James Webster - Violoncello and Double Bass in The Chamber Music of Haydn

Violoncello and Double Bass in the Chamber Music of Haydn and His Viennese
Contemporaries, 1750-1780
Author(s): James Webster
Source: Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Autumn, 1976), pp.
413-438
Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the American Musicological
Society
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/830968
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Violoncello and Double Bass in the
Chamber Music of Haydn and his
Viennese Contemporaries, 1750-I780
By JAMES WEBSTER
T HE FIVE PRINCIPAL GENRES of early Classical Austrian chamber music, ex-

clusive of scorings with obbligato keyboard, were the long-familiar sonata
for one or more melody instruments and bass; the newer string trio, quartet,
and quintet; mixed trios, quartets, quintets, and sextets for one or more ob-
bligato winds and strings; the cassation for strings or mixed ensemble plus two
horns; and the partita for winds. No matter what titles the music may bear,
this repertory seems to have been soloistic (not orchestral) music primarily,
without keyboard continuo.1
One important problem relating to the scoring of this repertory remains
unsolved: the instrumentation of the bass part. Often, the only indication to
appear in the sources is "Basso." This term was not a name for the double
bass; it meant simply "the bass part." Hence it was compatible with every
particular scoring of the bass, including solo cello.2 The present study discusses
the use of cello and double bass as bass instruments in early Classical chamber
music in and around Vienna.
HISTORICAL EVIDENCE
The instruments and their nomenclature. The cello originated in the

sixteenth century as the bass (eight-foot) member of the violin family. Its use
as a solo instrument varied from region to region: it was common in Italy by
the late seventeenth century, for example, but rare in France or England
before I75o.3 The double bass was originally the contrabass (sixteen-foot)
1 James Webster, "Towards a History of Viennese Chamber Music in the Early Classical
Period," this JOURNAL, XXVII (1974), 212-47. To the evidence against the use of the
continuo in Haydn's chamber music given there (pp. 243-46) may be added new arguments
against the use of the continuo in Haydn's orchestral music. See Sonia Gerlach, "Haydns
Orchestermusiker von 1761 bis i774," Haydn-Studien, IV/I (1976), 35-48.
2 Webster, op. cit., pp. 236-42; cf. Carl Bar, "Zum Begriff des 'Basso' in Mozarts Serenaden,"
Mozart-Jahrbuch, 1 960-6 i, pp. 13 3-55.
' David D. Boyden, The History of Violin Playing from its Origins to I 761 (New York,
1965), PP. 6-16; Klaus Marx, Die Entwicklung des Violoncells und seiner Spieltechnik his
]. L. Duport (I520-1820) (Regensburg, 1963), PP. 10-22, 43-6i, I75-82; William S. Newman,
The Sonata in the Baroque Era, 3d ed. (New York, 1972), pp. 54-55, 140, 170, 188-89, 322,
336-38, 388-90.
414 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
member of the viol family.4 Because there was no instrument in the violi
family in this range, the double bass found a place in the orchestra (otherwis
a violin-family ensemble) as reinforcement of the ordinary basses-the ce
los-at the lower octave. For this reason, it did not die out with the other viol
in the middle and late Baroque. On the other hand, its great size an
ambiguous organological status-was it a viol or a violin ?-subjected it to
unusually wide variations in size, number of strings, tuning, playing technique
and mode of musical employment.
We must begin our study of eighteenth-century Viennese stringed bass
instruments by clarifying the inconsistent and variable nomenclature.5 We can
hardly do better than to begin with Leopold Mozart. After establishing
"Geige" as the generic term equivalent to "stringed instrument," and afte
discussing the various violins, Mozart continues as follows:"
Eine f!infte Art sind die Altgeigen: A fifth type [of stringed instrument]
welche von dem italianischen Viola diis the alto-violin, also called the viola,
Braccio, auch Violen heissen; am ge- from the Italian viola da braccio, but
meinsten aber (von Braccio) die Brat-which is most commonly called Bratsche
schen genennet werden. Man spielet
(from braccio). Both alto and tenor parts
damit sowohl den Alt als den Tenor,are played on it; and, when necessary,
auch zur Noth, zu einer hohen Ober-the bass to high melodic parts. {I have
stimme den BaB[.] {Ich hatte oft die often had to laugh at cellists who em-
Gelegenheit iiber Violoncellisten zu ployed a violin as the bass to their solos,
lachen, die den BaB zu ihrem Solo so even when another cellist was avail-
gar mit einer Violin accompagnieren able.} Normally, however, these high
liessen, wenn gleich ein Violoncell noch basses are played by
zugegen war.} dazu man doch sonst
4 Adolf Meier, Konzertante Musik fljr Kontrabass in der Wiener Klassik (Giebing fiber
Prien am Chiemsee, 1969), pp. 26-28; Alfred Planyavsky, Geschichte des Kontrabasses
(Tutzing, 1970), PP. 15-129. The standard organological study is Willibald Leo Freiherr von
Liitgendorff, Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, 6th rev. ed.,
2 vols. (Frankfurt am Main, 1922); the data from this work are repeated, supplemented by
comprehensive photographs of the instruments, in Karel Jalovec, Deutsche und isterreichische
Geigenbauer (Prague, 1967). There is no independent new material bearing on the subjects of
this article in Irving Hersch Cohen, "The Historical Development of the Double Bass" (Ph.D.
diss., New York Univ. School of Education, I 967); or in Bernhard M. Fink, Die Geschichte des
Kontrabasses und seine Trennung vom Violoncello in der orchestralen Instrumentation (Re-
gensburg, 1974).
5 See Boyden, Violin Playing, pp. 21-29, 42-45, 115-19, 323-24; Marx, Violoncell, pp.
62-72.
6 Leopold Mozart, Versuch einer griindlichen Violinschule (Augsburg, I756, facsm. ed.
Bernhard Paumgartner, Vienna, 1922; 3d ed., 1787, facsm. ed. H. J. Moser, Leipzig, I956), pp.
2-3 in both editions. My translation gives the text of the first edition, using the customary
square brackets for editorial additions; Mozart's changes to the second (i 769) edition, to which
the third edition is identical (Meier, Kontrabass in der Klassik, p. 29), are placed in braces. The
orthography of the original is maintained in all its characteristic inconsistency, except that here
italics are used where the original is either boldface or spaced (Sperrung). (The published
translation by Editha Knocker, A Treatise on the Fundamentals of Violin Playing, 2d ed.
[London, I 95I 1, is not sufficiently precise for the purposes of this discussion.)
VIOLONCELLG AND DOUBLE BASS IN VIENNESE CHAMBER MUSIC 415
Eine secbste Gattung, namlich die A sixth type, the bassoon-violin,

Fagotgeige brauchet; welche der Grassewhose size and use are somewhat differ-
und Beseytung nach von der Bratsche inerit from those of the viola. Some call it
etwas unterschieden ist. Einige nennen esthe arm bass, but the latter is actually
auch das Handbafel; doch ist das Hand-somewhat larger than the bassoon-violin.
baBel noch etwas gra*sser als die Fagot-This instrument is used as a bass, but
geige. Man pflegt also... den BaB damitonly to violins, Zwerchflauten, and other
zu spielen: allein nur zu Violinen,high melody instruments; otherwise the
Zwerchflauten, und andern hohen bass would cross the melody, and the
Oberstimmen; sonst wiirde der Grund forbidden resolutions [of dissonances]
die Oberstimme iiberschreiten, und, we- would often create an illegal chord. This
gen den wieder die Regel laufenden Auf- crossing of the melody by the bass is a
lISsungen, gar oft eine widrige Harmonie common mistake of inexperienced com-
hervorbringen. Diese Ueberschreitungposers.
der Oberstimme mit der Unterstimme ist
in der musikalichen Setzkunst bey Halb-
componisten ein ganz gemeiner Fehler.
Die siebente Art heif3t das Bassel The seventh type is called the Bassel
oder Bassette, welches man, nach demor Bassette, which also goes under the
italianischen Violoncello, das Violoncellname Violoncell, from the Italian violon-
nennet. Vor Zeiten hatte es 5. Seyten; itztcello. Earlier, it had five strings, but now-
geigt man es nur mit vieren. Es ist dasadays it is played with only four. It is the
gemeinste Instrument den BaB damit zumost common bass instrument; and al-
spielen: und obwohl es einige etwas grS-though there are larger and smaller mod-
ssere, andere etwas kleinere giebt; so sindels, they differ somewhat only in their
sie doch nur der Beseytung nach, folglichstringing, and so in their strength of tone.
nur in der Stark des Klanges, ein wenig
von einander unterschieden.
Der groPe Ba3 {(il contra Basso) der The double bass, or Violon from the
auch gemeiniglich der Violon genennetItalian violone {the contrabass, which is
wird,} oder Violon von dem italiinischen commonly called the Violon} is the
Violone ist die achte Gattung der Geig-eighth type of stringed instrument. This
instrumente. Dieser Violon wird eben- double bass is also made in different sizes;
falls von verschiedener GrSsse verfertiget:nevertheless, all have the same tuning,
allein es bleibt allezeit die namlichethe only differences being in the stringing.
Stimmung; nur daB man bey der Besey-Because the double bass is much larger
tung den n-thigen Unterschied beobach-than the cello, it is tuned a full octave
tet. Weil der Violon viel gra-sser als das
lower. It is most commonly strung with
Violoncell ist; so ist auch dessen Stim-four strings, {occasionally with only
mung um eine ganze Oktav tiefer. Erthree,} the largest, however, with five.
wird am gewaihnlichsten mit 4, {und{In this five-string double bass, one
auch nur mit 3,} der grassere aber mit 5.places frets of thick string on the neck at
Seyten bezogen. {Bey diesem mit 5. Sey-regular intervals, which prevent the
ten bespannten Violon sind an dem Halsstrings from touching the fingerboard,
durch alle Intervallen Bande von etwas and so improve the tone. On this bass it
dicken Seyten angebracht; welches das is possible to make difficult passages stand
Ausfliegen der Seyten auf dem Griff- out more clearly, and I have heard con-
brette hindert, und folglich der Klang certos, trios, solos, etc., played uncom-
dadurch gebessert wird. Man kann auch monly beautifully on it. But I have also
auf einem solchen Basse die schweren noticed that in accompaniments, there is
Passagen leichter herausbringen: und ich a tendency to play two strings at once in
habe Concerte, Trio, Solo sc. ungemein loud passages, because the strings are
schon vortragen geha*rt. Doch habe ich considerably thinner and are placed
bemerkt, daB beym Ausdruck einer closer together than in three- and four-
Stiarke beym Accompagnieren allezeit stringed basses.}
sich zwo Seyten zugleich hoiren liessen;
weil die Seyten merklich dinner sind und
naher beysammen stehen, als bey einem
Basse, der nur mit 3. oder 4. Seyten
bezogen ist.}
Die neunte Art ist die Gamba ....

