Historical treatises on viola da gamba

by Patrice Connelly

The following article is adapted from an early chapter of my M.Mus thesis on pedagogy of the viola da gamba. It examines the main historical treatises, in order to place them in time and to give a context for the chapters which follow. Where known, some brief biographical material has been included to give a picture of the author and his ideas. Other material, such as Marais' or De Machy's prefatory material, or any letters is not reviewed here.
A question which may appear flippant could read "When is a viol tutor not a viol tutor?" The answer is serious: when it's a lute tutor. The viol's origins in the vihuela and lute had a profound influence on its technique in each period of its development, though sometimes in different ways. The indications to be found in various treatises - Judenkünig (1523), Robinson (1603) and Mace (1676) - all suggest that the left hand technique of the two instruments was identical. This article only covers those pedagogical works which principally concern the viol.

NB. Numbers in brackets in the text are footnotes. See bottom of this page.

Early European treatises:

Hans Gerle: Musica Teutsch, Nuremberg, 1532
Hans Gerle was born in Nuremberg around 1500, and died there some seventy years later. Howard Mayer Brown suggests that he was the son of a lute-maker, Conrad Gerle, and this treatise is one of three publications, the other two being books of lute music (1533 and 1552). My main source of information on this treatise is Alexander Silbiger's article in JVdGSA.(1)

Gerle's nomenclature included grossen Geygen and kleinen Geygen, meaning viols and (probably) rebecs respectively, although Silbiger mentions violins. The lute was also discussed. Gerle gave the number of strings for the viol as five or six, and did not require the bottom string for any of his musical examples, all of which are in four parts. His instructions covered tuning, some minimal advice on holding and bowing the viol, and fingering in half position, with no mention of higher positions. He advised the player to put the finger down between the frets, and not on them, contrary to all later advice. Some ornamentation suggestions for cadences were included, and all of the music was in tablature.

Gerle's musical examples included tenor songs by Johann Walter, Ludwig Senfl and Anon, and five were published as a supplement to Early Music in 1974. These pieces are fairly simple, and generally homophonic. As vocal music, the tessitura is fairly restricted, and they could all be played on the tenor and bass viols, though treble is suggested by the original treble clef in the Senfl piece Mag ich Hertz lieb erwerben dich.

Sylvestro Ganassi: Regola Rubertina. and Lettione seconda, Venice, 1542-3
Although Hans Gerle's treatise of 1532 predates the Regola Rubertina, Ganassi's book is generally thought of as the first important tutor for the viola da gamba. It was named after a distinguished pupil of Ganassi's, one Ruberto Strozzi, a young Florentine nobleman from the large and influential Strozzi family. It is quite possible that he was related to the later composers Giulio and Barbara Strozzi, and he appears to have taken an active role as patron in the 1530s and 40s, dealing with Arcadelt, Willaert and da Rore. The Lettione seconda was dedicated to a friend of Ruberto's, one Neri Capponi, who was appointed manager of a company in Lyons which belonged to Ruberto's father.(2)

In the Editor's Preface to her edition of the Regola Rubertina, Hildemarie Peter recounts that Ganassi was born in 1492, and became court musician to the Doge of Venice, as well as an instrumentalist of the Basilica of St Mark, being a master of the recorder and the viol. He had in fact published his Fontegara in 1535, which was the most important 16th century treatise on playing the recorder, and gave copious directions and examples for playing diminutions and divisions. By the time he turned to writing the Regola, Ganassi was 50, and he imparted a great deal of wise advice for living, as well as for making music.

The Regola begins with generally clear instructions on the holding of the viol and bow, the placement of the left hand and the movement of the body while playing. There is a long section on tuning the viol, with a number of rules depending on how many strings were on the instrument. This was not just a set of musical alternatives, but a very practical solution to the unreliability of string technology, as well as experimental variations. There is also a section on different ways of tuning a consort of viols.

In the second book, Lettione seconda, he begins by advising the player on how to tell if a string is of good quality, fretting, and more tuning before giving several more ricercars to illustrate his text. Throughout the book, Ganassi emphasises beauty in playing to an extent not found in any of the other treatises. He includes a number of ricercars as studies for the pupil.

