0.90
seconde
per vari
strumenti,
di corde armoniche deifratelli Avallone q.m Domenico
de Panni al Pendino N. 30
Fabbrica
sita nel largo Zecca
~
OGNI PACCHETTO E COMPOSTO DI CORDE 30 TUTTE SENZA GIUNTA
a 1 filo per arpa
Cantini
ogni
a 2 fili per chitarra,
0.30
pacchetto
e mandolino
arpa,
Ducati
0.60
di 3 tirate e per 2e di chitarra
a 3 fili per violino
0.90
a 4 filiper violino di 3 tirate e per 2e di chitarra 1.20
a 4 filiper violino di 4 tirate e per 2e di chitarra 1.60
a 2 fili per chitarra
a 1 tirata
a 3 fili per violino
a 4 fili per violino,
Seconde
a 4 fili per violino
a 10 fili per arpa
a 1 tirata
1.20
e per arpa
1.50
ed arpa
[prime di] violoncello,
di violoncello,
prime
0.60
e terze di chitarra
terze di chitarra,
a 7 fili per violino,
a 8 fili per violino,
Bassi
e terze di chitarra
di 3 tirate,
a 5 fili per violino,
Terze
0.30
a 1 tirata 0.30
ed arpa
e seconde
a 14 fili per arpa
4.20
a 16 fili per arpa
4.80
a 18 fili per arpa
5.40
3.60
di violoncello
di chitarra
in seta
filate di argento
per una
tirata
Quinte
di chitarra
in seta
filate di argento
per una
tirata
Quarte
in seta, o in budello
di chitarra
in budello
di violino
2.40
3.00
a 12 fili per arpa,
Quarte
Seste
2.10
filato di argento
filate in argento
per una
0.90
1.20
per una
tirata
tirata
1.50
0.90
Terze di violoncello in budello filatedi argento ogni corda 0.15 [sic]
Quarte di violoncello in budello filatedi argento 0.24 [sic]
Prime
Seconde
Terze
0.50
di controbasso
0.70
di controbasso
di controbasso
Corde
da battere
Corde
da battere
Assortimento
1.20
cotone,
cotone,
di arpa
con
lana, ed altro di palmi
lana,
corde
ed altro
di palmi
raddoppiate
24 di prima
24 di seconda
e rollo di latta
sorte
0.60
sorte
6.00
0.50
I
Barbieri?
Fabbrica
181
Gut StringManufacture
di corde armoniche di Giuseppe de Guida
dei Serpi al Pendino N. 4
sita nel vicolo Cordari alia Fontana
BIANCHE OGNI PACCHETTO
_CORDE
a 1
Cantini
30_
0.30
a 2 fili per chitarra,
detti
DI NUM.
filo
o mandolino
Ducati
0.60
detti a 3 filiper violino di 3 tirate0.90
detti a 3 filidi 4 tirate 1.20
detti a 4 filidi 3 tirate 1.20
detti a 4 filidi 4 tirate 1.60
detti a 4 filidi 4 tiratedi 84 pollici inglesi 1.80
a 4 fili per violino
Seconde
1.20
dette a 5 fili 1.50
a 5 fili, e prime
Terze
da violoncello
1.80
dette a 7 fili 2.10
dette a 8 fili 2.40
Corde a 10 fili 3.00
dette
Qualunque
saranno
Corde
Per
a 12 fili per
altra
pagate
colorate
le corde
qualita
de'
seconde
3.60
a piu
specie di corde, che si desiderano
a seconda
de' suddetti prezzi.
sorte
di qualunque
fili agli
stessi
Assortimenti
di arpa
pollici
nella
sorte di corde
Ogni
a prezzi discreti.
a' prezzi
e per battere
di controbasso,
inglesi
di violoncello
fili, e piu
lunghe
medesimi.
bambagia,
e lana
si valuteranno
le
prezzi.
in ottave
composti
1, 2, e 3, e raddoppiate
filate di argento
sopra
con
corde
nella
di 8 palmi
lunghe, ossia 84
4, e 5 ottava; ogni assortimento...
seta, e sopra
corde
si pagheranno
6.00