Die Viola di Gamba [list] von dem Vio- viola The ninth
da gamba typedifferent
is quite is the gamba.
from the.... The
loncell in vielem unterschieden. Es hat 6, cello. It has six or seven strings, but the
auch 7. Seyten; da das Bassel nur 4. hat. Bassel has only four. It also has a com-
Es hat auch eine ganz andere Stimmung, pletely different tuning and a more pleas-
einen angenehmern Ton, und dienet ant tone and is used most often for me-
meistentheils zu einer Oberstimme. lodic parts.
Leaving the viola and the gamba aside, Mozart describes the following
instruments: the "Fagotgeige" and "Handbassel," the cello, and the double
bass. The first two of these will have been tenor-range viole da braccio; that is,
tenor violins, probably tuned in fifths up from the F at the bottom of the bass
staff, but still played on the arm like the viola.' Mozart implies that they were
used to provide the bass part only in sonatas for high melody instruments. We
may be certain, therefore, that neither of these instruments would have served
as bass in string quartets and in all larger scorings, and we may surmise that
the same is true of string trios. There remain the cello and the double bass.
Mozart explicitly names the cello "Bassel" and "Bassette."8 (The German
"Bassl" and the Italian "Violoncello" were thus not merely synonyms but
linguistically equivalent: "Bass-ette" and "Bass-l" are diminutives of "Bass";
"violon-cello," the diminutive of "violone.") Mozart calls the cello the most
common bass instrument. He refers to a five-string model, but only as an
obsolete relic; otherwise the variations cited affect merely the stringing and
tone quality. By implication, then, all celli had four strings tuned from C.9
Mozart's description and nomenclature are typical of eighteenth-century
7 Boyden, Violin Playing, pp. 1i5-17, 324.

8 Not only in the paragraph on the cello itself, but also in the one devoted to the gamba. In
other sources, the variants "Bassl" and "Bassetl" are more common. In Germany, the cello was
often called "Bassgeige" ("bass violin"); see above, fn. 5.
' On the five-string cello and the "large" and "small" models (often correlated with tunings
from Bb, and C, respectively), see Marx, Violoncell, pp. 44-59. By 1750, the "small" model
tuned from C was employed everywhere. Indeed, Austria seems hardly to have known the Bb
model, to judge from the instruments cited in Jalovec, Geigenbauer. Mozart himself notes that
the various models "differ ... only in their stringing ["Beseytung"; i.e., Besaitung], and so in
their strength of tone" (emphasis added). Hence when he says later that each of the various
types of double bass always has the same tuning ("Stimmung"), and differs only in stringing
("Beseytung"), he must be referring merely to physical differences in the strings used on larger
or smaller versions of the same model or type, not to the possibility of different tunings.
VIOLONCELLO AND DOUBLE BASS IN VIENNESE CHAMBER MUSIC 417
Germany and Austria. The names "Bassetto" (etc.) for "violoncello"

peared as early as 1687 in Daniel Speer's Grund-Richtiger Kurtz-Leic
Ndthiger Unterricht der musicalischen Kunst; and they persisted throug
the eighteenth century, appearing for example in Brossard (i703), W
(1732), and Quantz ( 752).10 More significant for us is Albrechtsbe
description of the cello, written in Vienna just before 1790: his heading
"Das Bassetgen (Violoncello).""
Documents from Joseph Haydn's tenure at Esterhaizy demonstra
equivalence of "Bassetl" and "Violoncello" beyond a shadow of doubt.
well-known cellist Anton Kraft first appears in the salary records, for ex
as "Anton Kraft Bassetlista"; that is, cellist. But his signature, on a
document whose text also refers to him as a "Bassetlist," reads "Anton K
Violoncelist."13 Cellists in this Kapelle who are designated "Bassetlist" in
documents include not only Kraft but Xavier Marteau (employed b
terhaizy 1771-78) and Valentin Bertoja (i 780-88).14 The famous Vi
violin maker J. J. Stadlmann, a regular supplier to the Esterhaizy K
submitted a bill itemizing delivery of a "Pasetl" and repairs to a "Pa
[baryton]; Haydn's autograph countersignature to this document r
"Obenstehende Zurichtung des Paritons, und Violoncello. ..." The s
1o Marx, Violoncell, pp. 66-67 and the tables on pp. [63-641. Cf. Georg Kinsky, K
des musikhistorischen Museums von Wilhelm Heyer in C61n, Vol. II (Cologne, 1912
570-71 and 571, fn. i. This denotative sense of "Bassetto" must be distinguished from an
one which meant "high bass line"; i.e., which described a kind of part writing.
"Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Gru'ndliche Anweisung zur Composition (L
1790), p. 42 1.
12 This material is drawn from Arisztid Valk6, "Haydn magyarorszigi mflkSdese a levltairi
akt~ik tokreben," Zenetudomanyi Tanulmanyok, VI (1957; Kodily Festschrift), 627-67; VIII
(1960; Haydn Emlikere), 52 7-668; Janos Harich, "Haydn-Dokumenta," Haydn Yearbook,
II (1963/64), 2-44; III (1965), 122-52; IV (1968), 39-101; VII (1970), 47-168; VIII
(I97I), 70-163; idem, "Das Opernensemble zu Esterhiza im Jahr 1780," ibid., VII (1970),
5-46; idem, "Das Haydn-Orchester im Jahr 1780," ibid., VIII (I97I), 5-69. This material,
together with additional data from hitherto unpublished documents from the Esterhizy
archives, is conveniently summarized in Gerlach, "Haydns Orchestermusiker."
13 Harich, "Haydn-Dokumenta," VII (1970), 92; VIII ('97I), pp. I22-23, Nos. 323-25;
idem, "Haydn-Orchester," pp. 22-24. Eighteenth-century Austrian orthography makes no
distinction between B and P; t and d; ch, g, gh, and k, etc. Hence the frequent appearance of
"Pasetl" for "Bassetl," "Paridon" for "Baryton," "Burghsteiner" for "Purksteiner," and so
forth.
"1On Kraft as "Bassetlist," see Harich, "Haydn-Dokumenta," VII (1970), 115; VIII
('971), p. 124, Nos. 327-28; as "Violoncellist," ibid., III (1965), 132; IV (1968), p. 93, No.
I54. For documents on Marteau as "Bassetlist," see Joseph Haydn: Gesammelte Briefe und
Aufzeichnungen, ed. Denes Bartha (Kassel, I965), pp. 66-67, 74; Valk6, "Haydn magyaror-
sz~gi mikSd6se," VIII (1960), 554; Harich, "Haydn-Dokumenta," IV (1968), p. 82, No. 144
("Martou"), 98; VIII (1971), 154. On Marteau as "Violoncellist," see Valk6, op. cit., VI
(i957), 655; VIII (1960), 552, 575; Harich, op. cit., VII (1970), 67, 84. For documents on
Bertoja as "Bassetlist," see Harich, op. cit., VII (1970), 105, I 14; VIII ('97'), 128 ("Valen-
tino"). In his well-known account of the Esterhaizy Kapelle (1783), the "outsider" Forkel
cites both Kraft and Bertoja as "Violoncellisten" (quoted Harich, op. cit., IV [19681, p. 26,
fn. 39; trans. H. C. Robbins Landon, The Symphonies of Joseph Haydn [London, I9551, p.
I 12). Cf. Gerlach, "Haydns Orchestermusiker," p. 39.
5 Valk6, op. cit., VIII (i960), p. 596, No. 197: "[I have approved] these repairs to the
baryton and the violoncello."
usage can be documented in musical practice and journalistic accounts else-

where: for example in Pressburg (Bratislava), where Haydn often per-
formed.16
This consistent and widespread testimony establishes "Bassetl" and its