Diego Ortiz: Trattado de Glosas. Rome, 1553.
Ortiz was born in Toledo around 1510, but was in Naples by 1553. By 1558, he was maestro de capilla of the viceregal chapel maintained at Naples by Fernando Alvarez de Toledo and was still there in 1565. He died around 1570.(3)

The Trattado, or 'treatise on the ornamentation of cadences and other types of passage in the music of viols', is not a treatise on how to play the viol, but it is very useful nonetheless as a documentation of mid-16th century music and practice for the viol, or "bowed vihuela", as he refers to it. Part one is a compendium of the ornamentation of cadences, while Part two demonstrates their use, and provides many useful ricercars for solo and accompanied viol, some built on plainsong, others on popular grounds (Italian 'tenors') such as the passamezzi, and two sets of four ricercars on the popular chanson and madrigal: Doulce memoire and O felici occhi miei.

Philibert Jambe de Fer: L'Epitome musical. Lyons, 1556.
Jambe de Fer (c.1515-c1566) was a writer and composer of sacred music, particularly psalms. His L'Epitome musical was intended for amateurs and covers a wide ground from the rudiments of music, to briefly describing the technique of several instruments, including the flute and violin. It has fewer than ten small pages describing the viol, but includes a picture, and covers holding the viol, tuning (for five strings), fingering and the relative social status of the instrument compared to others, saying

'On appelle violes celles des quelles les gentilhommes marchands et autre gens de vertu passent leur temps.'
We call viols those with which gentlemen, merchants and other men of virtue pass their time.(4)

In contrast, the violin was apparently played by professionals only, though Ian Woodfield points out that there were a number of professional viol players in 16th-century France.

17th century English treatises:

These four books come from what might be called the middle period of the viol's development, but they reveal that experimentation with technique was by no means over. All date from the second half of the 17th century, though Simpson and particularly Mace were likely to be reflecting on the performance practice current a few decades earlier.

Christopher Simpson: The Division Viol. 1659, 2nd ed, 1667 (1665)
Christopher Simpson was born between 1602 and 1606, and according to research by Margaret Urquhart, could possibly have been a closet Jesuit, which, if he was practising as a priest, was a difficult and dangerous occupation in England. In her excellent article "Was Christopher Simpson a Jesuit?"(5), she compares the available documentation on Christopher Simpson the musician, and Christopher Simpson the Jesuit and finds remarkable similarities. It is also known that the Jesuits disguised a number of personal details in order to escape detection, and it is possible that this could be the answer to the discrepancies. From 1642, he was known to be a Quarter-master in the northern army of the Duke of Newcastle, and later in retreat at Scampton, Lincolnshire with his patron Sir Robert Bolles after 1645, but before 1649. He emerged on the London scene c.1660, and taught the sons of protestant noblemen.

The first edition of the book was entitled The Division Violist, and it was dedicated to Sir John Bolles, father of Sir Robert, for whom the book was written. It was published in 1659, and sold by John Playford. Simpson wrote it in two parts, the first of which covered the material to be found in parts one and two of the 2nd edition. The instructions on how to play the viol do not differ in any major respect between the editions, with the 2nd edition only occasionally simplifying a point. The other noteworthy difference between the two editions was the removal of Simpson's hat in the picture which occurs in both books, perhaps a concession to changing fashion.

There are a number of aspects of The Division Viol which make it remarkable for its time. It was very forward-looking, particularly in abandoning the importance of the tenor voice for the bass as the foundation of harmony. He displayed a knowledge of music of the continent, which could have derived from study in Rome, where the Jesuit Christopher Simpson is known to have been. The second edition contains a Latin parallel text, translated by a pupil, William Marsh. This in itself was most unusual, and was possibly intended for use on the continent, as Simpson writes "I have caused its Native Language to be joyned therewith, to make it useful at Home as well as Abroad."

Furthermore, in both editions, a table of ornaments can be found, which was written by Dr Charles Coleman. In 1916, Arnold Dolmetsch is known to have questioned why Coleman would have had to advise Simpson on such matters. Urquhart's speculation is that since the man she calls 'Simpson the Jesuit' was trained in Rome, therefore Simpson (the musician, if they were one and the same) was more familiar with Italian and French ornamental signs and knew that his foreign readers would find the musical interpretations easier to follow.(6) In further evidence, Daniel Norcombe, who was employed in Brussels from about 1602 to 1647, is cited in both The Division Violist and The Division Viol (the 2nd ed.) in more than one context, and Urquhart wondered if Simpson had met Norcombe in his travels abroad. Whatever the answer, The Division Viol stands as one of the most important treatises on how to play the viol.