variants as Austrian synonyms for the cello. Similarly, the unambiguous
contexts of these many references render untenable the explanation that
perhaps a single man played various different instruments (as was often so in
this period). There are no indications either in these documents or in organ-
ological evidence to support the assumption that "Bassetl" designated a
"small" or "short-necked" double bass or, indeed, any instrument other than
the cello. The widespread impression to this effect in the literature is simply
erroneous.17
In his discussion of the double bass (par. 8), Mozart uses three different
names: "Grosser Bass," "Contra Basso" (added 1769), and "Violone."
Although he describes at least three different models-four- and five-string
types in 1756, adding the three-string one in 1769-nowhere does he imply a
correlation between these different types and the different names. Once again,
Albrechtsberger maintains Mozart's terminology: his description opens sim-
ply, "Der Violon, oder Cantrabass [sic]."18
The Esterhizy documents are equally definite on this point. The bassists
Johann Georg Schwenda (1761-65), Antonin Kiihnel (-I768), and Carl
Schiringer (i 767-) are described as "Violonista"; the same designation served
for various members of the Dietzl family who served as bassists from I766
until the nineteenth century.19 "Violone" is the normal term; "Grosser Bass"
and the like and "Contrabass" appear but rarely. Haydn also used "Violone"
exclusively in his own scores through i772. He first ventured "Contrabassi"
in Symphony No. 56 (1774), but "Violone" continued to appear in works like
the baryton octets, and the triumph of "Contrabasso" had to wait until the
"1 See, for example, Marianne Pandi and Fritz Schmid, "Musik zur Zeit Haydns und
Beethovens in der Pref3burger Zeitung," Haydn Yearbook, VIII (1971), 169-82, passim;
Meier, Kontrabass in der Klassik, p. 163.
17 See, for example, "Kontrabass," MGG, Vol. VII, col. I521; or Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart: Neue Ausgabe sdimtlicher Werke, Ser. IV, Werkgrp. 12, Bd. 6 (Kassel, 1964), p. ix,
fn. i 3. The Neue Mozart Ausgabe will hereafter be abbreviated NMA. Cf. also below, fn. 34.
For further examples of "Bassetl" used to name the cello, see Werner's account of the Esterhdzy
instruments (p. 419 below) and the first two bills quoted on p. 419 f.
18 Graindliche Anweisung, pp. 421-22.
l' Gerlach, "Haydns Orchestermusiker," pp. 39 (Schwenda), 40 (Schiringer), 42 (Kihnel),
esp. 46 (summary). For further citations on Kiihnel, see Harich, "Haydn-Dokumenta," VII
(1970), 53, 72; idem, "Haydn-Orchester," p. 38; C. F. Pohl, Joseph Haydn, II (Leipzig,
I882), 372. Documents on Schiringer are quoted in Harich, "Haydn-Dokumenta," VIII
(1970), p. I35, No. 342 and p. 136; idem, "Haydn-Orchester," pp. 29-30; Pohl, op. cit., II,
6, 373; Dines Bartha Liszl6 Somfai, Haydn als Opernkapellmeister (Budapest, 1960),
pp. 172-75. On the Dietzls, see Valk6, "Haydn magyarorszigi mukid6se," VI ( 957), p. 645,
No. 27; Harich, "Haydn-Dokumenta," II (1963/64), pp. 22, 33, fn. 59; IV (1968), pp.
74-76, Nos. 129, 132; VII (1970), 85.
regular division of the string basses in the "London" symphonies.20 Since

documents maintain the same term throughout this period, there i
evidence that the two different terms "Violone" and "Contrabasso" refer t
different instruments. Similarly, in 1765, Haydn's predecessor G. J. Wern
gave a precise account of the relationships among the instruments and the
names. In complaining (among other things) that the instruments in
chapel at Eisenstadt had been allowed to fall into disrepair, Werner enume
ated them as follows: ". .. von alt- und neuen Violinen 12 Stuck ... Von
denen Violen 2 alte, und 2 neue, Passetel aber 2, nebst 2 guten groBen Vio-
lonen. . . ." In this context, "Passetel" can only designate the celli, "Violone"
the double basses.21
Johann Dietzl, appointed in 1775, was a virtuoso double bassist, as

Haydn's recommendation of I803-an uncommonly enthusiastic one for
Haydn-amply demonstrates: "den einzigen guten Contra Bassisten in wienn
[Vienna] und ganzen Konigreich Ungarn." Similarly, the concertante double-
bass passages and the lost double-bass concerto Hob. VIIc:I prove that Haydn
also reckoned with professional-level players on that instrument.22 Thus,
Haydn enjoyed the presence of both cellists and double bassists of professional
caliber throughout his tenure at Esterhaizy. At the same time, no other
stringed bass instruments were represented (the baryton remaining a special
case).23 Under these conditions, the case that "Bassetl" denoted the cello and
"Violone" the double bass is airtight.
The five-string double bass as a soloistic instrument. The Esterh~izy

documents also inform us how these instruments were strung and tuned. A bill
from I763, for example, itemizes the following strings supplied to the "hoch-
firstl. Cammer Musique":
3 Passetl A i Violon A
4 detto D I detto fis
4 detto tibersponnene G i detto
2 detto C.... I detto grosses A....
20 Once again, Forkel uses the international term "Contrabassisten" for D
ger (as in fn. I4). For Symphony No. 56, see Joseph Haydn: Werke, edit
Haydn-Institut, Cologne, under the direction of Georg Feder, Ser. I, Bd. 7 (
1966), p. 95. Hereafter, the new Haydn edition will be abbreviated JHW
21 Haydn Briefe, p. 5 3: "Twelve old and new violins, two old and two new
celli, and finally two good large double basses." For similar data from the y
using the same terminology, see Harold Dreo, "Die ffirstlich Esterhaizysche
ihren Anf'dngen bis zum Jahre I766," Beitrdge zur Musikgeschichte des
(Eisenstadt, 1971), pp. 98, IO5; Harich, "Haydn-Dokumenta," VII (1970
22 For Haydn's recommendation of Dietzl, see Harich, "Haydn-Orchest
Briefe, pp. 435-36. Haydn's works for concertante double bass are dis
possibility that no professional double bassist was available to Haydn bet
and March I767 (cf. Gerlach, "Haydns Orchestermusiker," p. 46) does not
this argument.
23 See Efrim Fruchtman, "The Baryton: its History and its Music Re-
musicologica, XXXIV (1962), 2-17.
3 Passetl A I Violon fis

Mehr 3 detto detto.... I detto A
4 Passetl A
Two similar requisitions dated 1764 read:
.. FUr das Violoncello... neue besait [newly strung] samt neuen Satl [bridge]
6 Biischl [bundles] A. jedes zu 4 xr. [Kreutzer] ...
Item so viel D. zu 6 xr ...
Ingleichen 3 G. zu 17 xr ....
Item 3 C. jedes zu 24 xr ....
... zur Cammer Music gelieferten Saiten .

... Ein tiefes Violon A...
... 2 Violon A..
Compare the following from 1780:
... iibersponnene Violon A ...24
These and dozens of similar documents establish that, as we shou

the Esterhizy celli were four-string models tuned in fifths from C.
two bills quoted specify A, D, G, and C strings, in that order-
"Passetl" in the one case, a "Violoncello" in the other. Both also
wound ("iibersponnene") C and G strings, in accordance with the usu
tice of the time.25
Double basses in eighteenth-century Austria were usually five-str
els, tuned upwards from F, (occasionally E, or G,) in a series of t
one perfect fourth in the middle: F, A, D F# A. This pattern is conf
extant instruments from the late seventeenth century to 1822
written descriptions dating from 1677 to 1849 (!).26 We have alre
Leopold Mozart's reference to the five-string double bass in the first
the Violinschule (i756) and his description of its use as a solo inst
the second edition (0769). Albrechtsberger's description of I790
precise:
Der Violon, oder CantrabaB [sic], hat gewShnlich fiinf ziemlich dick
auch von Schafdarmen, welche von unten hinauf heissen; F A d fis a [staf
24 Valk6, "Haydn maggarorszaigi miikSdese," VI (1957), P. 636, No. 7; pp. 6

ii; p. 640, No. '5; VIII (1960), p. 589, No. 172.
25 Wound strings for celli were introduced in France toward the end of the sev
century (Marx, Violoncell, p. 61). Albrechtsberger testifies to late eighteenth-centu
practice: the C and often also the G strings were wound (Griindliche Anweisun
26 These assertions summarize Meier, Kontrabass in der Klassik, pp. 16-25.
Die tiefsten zwey pflegt man zu fiberspinnen. Er klingt aber um eine Octav
als das Violoncello. .... Er hat zu jedem halben Tone einen Bund auf dem Gri
... Es giebt auch einen Violon, welcher nur vier Saiten und keine Blinde h
Stimmung aber anders lautet, nalmlich: G A D G oder F A D G. Dieser
dreyfache sind selten mehr zu sehen.27
Among the makers of these five-string double basses were J. J. Sta

M. I. Stadlmann, and Mathias Thir, all of whom provided instru
accessories, and repair service to Esterhizy during Haydn's tenure
The strings ordered for the double basses agree perfectly with the
descriptions: F#, D [ordinary], A, and three other types of a strings:
ones, "low" ones, and "wound" ones. The latter three terms can only r
the lower of the two a strings on the type of double bass Albrech
describes-he specifies that the lowest two strings were wound-wh
ordinary a strings will have been the higher ones. This combination o
bass strings was the norm at Esterhizy from 1760 to at least 178
converse arguments also support this position: if the modern tuning E
G had been used, e and g strings should have been supplied; and, on th
hand, only one kind of a string would have been necessary. Neith
case.30
Given this extensive and consistent documentation, Landon's sweeping

and unsupported assertions that "in Haydn's time the lowest string was the
I6-ft. 'C'," and that "the I6-ft. 'C' string is required in almost every work by
Haydn, including those of the London period" must be unequivocally re-
jected.31 Only two references to double basses tuned from C1 are cited in the
literature from before I85 o: one is in Johann Philipp Eisel's Musicus Autodidac-
27 Griindliche Anweisung, pp. 421-22: "The violon or contrabass normally has five thick
strings, also of sheep's gut, which from below are tuned F1 A, DF# A. The two lowest are normally
wound. It sounds an octave lower than the cello. It has frets on the fingerboard at each half step.
There is also another type of double bass with only four strings and without frets, whose tuning
is different, namely E1 A1 D G or F1 A1 D G. This and the three-string model [dreyfache] are
rarely seen any longer."
28 On J. J. Stadlmann, see Meier, Kontrabass in der Klassik, p. 18, Nos. 12, 13; Valk6,
"Haydn magyarorszAgi mfikSd6se," VI ('957), pp. 645-49, Nos. 23, 36; VIII (I960), pp.
543-63, Nos. 13, 16, 29, 39, 53, 6y, 69, 89, 97. Further on M. I. Stadlmann, see Meier, op.
cit., p. i8, No. i4; Valk6, op. cit., VIII (I96O), pp. 591-96, Nos. 181, 193, 197. Finally, on
Thir, see Meier, op. cit., p. 17, Nos. 8, 9; Valk6, loc. cit., p. 598, No. 201. See also Jalovec,
Geigenbauer.
29 Valk6, op. cit., VI (1957), pp. 640-46, Nos. I6, 20, 26, 27; VIII (I96O), p. 544, No. I6;
P. 594, No. I89; pp. 598-99, No. 203; Harich, "Haydn-Dokumenta," II (1963/64), 29 (but
it is "Violon" that is intended!); III (I965), pp. 149, 51, Nos. 43, 47. Cf. Meier, Kontrabass in
der Klassik, p. 25; and Planyavsky, Kontrabass, p. 184. (The ostensible c strings for a "Violon"
quoted in Valk6, VI (1957), p. 643, No. 21, stem merely from a misreading for "Viola," as
Sonja Gerlach kindly informs me.)
"0 The e and a strings for violins were always delivered in bundles of a dozen or more; e.g.,
"2 Bund Violin E . . ." (Valk6, VI 11957], 636).
ax Landon, Symphonies, p. 126. The same assertion, with the same lack of evidentiary
justification, is found in Planyavsky, Kontrabass, p. I78. Cf below, p. 429.
ticus (Erfurt, 1734); the other appeared in the Allgemeine musikalis

Zeitung of Leipzig for I816.32 Neither has any relevance for Austrian mus
between 175o and I8oo. For this period, even D, as lowest pitch is do
mented only in Germany, and only on six-string basses. Systematic attem
to expand the double-bass range down to C1 did not begin until the ninete
century.33 The Esterhizy documents never refer to any kind of c strings fo
double basses, let alone "low" or "large" ones; were Landon's assumpt
correct, such strings should have been common. Finally, the modern claims
low C, strings in the eighteenth century derive from misunderstandings of
older terminology. In particular, these claims are animated by the belief t
"Bassl" designated some kind of small double bass.34 If this were true,
instruments would have had c strings. But as we now know, "Bassl" sim
meant the cello. (To be sure, the Esterhaizy documents do not cite any str
lower than "low A." This might suggest that Haydn's double bass had o
four strings A, D F# A, a tuning which can be documented in the practic
Johannes Sperger [1750o-1812], the leading virtuoso on the instrument in
region during the I78os.35 And many Viennese instruments of the pe
went no lower than A1.36 On the other hand, Haydn's double-bass p
regularly go down to G1, and occasionally to Fl. The lack of citations for s
strings in the documents thus remains an unexplained inconsistency.)
Designed expressly for soloistic performance, this Austrian five-st
double bass fostered a notable school of virtuosos in the mid- and late
eighteenth century.3" Numerous concertante works for the instrument have
also survived. In the late I760s, Dittersdorf and Wenzel Pichl (I741-I8o5)
wrote the earliest extant double bass concertos; Dittersdorf also wrote several
duets for viola and concertante double bass. Other works in this repertory
were provided by Vanhal; Anton Zimmerman (1741-81), the Kapellmeister
at Pressburg following Dittersdorf; the composer-publisher Fr. A. Hoffmeister
(1754-1812); Sperger; and, of course, W. A. Mozart (whose aria "Per
questa bella mano" K. 612, which calls for obbligato double bass, has been
completely misunderstood until recently).38 Joseph Haydn included concertante
double-bass parts in five symphonies from the early I76os (Nos. 6-8, 3 1, and
32 Planyavsky, Kontrabass, pp. io8, 212.

33 Meier, Kontrabass in der Klassik, pp. 26-35; Planyavsky, Kontrabass, pp. 288-89;
"Kontrabass," MGG, Vol. VII, col. 1520. (Planyavsky's discussions [pp. 267-69, 340-41],
attempting to find low C1 before I850, still throw no light on eighteenth-century Vienna.)
34 E.g., the statement in MGG, Vol. VII, col. 152o that Leopold Mozart describes a four-
string double bass with tuning C G D A.
35 Planyavsky, Kontrabass, p. 7I.
36 Otto Biba, "Die Wiener Kirchenmusik um 1783," Beitrdige zur Musikgeschichte des i8.
Jahrhunderts (Eisenstadt, 1971), p. 69.
37 Meier, Kontrabass in der Klassik, pp. 5 5-7, 15 6-9 .
38 Ibid., pp. 50-5I, 53-55, 91-93, 118; on the Mozart aria, see Alfred Planyavsky,
"Mozarts Arie mit obligatem Kontrabass," Mozart-Jahrbuch, 1971-72, pp. 313-36. The
music is now available in NMA, Ser. II, Werkgrp. 7, Bd. 4.
72), in the Divertimento Hob. 11:24 from 1761 or 1762, in the "Farew
Symphony (1772), and in the baryton octets Hob. X:i-6, 12 (1775).39 M
over, he wrote a lost concerto "per il Violone" or "Contra Violone"
VIIc:i) which, as it also dates from the early I76os, may well be the f
double-bass concerto in history-if so, it would be one more "invention
must credit to this remarkable composer.40
Double bass and cello in chamber music. The solo double bass flourished
not only in concerti and concertante ensembles, but also as the bass instrument
in chamber music. A substantial number of early Classical Viennese chamber
works specify the double bass: a violin duet by J. C. Mann and a viola duet by
Dittersdorf; six Dittersdorf "Quintets" (1782) for two violins, viola, two
horns ad libitum, cello, and "Contrabasso"; a Dittersdorf serenade for two
horns and strings, the bass part specified as "Violone"; an early trio and string
quartet by Holzbauer; a Gassmann oboe trio; and a Vanhal quintet for violin,
viola, two horns, and "Violone."41 Albrechtsberger often specified the double
bass in his early, secular chamber music, including a trio for two violas and
"Violone" (1756), a string quartet (1760), a flute quartet (1761), a viola trio
(1767), and another trio for flute, viola d'amore, and "Violone" (I773).42
Wagenseil provides an unusual scoring: a set of six "Suite[s] des pi&ces" for
three celli and "Contrabasso," one of which, dated i764, is preserved in
autograph.43
39 For the concerto, see Jens Peter Larsen, Die Haydn-LOberlieferung (Copenhagen, 1939),
p. 233. For Symphonies Nos. 6-8 and 72, see Landon's miniature score edition (Vienna,
1964-68), Vols. I, VII; for Nos. 3 1 and 45, see JHW, Ser. I, Bd. 4, 6; for Hob. 11:24, see JHW,
Ser. VIII (in preparation); for the baryton octets, see JHW, Ser. XIII.
4o Larsen, Die Haydn-tOberlieferung p. 233, dates the work at 1765 or earlier; this agrees
with the dates of most of the other concertante double-bass solos. Leopold Mozart's inclusion of
a description of concertante double-bass playing in the 1769 edition of the Violinschule, where
none had been offered in I756, indirectly testifies to the rise of virtuoso playing on this
instrument about the early I760s.
41 MANN: Denkmailer der Tonkunst in Osterreich (hereafter DTO), Jg. XIX/2 (Bd. 39)
(Vienna, 1912), thematic catalogue by Wilhelm Fischer, No. 90o. DITTERSDORF:. Carl Krebs,
Dittersdorfiana (Berlin, 1900), thematic catalogue, Nos. 219, 179-84, and 128, respectively;
Gertrude Rigler, "Die Kammermusik Dittersdorfs," Studien zur Musikwissenschaft, XIV
(1927), I85, 187; Meier, Kontrabass in der Klassik, pp. 49-54; DTO, Jg. XLIII/2 (Bd. 8i)
(Vienna, 1936), pp. 62-63. HOLZBAUER: Das Erbe deutscher Musik, Bd. 24 (Kassel, 1953), p.
I14, No. 5 (cf. Meier, op. cit., p. yo and Planyavsky, Kontrabass, p. 133). GASSMANN:
Planyavsky, op. cit., p. 138. VANHAL: Eitner, Quellen-Lexikon, X, 175. Cf. also the list in
Meier, op. cit., pp. 49-5o. On the term "Violone" in these works see loc. cit.
42 LAszl6 Somfai, "Albrechtsberger-Eigenschriften in der Nationalbibliothek Sz&chenyi,
Budapest," Studia musicologica, I (1961), pp. 175-202, Nos. 19, 24; IV (I963), pp. 179-90,
Nos. 58, 59, 62.
43 On the autograph, see Helga Scholz-Michelitsch, Das Orchester- und Kammermusik-
werk von Georg Christoph Wagenseil: Thematischer Katalog (Vienna, 1972), No. 445; the
existence of six such works is noted by Theodor Aigner in "Johann Gallus Mederitsch:
Komponist und Kopist des ausgehenden 18. und frUihen I9. Jahrhunderts," Die Musik-
forschung, XXVI (1973), 342.
The cello was certainly specified more often than the double bass, fr
quently in conjunction with the normal designation "Basso," meaning simply
the bass part."4 But many other works call for the cello tout court, amo
them: a string trio, a set of twelve sonatas for two violins and cello, sets of s
quartets and quintets each, another quartet with "Violoncello concertant
and a septet for two horns and strings-all by Dittersdorf; a trio (ca. 1775 ?)
by E. A. Firster (1748-1823); six violin sonatas (1773), as well as five strin
trios and four oboe quartets by Gassmann; Joseph Haydn's horn trio H
IV:5 and lost baryton duets Hob. XII:7-I2; a lost quartet by Holzbauer;
Ordoniez quartet; a Hoffmeister viola d'amore quartet; a lute trio of Ka
Kohaut (1726-82); a mixed quintet by Leopold Koieluch (1747-1812)
serenade by Pleyel for string quartet; Richter's string quartets later publish
as "Op. 5"; ten trios and two cassations for string trio and two horns b
Vanhal; and a sextet for four violins, viola, and cello by Wagenseil.45 A
contemporary descriptions, such as those by Dittersdorf (i756), Haydn (c
1757), Burney (1772), Daube (1773), Petri (1782), and in the Pressburge
and the Wiener Zeitung all speak explicitly or implicitly of the solo cel
never the double bass-in chamber music.46
Few works which specify the solo cello can be dated before 1770. The
earliest may be Richter's "Op. 5," which may date from the I75os; from the
I760s we have the Wagenseil sextet, the Kohaut lute trio, the Dittersdorf
serenade, numerous works of Gassmann, and Haydn's horn trio.47 Proof that
designation for solo cello was exceptional is that the earliest explicitly dated
Austrian string quartets to specify the cello appear to be those of Haydn's Op.
" Webster, "Viennese Chamber Music," pp. 240-41.