Thomas Mace: Musick's Monument. London, 1676
It is likely that Thomas Mace was born in 1612 or 1613 in either Cambridge or York. By his own admission, he played the lute from an early age, and was a strongly religious man, but not a Catholic. He was also a Royalist, and witnessed the siege of York. In August 1635, he was appointed 'a singing man' in the choir of Trinity College, Cambridge and later taught singing there, being associated with the College for much of his life. He also wrote on subjects other than music, including a pamphlet entitled Riddles, Mervels and Rarities, or, A New Way of Health, from an Old Man's Experience (Cambridge, 1698). He died around 1706.

If one reads Mace, one becomes aware of a strong conservatism in his outlook, and he writes of the passing of former times with regret. In his preface, he sums up the book's aim as follows:

But the Chief Sum of the whole Work is : That It shall stand as a Monument, or Remembrancer of the Very Best Performances in Musick, (both Divine, and Civil) which have been known in the World; and (as to the Civil Part) Practiz'd by the Best Masters of These last 50 Years; Better than Which, no Memory of Man, Record, or Author can be produced, which can say, That Ever there was Any that could Equal It; nor certainly Any Ever likely to Exceed It.(7)

But Mace quoted Simpson in his section on the viol, and was obviously very aware of recent developments in music and technique. The differences between Simpson and Mace are considerable, although it is clear that Mace admired Simpson and his work. Simpson's tutor is much more forward-looking than Mace's, despite its first edition preceding Mace's book.

Musick's Monument is divided into a number of sections, the first dealing with singing sacred music, the second and much the largest section "Treats of the Noble Lute", while in the third section, "The Generous Viol, in Its Rightest Use, is Treated upon; with some Curious Observations, never before Handled, concerning It, and Musick in General". Mace's instructions for playing the viol follow his descriptions of the instruments and your music room, and are reasonably comprehensive and useful. His examples are in tablature.

John Playford: An Introduction to the Skill of Musick. 12th ed., London, 1694.
John Playford was best known as a music publisher and bookseller, but also held the position of clerk at the Temple Church, and was vicar-choral of St Paul's Cathedral. Born in 1623, there is little record of his education, but it is thought that he was educated at the local Cathedral school in Norwich. He was apprenticed to John Benson, a publisher in London's Fleet Street for 7 years until 1647, when he set up his own shop. Playford is known for a number of publications which appear to be compilations by him from recently published works of other writers such as Christopher Simpson and Thomas Campion. The English Dancing Master, A Musicall Banquet, A Booke of New Lessons for Cithern and Gittern, Musick's Recreation on the Lyra Viol and many other books bear his name.

An Introduction to the Skill of Musick ran to many editions, from the first in 1654, which was lost, past John Playford's death in 1686 through to the 12th edition of 1694, which was "corrected and amended by Henry Purcell", and beyond to 19 editions, the last of which were produced by Henry Playford, John's son. Most of the editions differed to varying extents, with the addition of new chapters, often culled or paraphrased from works such as Simpson's A compendium of Practical Music, Campion's A New Way of Making Fowre parts in Counterpoint, and so on.

A chapter on how to play the viol featured in every edition, and judging from the title pages, in the second (and possibly the first) editions, was in a section with instructions for singing. But from the third (1658) to the twelfth (1694) editions, the bass viol was teamed with the treble violin. From the 13th (1697) to the 19th (1730) editions, the bass viol was joined by the treble and tenor viols on the title page, which is interesting, given that by the end of the 17th century, English musicians were generally much less interested in the viol than in the members of the violin family.

Playford's instructions for playing the viol are more or less a summary of those of Simpson, and add little that is new to our knowledge of English viol technique. But the ubiquity of his publications and editions containing viol music and viol instruction in the late 17th century made him a significant figure in this area. What would be interesting to know is just how much of it he wrote himself, given that he had a musical training, and how much was "borrowed" from other sources.

Benjamin Hely: The Compleat Violist. London, 1699
Virtually nothing is known about Hely's biographical details, other than the few details which appear in The Compleat Violist. In some ways, this small treatise is more interesting for what it doesn't say, than what it does! Hely was another viol teacher with a conservative outlook; his directions for playing the viol are exceptionally brief, and he is more concerned with teaching the gamut. Given the previous treatises, his statement of aims seems a little overstated:

'There have been lately made much Inquiry after a Book with Directions and Lessons for ye Viol. I lighted on a Discourse which to me seems very plain and pertinent to the purpose; and therefore I doubt not but that it may be in some measure serviceable to the Publick: as Containing all ye necessary Rules, and ye true method to be observed in order to play well on that Instrument.' (8)

As will be seen in the following chapters, Hely is not only brief, but very ambiguous: for example, the phrase "make use of your Wrist" is hardly specific. However, his book gives us some possible clues as to the types of teaching material used. All of the pieces are for solo viol, and from the beginning all are quite highly ornamented in comparison with those contained in the previously discussed English treatises. He begins with psalm tunes, carries on with a considerable number of dances: minuets, bourées, jiggs and ayres, finishing with two musically substantial suites, each containing an almand, courant, saraband and jigg. None of his music is in tablature, and several of the tunes occur in other sources.