"45 DITTERSDORF: Krebs, Dittersdorfiana, Nos. 131, 140-52 [sic], 191-96, 185-90; Rigler,
"Dittersdorf," p. i86; Krebs, op. cit., No. I29-respectively. FSRSTER: DTO, Jg. XXXV/i
(Bd. 67) (Vienna, I928), p. [viii]. GASSMANN: Warren Kirkendale, Fuge und Fugato in der
Kammermusik des Rokoko und der Klassik (Tutzing, 1966), pp. 32, 34-35; William New-
man, The Sonata in the Classic Era, 2d ed. (New York, i971), p. 355; Eve Rose Meyer,
"Florian Gassmann and the Viennese Divertimento" (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Pennsylvania,
1963), PP. 147-48, Nos. 4-7 and 157-58, Nos. 24-27. HAYDN: the horn trio is pr. in Diletto
Musicale, No. I (Vienna, 1957); the baryton trio, in JHW, Ser XIII. HOLZBAUER: Das Erbe
deutscher Musik, Bd. 24, p.213, No. 8 (cf. the score). ORDONrEZ: I. Peter Brown, "The Cham-
ber Music with Strings of Carlos d'Ordofiez: A Bibliographic and Stylistic Study," Acta musi-
cologica, XLVI (1974), 224, 262 ("A4"). HOFFMEISTER: Diletto Musicale, No. 195 (Vienna,
I967). KOHAUT: cited in the Breitkopf catalogue for 1767, p. 23; see Barry S. Brook, ed., The
Breitkopf Thematic Catalogue (New York, 1966), p. 279. KozELUCH: MGG, Vol. VII, col.
1663. PLEYEL: MGG, Vol. X, col. 1356. RICHTER: Musica Antiqua Bohemica, No. 7 (Prague,
i969). VANHAL: Prague National Library, XXVII.B.92-94, 137-42; XLII.E.5, 19; XVI.A.59
-all cited by Milan Po'tolka, MGG, Vol. XIII, col. I260. WAGENSEIL: Scholz-Michelitsch,
Kammermusik Wagenseils, No. 487.
4 Quoted and discussed in Webster, "Viennese Chamber Music," pp. 228, 234-35,
244-46.
47 RICHTER: Webster, op. cit., p. 228 and fn. 67. DITTERSDORF: Krebs, Dittersdorfiana, No.
I29. GASSMANN: Kirkendale, Fuge und Fugato, p. 6 ; Newman, Sonata in the Classic Era, p.
355. HAYDN: cf. fn. 45.
VIOLONCELLO AND .DOUBLE BASS IN VIENNESE CHAMBER MUSIC 425
17, from 1771 ." But it would be premature, of course, to conclude on

basis that the cello was little used before 1770. Many works which specify
cannot be dated even approximately; and as we now know, many wo
labeled "Basso" were written for the cello.
Insufficiency of the documentary evidence for interpreting "Basso." Let us

review the evidence set forth to this point, with special emphasis on Haydn's
music. A chamber work for strings from this repertory usually designates the
bass part merely as "Basso." Hence the scoring could be solo cello, solo
double bass, or (as Mozart specified in Eine kleine Nachtmusik) cello and
double bass.49 Both instruments were in use as concertante instruments and in
chamber music; both can be documented in the sources; both appear in
juxtaposition with "Basso" in a substantial number of chamber works.
Throughout Haydn's tenure at Esterhizy, both instruments were owned and
maintained by the Kapelle, and both were played by resident professional
performers. There is little documentary basis for deciding which bass in-
strument Haydn preferred in his early chamber music.
Nor do the sources offer much help. Haydn never once specified the
double bass alone (without cello) in chamber music. On the other hand, the
authentic sources never specify the bass scoring (except for concertante parts)
until the Horn Trio Hob. IV:5 (1767), followed by Op. 17 (1771). Hence we
are unable to determine the bass scoring for hundreds of ensemble works
dating from the I75os and I760s, including approximately twenty-five string
trios, about I25 baryton trios, the ensemble divertimenti, and the accom-
panied keyboard works-to say nothing of the string quartets through Op. 9.
For all these works, the authentic sources merely read "Basso.""5
These facts seem compatible with three alternative hypotheses. (i)
Haydn's developing tendency to specify his bass instruments about and after
I770 was associated with a change in scoring. Since the cello became his
preferred instrument, his use of "Basso" in the 5os and 6os implies double
bass, or cello and double bass. (Proponents of this hypothesis must guard
against the error of supposing that "Basso" designated the double bass-an
error especially common in German-speaking musicology, because "Bass"
means "double bass" in modern informal German usage.) (2) The change
from "Basso" to "Violoncello" did not imply any change of scoring; Haydn's
48 The scoring and dating of Haydn's early quartets require separate treatment. See
Webster, "The Chronology of Haydn's String Quartets," The Musical Quarterly, LXI (1975),
17-46; idem, "The Bass Part in Haydn's Early String Quartets and in Austrian Chamber
Music" (Ph.D. diss., Princeton Univ., '973), Chaps. 6-7, from which an abstracted article is
scheduled for publication shortly.
49 Other works specifying both cello and double bass include Mozart's "Serenada [sic]
Notturna" K. 239 and Haydn's divertimenti Hob. 11:1, 11, 24; baryton octets Hob. XII:I-6,
12; and lyre notturni Hob. 11:27, 28, 3 1, 32. In all of these works, however, unlike Eine kleine
Nachtmusik, the two instruments have independent passages in addition to doublings.
"0 Webster, "Viennese Chamber Music," pp. 239-42.
early preference for the former term merely reflects prevailing early Classical
usage, and his later specification of the cello agrees with the increasing
tendency, about 1780, toward terminological precision.51 The early works are
also scored for the cello. (3) "Basso" was, in fact, not equivalent to any one
scoring; some of these works may have been scored for cello, others for double
bass, and still others for both instruments. Toward i780, the cello triumphed
as the single standard bass scoring in chamber music.
The situation is no clearer for Haydn's contemporaries. Albrechtsberger,
for example-whose early chamber music is more closely related to Haydn's
in style than that of any other composer-occasionally specified the double
bass before I770, but more often he, too, simply wrote "Basso." Before 1780,
he rarely specified the cello; thereafter he did so frequently.52 From the
coexistence of "Basso" and "Violone," we could infer that "Basso" must
imply a different instrument-presumably the cello. On the other hand,
"Basso" often appeared together on a single bass part with both possible
specific designations ("Violoncello" and "Violone"); that is, it was compatible
with any particular scoring. In this case, Albrechtsberger's early use of
"Basso" might just as well have stood for the double bass, the chief instrument
he did specify in this period. Clearly, we cannot solve this problem on such a
scanty evidentiary basis.
STYLISTIC EVIDENCE FOR THE SCORING OF THE BASS
Traditional criteria. The essential stylistic development with respect to

the bass part in Classical chamber music has always been taken to be the rise
of the solo cello as the obligatory bass scoring.53 The other possibilities which,
according to the evidence presented here, must be taken into account-solo
double bass, and cello and double bass together-have not received much
attention. The traditional stylistic criteria for solo cello parts have been high
notated range and use of the tenor clef, melodic passages and difficult fig-
51 Ibid., pp. 227, 229, 247; Bir, "Basso," p. i53.

52 For the works and their sources, see Somfai, "Albrechtsberger-Eigenschriften." The best
example of stylistic similarity in the music of Haydn and Albrechtsberger is the string quartet
by Albrechtsberger that was falsely attributed to Haydn (Hob. III:D3); cf. Somfai, "Albrechts-
berger-Eigenschriften," I (1961), No. 3 9; Webster, "Chronology of Haydn's Quartets," p. 4 1;
Feder, "Apokryphe 'Haydn'-Streichquartette," Haydn-Studien, III (1973/74), 135-36.
53 Ursula Lehmann, Deutsches und italienisches Wesen in der Frihgeschichte des Streich-
quartetts (WUirzburg, I939), pp. 47-73; Fritz OberdSrffer, Der Generalbass in der In-
strumentalmusik des ausgehenden i8. Jahrhunderts (Kassel, I939); Ruth Halle Rowen, Early
Chamber Music (New York, 1949), PP. 48-55, 73-90, 124-37; Kirkendale, Fuge und
Fugato, pp. 83-95; Ludwig Finscher, Studien zur Geschichte des Streichquartetts, Vol. I: Die
Entstebung des klassischen Streichquartetts: Von den Vorformen zur Grundlegung durch
Joseph Haydn, SaarbrUicker Studien zur Musikwissenschaft, Vol. III (Kassel, '974), PP.
o06-25; Hubert Unverricht, Gescbicbte des Streichtrios (Tutzing, 1969), pp. io8-i8,
175-98; Webster, "Viennese Chamber Music," pp. 231-35, 238-39, 241-46.
uration, participation in thematische Arbeit, and the alleged registral "gap"

that a solo double bass would produce between the bass and the other parts.
Although these criteria may suffice to distinguish solo cello parts from
orchestral basses and from bass parts with cello and double bass together, they
cannot be used to exclude the possibility of a solo double bass. The normal
upper limit for solo cello parts in this repertory was perhaps g' or a', with
extensions to d" or e" in unusual cases; but the same notated range appears in
the concertante double-bass parts. The tenor clef also appears regularly.
Similarly, melodic activity, participation in thematische Arbeit, rapid and
difficult figuration, and registral mobility characterize many of these parts."5
An excellent example of all these features is the obbligato double-bass part in
Mozart's "Per questa bella mano."65 But the more numerous concerti and
concertante works from the I760s also exploit the virtuosic and melodic
possibilities of the Austrian double bass. In the solo from the trio of Haydn's
Symphony No. 7 ("Le Midi"), for example, the tenor clef appears, the double
bass bears the leading melody, and in measure 52 Haydn winds the part up to
a climax on c" (sounding c'). The bass solo in the seventh variation of the
finale of Symphony No. 31 (the "Hornsignal") exhibits a notated range of
more than two octaves (A-b'), scalar passages in triplet sixteenth and thirty-
second notes, frequent octave leaps, and even one leap of a fourteenth (m.
II5).56 (The skips to and from A, d, and a in mm. 114-15 and 127-28,
incidentally, substantiate the tuning F, A, D F# A for this instrument.)
Although tbematische Arbeit is excluded from a concertante part of this sort
"by definition," other double-bass parts do include such passages: the imita-
tive entries over a horn pedal, for example, in Haydn's Baryton Octet Hob.
X:2 (I, 58-69)."57
The registral "gap" between viola and double bass, which might threaten
the equality and interchangeability of the parts supposedly characteristic of
Classical chamber music, is often alleged to be sufficient grounds for excluding
the double bass.58 But in spite of the replacement of older scorings such as the
trio sonata by newer ones without such "gaps" during the Classical period,""
this criterion is also insufficiently flexible. In the first place, it substitutes an
54 Bar, "Basso," pp. 150, 153; Marx, Violoncell, pp. i35-37; Meier, Kontrabass in der
Klassik, pp. 38-41, 98-104.
55 See above, fn. 38.
56 Landon's miniature-score edition, Vol. I; JHW, Ser. I, Bd. 4, respectively. All the works
cited henceforth in this article are available in complete editions of major composers, mon-
uments like D TO, or widely distributed recent series like Diletto Musicale.
57 Other double-bass passages in the baryton octets using thematische Arbeit include Hob.
X:2 (III, Var. 2); Hob. X:5 (I, 25-39); and Hob. X:4 (I, Var. 4)-all pr. in JHW, Ser. XIII.
58 At least as far as Haydn is concerned, this view appears to have originated with Adolf
Sandberger, specifically with his influential essay, "Zur Geschichte des Haydnschen Streich-
quartetts," Altbayerische Monatsschrift, II (1900), 41-64, repr. and rev. in Ausgewdhlte
Aufsditze zur Musikgeschichte, Vol. I (Munich, 1921), p. 254.
59 Cf. Unverricht, Streichtrio, pp. 74-108, 199-233; Webster, "Viennese Chamber Mu-
sic," p. 224.
aesthetic bias for attempts to determine the facts on the basis of the evidence.
Secondly, the double bass is often notated in the octave between c and c'; this
relatively high tessitura can combine with relatively low viola parts to reduce
the "gap" to manageable proportions. In still other cases, a pair of horns fills
the registral gap without destroying the coherence of the ensemble, as is true,
for example, of Haydn's divertimenti Hob. 11:2 and 22, or of a serenade by
Dittersdorf.60 Finally, except perhaps in fugal movements, the modern ideal of
complete equality among the parts was hardly ever realized. Most writing in
this style is homophonic; most bass parts behave, simply, like bass parts most
of the time. Just as thematische Arbeit and other cherished notions of Classical
chamber style actually appear in the music only now and then, by way of
contrast and intensification, strict equality among the parts turns out to be only
one textural resource among many. The same strictures apply to the ideal of
four-part texture: there is no need to apologize for the two-part writing in
Haydn's early quartets, for example, especially as he turned to it again and
again throughout his life.61' And there certainly is no justification for using it
as "evidence" for or against any particular scoring of the works in which it
appears.
Double-bass parts with lower boundaries at notated F. If the distinction

between solo cello and solo double bass on the grounds just discussed remains
problematic, the lower boundary of the notated tessitura ought to provide a
more reliable means of determining the bass scoring. The Viennese five-string
double bass had as its normal lowest pitch F,, notated F; in some cases, the
lowest string was tuned up to G,; in still others it was omitted, leaving A, as
the lowest pitch. (Though E, is little documented in this repertory, its
prevalence elsewhere bids us consider it a possibility here, too.) We may expect
that any extensive solo cello part will include, as an important part of the
tessitura, pitches below F, and especially the "grateful" open low C. But a solo
double-bass part should not venture below notated F.62
60 Ba*r, "Basso," pp. 141-42; Finscher, Geschichte des Streichquartetts, I, i85-86. (Hob.
11:21 and 22 are probably written for cello, not double bass; I have mentioned them here
merely as familiar examples of the scoring with two horns.) The Dittersdorf serenade is pr. in
DTO, Bd. 86 (Vienna, 1949). One criterion for the use of the double bass which is not relevant,
despite numerous attempts to make it so, is the occurrence of part-crossing in the bass. I have
dealt with this problem in "The Bass Part in Haydn's Early String Quartets," Chap. 7; see
also Finscher, op. cit., pp. I8 I-9o. The conclusion is secure: unresolved six-four chords occur
often in this repertory, even when the bass is unequivocably designated solo cello. Hence-
contrary to Somfai, "Zur Echtheitsfrage des Haydn'schen 'Op. 3,' " Haydn Yearbook, III
(1965), I59-60; and Unverricht, Streichtrio, pp. 153-55, I8 -87-these part-crossings do
not imply scoring with double bass.
61 See Donald Francis Tovey, "Haydn's Chamber Music," Essays and Lectures on Music
(New York, 1949), pp. 9-Io; Bair, "Basso," pp. 141-42.
62 Br first introduced this criterion in discussing Mozart ("Basso," pp. 150-52; cf. NMA,
Ser. IV, Werkgrp. 12, Bd. 6, p. ix); Meier gives additional examples in Kontrabass in der
Klassik, pp. 46-47. (In principle, this procedure resembles the familiar method of dating
Of course, only solo double-bass parts can be reliably located by