17th-18th century French treatises:

The French writers produced the third group of treatises, and the first of these dated from the 1680s (Rousseau and Danoville). Loulié produced his treatise in 1700, and Le Blanc's Defense of the viol against the inroads of the violin and cello was published in 1740, though this could not be called a treatise. J.B.A. Forqueray's letter of 1767-8 is one of the last documents of the 18th century to talk about technique, and more or less shows its culmination.

For a greater understanding of where the late technique is coming from, it is interesting to look at who taught whom. Nicholas Hotman, a German-born viol player who died in 1663, was the first significant teacher, and it is thought that he taught Le Sieur de Sainte-Colombe, who made so many strides in advancing the technique of the viol. It is unfortunate that no treatise or letters by Sainte-Colombe survive to give us further insights into this remarkable teacher and pioneer.

De Machy also learned from Hotman and included a respectful reference to him in his Avertissement to his Pieces de Violle, but he was a conservative, and his ideas about viol technique were more aligned with the earlier English style and the lute tradition. Sainte-Colombe is known to have taught Marin Marais, Jean Rousseau, Le Sieur de Danoville and others, all of whom repudiated the lute tradition and tried to depict the viol as an instrument with a history which was independent of the lute.

Danoville: L'Art de toucher le Dessus et Basse de Violle. Paris: 1687.
Danoville's life and even his name are mysteries to us, though it is known that he lived in the Rue St Jacques in Paris. His treatise was the first instruction book for the viol to be published in France, and it appeared in the same year as that of his fellow student Jean Rousseau.

As in Rousseau's book, Danoville includes some short prefatory material that is of doubtful historical merit in his efforts to provide an independent context for the viol. He also acknowledges Sainte Colombe as the teacher whom he calls "the Orpheus of our time".(9) Danoville's treatise is divided into four parts: firstly holding the bow and the instrument; secondly an explanation of the scale; thirdly an examination of the fingerboard, both in notes and letters (tablature), and finally a look at all of the graces: tremblement, pincé, battement, port de voix, coulé du doigt, tenue, couché du doigt, and balancement de main.

After his preface, Danoville gives some brief advice to his readers and says that by perusing his rules often and gaining a good knowledge of the principles, the student may succeed in six months where others (presumably those without his book) may take years. He does not give any pieces, although there are a few musical examples which are mainly scales and ornaments.

Jean Rousseau: Traité de la Viole. Paris, 1687.
Born in 1644 in Moulins, Jean Rousseau became a performer on bass viol, a theorist, composer and teacher. He published a singing treatise, the Méthode claire, certaine et facile, pour apprendre a chanter la musique around 1678, which was dedicated to Michel Lambert. This treatise seems to have been well-regarded, and it was reprinted in Amsterdam as late as 1710.

It appears that Rousseau took up the viol soon after his arrival in Paris in 1676, and that he knew De Machy and Du Buisson as well as the viol maker Michel Colichon. He studied viol for three years before having a month of lessons with Sainte-Colombe. His Traité is a valuable document on pedagogy of the time, and is in four parts, and is in many ways similar to Danoville's treatise. It also includes a "Dissertation on the origin of the viol" which is much longer than that of Danoville, and is somewhat amusing in its attempts to place the viol in a biblical and mythological context. For example:

'on peut juger que si ADAM avoit voulu faire un Instrument, il auroit fait une Viole, & s'il n'en a pas fait, il est facile d'en donner les raisons'.
one may judge that had Adam wished to make an Instrument he would have made a Viol, and if he did not make one it is easy to give the reasons.(10)

Nonetheless, the section has some interest for the modern reader in the attitudes to music which are revealed. It is also important to consider the role of history in 17th-century France, which Robert Green notes was "instruction and edification for the moral and spiritual improvement of the reader; in other words, it served a purpose closely akin to that of art, and it was closely tied to both rhetoric and poetry."(11) Ideas and their presentation were of more importance than historical fact, and the relative newness of the viol as a solo instrument must have been worrying to Rousseau and his contemporaries, hence their need to incorporate biblical references into their work to give it credence.