method. Orchestral bass parts were notated on a single staff, labeled "Bass
or "Bassi"; these were written loco for celli (and bassoon) and notate
terms of their full range down to C. The double bassists evidently had to ad
the pitches which exceeded their lower boundary of F1. Hence, orchestral
parts cannot be used as evidence of the double-bass range. The same con
erations apply to soloistic music which brings cello and double bass togeth
a single part.63
One must begin by testing these hypotheses on bass parts unambiguous
designated for either cello or double bass. The concertante double-bass solo
the trios of Haydn's Symphonies Nos. 6-8, in the variation finales of S
phonies Nos. 3 1 and 72, in the Adagio section of the finale of the "Farewe
Symphony, and in the fifth variation of the Divertimento Hob. II:2
have a collective notated tessitura of G to c", with the normal range spann
perhaps, A to g'.64 In Haydn's Symphony No. 7 ("Le Midi"), the s
measure that brings the flight of fancy in the double bass to c" (Minuet, m
finds the orchestral celli, which naturally constitute "the bass" in this passa
on low C. Other prominent low C's for cello occur in the second movemen
Symphony No. 6 ("Le Matin," mm. 65-66), the second movement of
Midi" (mm. 36 and 39), and the second movement of Symphony No. 8
Soir," mm. 127-29). This "reversal" of register, with the cello notated belo
the double bass, is characteristic of Haydn's concertante double-bass passag
Hence it may be evidence of the scoring even when the absolute boundarie
the tessiture are not involved. For example, in the first movement of
Midi" (mm. 62-67), the downbeats for solo cello are consistently an oc
lower than those of the other basses, reaching low D; in the parallel pa
(mm. 129-34), however, where all the basses are notated in unison, the firs
downbeat is low F, but instead of E and D Haydn writes e and d, an oc
higher. Thus both hypotheses find initial support: the aesthetic and stylis
characteristics of Haydn's concertante double-bass parts cannot easil
distinguished from those of the cello parts; but, although the celli freely ex
low C, the double bass never exceeds the boundary F (here they descen
lower than G).
By and large, Haydn's bass parts all behave the same way. In the L
Notturno Hob. 11:3 i, for example, the double bass never goes below F, wh
the cello consistently exploits low C. In the Baryton Octet Hob. X:6, the lo
boundary for double bass is A; for the cello it is E. In the opening of the L
Notturno Hob. 11:32, the active cello part begins with arpeggios from low
keyboard works by means of the registral limits of known instruments.) The present accou
the first extensive survey of this repertory from this perspective.
63 This confusion could be responsible for the mistaken assertions that Haydn's do
basses go down to C1 (see above, fn. 31).
64 For editions of these works, see above, fn. 39. Henceforth in this article, pitch name
refer, in all contexts, to notated pitch.
and double stops spanning the octave C-c (mm. I7-2 I)-this in contras
the modest downbeats on c for the double bass, which honors G as the low
boundary.65 Still another indication of Haydn's reluctance to write low pi
for the double bass is his frequent unison writing, notated an octave lowe
the cello, even when the "potential" tessiture would have permitted octave
Such unisons appear, for example, among the imitative motivic entries in
Notturno Hob. 11:31 (I, 63-7I).66
In his first string quartets to specify the cello in the authentic sources,
17, Haydn provided idiomatic use of the lowest range in full measure
increased compositional "weight" of such low writing for cello in the
sequent sets, Op. 20 and Op. 3 3, confirms this picture.67 These distinction
range also characterize the separate cello and double-bass parts of Hay
orchestral music. In the symphonies, operas, and the "Seven Last Wor
every explicit double-bass part observes the boundary F,68 while the separ
cello parts routinely exploit the lowest range between F and C.69 If
65 Hob. X:6 is pr. in JHW, Ser. XIII; the lyre notturni, in Ser. VII (the example descri
is on pp. 48-49). Similar passages occur in the revised version of Hob. 11:3 2 (II, 9-10, 2
Hob. 11:31 (I, 5-8, 52-55, 120-121; II, 50-52).
66 The Notturno Hob. 11:31 is pr. in JHW, Ser. VII; see esp. p. 81.
67 For these quartets, see JHW, Ser. XII, Bd. 2-3. See also Finscher, Geschichte
Streichquartetts, I, I82. On the "emancipation" of the cello and the "radical equality"
parts in Op. 20, see Sandberger, "Haydnschen Streichquartett," rev. ed., pp. 259-6
Tovey, "Haydn's Chamber Music," pp. 40-47. On the scoring of the early quartets, cf. fn.
68 In addition to the concertante solos already discussed, these passages include the sy
phonies Hob. 1:24 (IV, 52-58); I:56 (I, 163-64); 1:61 (I, 10-14); 1:67 (I, 18-24, 11
123-26, 134-38, 155-59, 179; 1, 73); 1:68 (IV, 56-60); 1:83 (I, 97-105 [perhaps]); 1:99
1-4, 27-31, 107-15; II, 1-7, 15-16, 47-50, 89-92; IV, 250-54); 1:102 (I, 130-32); I
(I, 2-13, 48-51, I32-34; and, perhaps, II, I43-46, I6o-68, I96-98). The "Seven Last Wo
Introduction (mm. 39, 50-5I); Sonata I (mm. 21-22, 25-27, 30-31, 39-40, 89-
99-102); Sonata II (mm. 1-18, 21-36, 81-96); Sonata III (mm. 72-75, 92-96); Sona
(mm. 42-44, 52-53). Lo Speziale, No. 20; perhaps also Le Pescatrici, No. 43 (mm. 7
La Fedelth premiata, No. 24 (mrm. 6 3 3-45), No. 43 (mm. 178 fft); Orlando Paladino, N
Armida, overture (mm. 39-42, 84-87, 1 27, 39-42). (This list is based exclusively on the
in JHW. Other editions, including Landon's miniature-score edition of the symphonies, ar
sufficiently reliable for this purpose.)
69 These assertions are restricted to explicitly designated double-bass parts; i.e., those l
in fn. 6 8. These are but a small minority of the passages in which the bass splits in two. In al
these, the upper part is labeled (or can be assumed to be for) "Violoncello," but the lower
usually bears no designation or, once in a while, reads "Basso." These lower parts cann
assumed to be for double bass(es) alone; indeed, Haydn may have intended them for an
cello and double bass. (It would exceed the bounds of this study to document this assertion
a separate treatment is sorely needed. Cf. also the remarks on Hob. 11:24 on p. 434.)
In fact, however, these lower bass parts almost always observe the boundary F. I know
only two exceptions: one is in the minuet of Symphony No. i oo (the "Military" Symphony
46), where the "Bassi" strike low D. But the authentic Elssler parts rewrite this passage (h
labeled for the double bass, of course) so as to avoid any pitch lower than d (JHW, Ser. I,
I7, Critical Report, p. 47). Thus, the part may have been intended for double basses
Haydn making a "slip of the pen" in this bar (cf. fn. 78). The other case, the second mov
of Symphony No. 103 (the "Drum Roll" Symphony, m. 146), includes a low C. At
beginning of the movement, Haydn writes separate indications for "Violoncelli" and "
example had to be named, it would be the bass melody that open

introduction to the "Drum Roll" Symphony. By the same token, with
one possible exception, Mozart's double-bass parts in the last six symphoni
and in the overtures to Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberfl
and La Clemenza di Tito observe the boundary F.70
One finds the same pattern in the music of other masters. In a Ditters
serenade for two horns and strings, the "Violone" part never once goes be
G; in a concerto for double bass, the lowest pitch is A. An Albrechtsbe
divertimento for viola, cello, and double bass observes the F bounda
throughout. In three works of Sperger-a flute quartet; a cassation for
*horns, viola, and double bass; and a rondo for flute, two horns, and strin
the collective double-bass boundary is Fg. Finally, in Mozart's "Per qu
bella mano" the limit is G.7 Together with Haydn's concertante parts n
above, this modest but varied repertory supports the hypothesis that Vien
double-bass parts ought not to dip below F.
Problematic double-bass parts. If every double-bass part in this reperto