Following this, in Part One, Rousseau goes on to describe the basics of playing the instrument, with explanations of the fingerboard of the viol. In Part Two, he describes different ways (eg. accompaniment, solo) of playing the viol, and includes a section on the treble viol. Part Three examines the graces and cadences, while Part Four deals with bowing rules and transpositions. Unlike Loulié's treatise, Rousseau says that he presupposes a musical knowledge in the reader.

Etienne Loulié: Méthode pour apprendre a jouer la Violle. c.1700.
Loulié, who died around 1707, was raised as a choirboy at the Sainte-Chapelle, possibly from 1661 or 1663 until 1673, subsequently serving for some time in the household of the Mademoiselle de Guise. He was active in academic circles, and wrote a number of treatises, mainly on theory of music, but also two instrumental treatises, one on the viol, and the other on how to play recorder.

Loulié's Méthode is a very practical, though oddly arranged document which appears to be addressed to teachers as much as students, for he often refers to "the pupil" in his text. Indeed at the end of the Méthode, he summarises his "Method to be adhered to in guiding a Pupil whom one wishes to teach how to play the Viol". He gives good information on holding the instrument and bow, advice on pitfalls, descriptions of the fingerboard, fingering and notes.

Loulié presumes little prior familiarity with musical notation, and gives scales for practice. His section on ornaments is quite detailed and very useful, but his drawing of a bow is somewhat remarkable for its odd convex shape, as it does not resemble anything to be seen in portraits of violists from the 17th or 18th centuries. He quotes from Rousseau, and Gordon Kinney suggests that this summary of Rousseau's ideas was intended to be discussed or criticised further.(12)

The treatises, as a body of evidence on the technique of playing the viol, display a number of shortcomings in terms of vagueness of language, tantalising references which are not further explained, and omissions. Given the time span and the significant differences between the two eras and countries, it is remarkable that much of Ganassi's advice in 1543 is not unlike some of the advice given by Loulié in 1700, though there would have been some significant differences in playing style, such as bow hold and the angle on which the viol was held, and the development of the instrument over one and a half centuries would have ensured a completely different sound.

Several of the treatises deal specifically with pedagogy - Ganassi, Simpson, Mace, Rousseau, Danoville and Loulié - it would seem useful here to compare those aspects which they discuss. Their specific advice on most of these topics will be compared in the chapters on pedagogy and compared with that of some recent tutors and my own experience. The review of the technical demands of the music from the 16th to the 18th and 20th centuries will examine difficult music, and highlight just how much these pedagogical works prepared students for these demands.

In this table, the following abbreviations are used:
D Discussion in some detail
B Brief mention or somewhat vague discussion
E Exercise only given; no discussion
N No mention of this technique

* I have confined my list to information from Mace's section on playing the viol. There may be more detail on some elements of technique in his lute section. At times the information on a particular topic can be found in more than one place.
** Most treatises deal with bass viol. I was interested in how many would mention treble viol, as its technique (holding, fingering) is slightly different from bass.

Footnotes
1. Alexander Silbiger: "The first viol tutor: Hans Gerle's Musica Teutsch". JVdGSA, Vol. 6, 1969.
2. Richard Agee: "Ruberto Strozzi and the early madrigal". JAMS, Vol. 36/1, p. 1-17.
3. Robert Stevenson: "Diego Ortiz" The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 6th ed. Vol. 13, p. 875-6
4. Ian Woodfield: The early history of the viol. Cambridge, C.U.P., 1988.
5. Margaret Urquhart: "Was Christopher Simpson a Jesuit?" Chelys, vol. 21, 1992.
6. Ibid, p. 16
7. Thomas Mace: Musick's Monument (1676). Preface.
8. Benjamin Hely: The Compleat violist (1699). p. [2]
9. Le Sieur de Danoville: L'Art de toucher le dessus et basse de violle. Facsimile ed., Geneva: Minkoff, 1972. Preface. Trans. in JVdGSA, Vol. 12, p. 48
10. Jean Rousseau: Traité de la Viole. Facsimile ed. Amsterdam, 1965. Trans. N. Dolmetsch, The Consort, 1977, p. 229
11. Robert A. Green: Annotated translation and commentary of the work of Jean Rousseau, p. 122
12. Gordon Kinney: "Translation and commentary on writings on the viol by Dubuisson, De Machy, Roland Marais and Etienne Loulié". JVdGSA, Vol. 13, 1976, p. 52, footnote

Abbreviations:
JVdGSA - Journal of the Viola da Gamba Society of America
JAMS - Journal of the American Musicological Society

Copyright Patrice Connelly