behaved as nicely as these, the lower boundary of the tessitura would offe
a nearly foolproof method of determining the scoring of chamber-music
parts marked "Basso." Unfortunately, in some double-bass parts an occasion
pitch lower than F occurs. Two aspects of these passages, however, suggest t
our principle may still hold. (i) Many of these pitches occur in contex
which the notation is explicitly or implicitly col cello (or col fagotto)
trabassi," but he supplies no separate musical parts. Hence it remains conjectural wheth
mm. 135-46 Haydn intended a division of cellos and double basses, or, rather, one bet
cello (on the one hand) and cello and double bass (on the other). There is no indication o
scoring here or in any of the later split bass parts in this movement. Or, Haydn may have
another slip of the pen like the one in the "Military" Symphony; in this case, all the lower
"intend" to observe the boundary F, and scoring for double basses alone seems indicate
For the period through 1774, at least, Gerlach's conclusion ("Haydns Orchestermusik
p. 47) that the normal bass scoring in Haydn's orchestra was one cello, one double bass, and
bassoon implies that when the bass part splits in two, the cello (and bassoon?) take the up
part, the double bass the lower part. This interpretation agrees exactly with Haydn's state
in the famous letter of 1768 accompanying the cantata Applausus that his preferred bass sc
was one cello, one double bass, and one bassoon (cf. Webster, "Viennese Chamber Music
237-38).
70 The exception occurs in the first movement of Symphony No. 41 K. 55I (m. 125). Since
it is merely a single pitch, one must take into account the same possibilities discussed in
connection with Haydn's "exceptional cases" (cf. fn. 69): the lower part may imply celli and
double basses, or Mozart may have made a slip of the pen. (It was presumably on the basis of
this pitch than Hans Engel ["Mozarts Instrumentation," Mozart-Jahrbuch, 1956, p. 551
stated that the limit of Mozart's double-bass tessitura is Eb. Since Engel provides no justification
for this assertion, it cannot be accepted without critical scrutiny.)
71 DITTERSDORF: the serenade is Krebs, Dittersdorfiana, No. 128, pr. in DTO, Jg. XLIII/2
(Bd. 8i); the concerto is Krebs, No. 171, mod. ed. by Franz Ortner (Mainz, 1967). AL-
BRECHTSBERGER: Somfai, "Albrechtsberger-Eigenschriften," IV (1963), No. 58; mod. ed. in
Diletto Musicale, No. 408 (Vienna, i974). SPERGER: Meier, Kontrabass in der Klassik, p. 5o;
mod. eds. in Diletto Musicale, Nos. 480, 375, 371, respectively (Vienna, 1970-72). MOZART:
see above, fn. 38.
When they are not col cello, most of these pitches are conventional afterbea
at cadences, a context that suggests they may have been written without rega
for the compass of the instrument.
Many pitches for double bass lower than F are doublings of "primary
cello or bassoon parts (analogous to the familiar shorthand notations c
violino primo in a second violin part and col basso in a viola part). In th
baryton octets, for example, where the two bass parts are often doubled at th
(notated) unison, Haydn frequently writes merely a single part, sometimes i
the cello staff, at other times in the double-bass staff. The fact that modern
scores may present this part separately (i.e., with identical pitches in bo
instruments), hardly constitutes evidence that Haydn intended his doub
basses to play low C, no more than if we were to encounter the sam
procedure in an orchestral bass part.72 Even if the bass part should appe
notated in unison in both staves within an autograph-as might have o
curred in the Lyre Notturno Hob. II:28-it hardly implies that the dou
bass actually performed the pitches below F.73 Further indirect evidence for
this position is the familiar registral distinction between the two instrumen
found elsewhere in the same piece: the cello plays the octaves C-c (I, 48-5
the registers are at times distinct (I, 145); the cello maintains a low C under
the opening theme of the second movement; and we encounter divergences i
"favor" of the cello in other passages of the same movement (mm. 3 8, 44-46
55-58)."7 Finally, these low pitches for double bass almost always occur
unison or in octaves with the cello, almost never as an independent part in t
sense of a pitch class. But when the cello uses this register, it is almost alwa
independent from the double bass.
Other double-bass parts of this kind include Mozart's Serenade for
Thirteen Winds K. 3 61 and Eine kleine Nachtmusik. Every problematic pitch
for double bass in the former work doubles one or both bassoons. Even when
Mozart writes the part in the double-bass staff with the notation "col B [ass
in the bassoon(s), rather than the other way round, the one part is dependen
on the other. Hence, these passages also say nothing about the compass of th
double bass. In Eine kleine Nachtmusik, the bass part functions just like
orchestral bass part; the few low pitches are merely notated loco for the cel
The same interpretation applies to a Holzbauer quartet which, in a mode
score, calls for a double bass: the critical report cites parts for both cello an
72 See the Lyre Notturno Hob. 11:32 (III, 32, 48, 103-12), mod. ed., JHW, Ser. VI
(observe brackets in the double-bass part, mm. 13 and 144, and the explanation, p. [x]). See a
Hob. II:27 (I, 127-29, 140; III, 94, 96). On Haydn's notational practice in these situation
cf. JHW, Ser. XIII, Critical Report, p. 19 and fn. yI.
73 See Hob. 11:28 (I, 7 1-75, 152-60; III, I22-23). In fact, however, the autograph to t
work is lost, and the only extant sources are inauthentic and may misrepresent Haydn
intentions.
7" The same principle applies to the frequent passages of this kind in the baryton octets. Se
JHW, Ser. XIII: Hob. X:2 (III, 16, 70 [cf. 67-69!]); X:5 (I, 24; II, 116; III, 4, etc.); X:3 (II
8, 40; III, 94, 102); X:4 (III, 8, etc.); X:12 (III, 59).
double bass in the original source. The numerous low C's, therefore, mere
reflect the cello's presence."
These passages threaten our principal hypothesis less seriously than
small number of others in which an independent double-bass part rang
below F. A few occur in Haydn's baryton octets.7" In Hob. X:2 (I, 9
following a half cadence on A, the double bass drops to D while the cello rise
to d; the parts then reunite on a. But here the parts are still doubled in the
sense of pitch class. The same is true of the afterbeat in the double-bass part
Hob. X:4 (II, 17): both parts resolve the dissonant eb to d, but it is the double
bass that is asked to supply the lower octave. Even the threefold D for doub
bass at the beginning of Hob. X:i--once in the first measure in unison wi
the cello and twice in the next system-is merely a registral doubling on
shared pitch class. Passages like these imply that Haydn thought of the cello
and double bass together as "the bass part," a single entity projected by two
instruments of which the tessiture were different and which were often
differentiated in register. Once in a great while, the component of the bass that
"belongs" in the cello might find its way into the double-bass staff (and vice
versa). As we have already seen, passages like these are much less common
and carry far less compositional weight than those in which the cello uses this
register." Hence the hypothesis that these pitches for double bass are "acci-
dental" remains plausible.
This leaves only two truly independent double-bass pitches in the baryton
octets: Hob. X:3 (III, 26) and X:4 (I, 24). But both of these are mere
afterbeat formulas. Under such routine circumstances, might not even the pen
of a Haydn or a Mozart have followed habitual patterns sooner than conscious
calculation could recall that these pitches exceeded the tessitura of the double
bass? This hypothesis is not merely frivolous: it finds persuasive support in an
alteration made in Artaria's authentic print of the baryton octets, the effect of
which is to remove the offending low pitch in the first of these two passages.78
7 For the Serenade K. 361, consult W. A. Mozarts Simtliche Werke, Ser. 9, Abt. I, esp.
PP. 400, 401, 403, 408, 419, 420, 423, 440. (The autograph, owned by the Library of
Congress, was prepared for facsimile publication by my colleague, Neal Zaslaw, who had the
kindness to allow me to consult his photographs; publication of the edition has been delayed.)
Further on Eine kleine Nachtmusik, see NMA, Ser. IV, Werkgrp. i2, Bd. 6, p. ix, elaborating
on Bar, "Basso," p. 152. For the Holzbauer quartet, see Das Erbe deutscher Musik, Bd. 24, p.
1' 3, No. 6. Although the title page is quoted as " ... Viola (Cello ad lib.) / e / Contra Basso,"
the accompanying remarks establish that cello and double bass, not cello and viola, belong
together.
78 The five passages to be cited here appear in JHW, Ser. XIII, pp. 43, I20, 13 , 103, and
I io, respectively.
77 E.g., Hob. X:2 (I, 94-97); X:5 (I, 25-26); X:3 (II, 24-25)-to cite the same works. It
is noteworthy that in the baryton octets from the year 1775 the cello is primarily a melodic
instrument in tenor range, while in the lyre notturni (1788-90), Haydn employs it much more
in the lowest octave and with the function of a bass instrument.
78 See JHW, Ser. XIII, Critical Report, p. 21 and fn. 60. We encounter here essentially the
same situation described earlier in connection with the "Military" Symphony; see above, fn.
69.
Another problematic pitch is found in the Divertimento Hob. II:24."7 In

the third variation, which features a concertante cello solo, Haydn first
marked the bass part "Basso," but then he crossed out this word and
substituted "Violone." To complicate matters further, in measures I9-24 he
notated a separate "Fagotto" part in the same staff. None of this would disturb
us, were it not for a low Eb in the functional bass part (m. 22). Judging by
Haydn's placement of "Fagotto" above the staff in measure 19, this lower
part seems to imply the double bass. On the other hand, the character of the
melodic bass part in the same measures, accompanying the cello melody in
thirds, seems more suited to the double bass than the bassoon. And by
accepting this interpretation, we solve the problem of the low Eb: it belongs to
the bassoon. If we reject this hypothesis, we must either suppose that Haydn
notated an unplayable Eb for the double bass (analogous, perhaps, to the
errors noted above in the Baryton Octet-Hob. X:3 and in the "Military"
Symphony), or posit the presence of a second, tacitly assumed cello to "cover"
the double bass. On the other hand, the evidence of the Esterhzy documents,
which implies that Haydn's orchestral bass scoring was precisely one cello,
one double bass, and one bassoon, appears to eliminate the latter possibility.80
It would naturally be premature to conclude on the basis of the evidence
presented here that pitches beneath the normal range of the double bass in
music for that instrument by Mozart and Haydn are mere slips of the pen.
But almost all such instances are, indeed, lacking in compositional weight, and
there are very few of them that cannot be explained away on reasonable
grounds. The alternative is to conclude that, contrary to documentary and
stylistic evidence, Viennese double basses went down to C1 after all. The case
for casual error seems far more plausible, however, especially in view of the
occasional "corrections" these low pitches receive. A third hypothesis would be
that such passages always imply both cello and double bass on the bass part.
Undoubtedly, this is the correct explanation in some cases. In others, however,
such as Haydn's early string quartets, we may not be able to accept it. If, on
balance, no single solution to the complex of problems outlined in this section
has emerged, at least the nature of the difficulties, and the various possible
solutions, should now be clear.
Unknown bass scorings. Despite the difficulties alluded to above, many

bass parts whose scoring hides behind the vague term "Basso" can be con-
fidently assigned to one or another category. Generally, when the evidence
points clearly in a given direction, it is solo cello that is implied. In Haydn's
Baryton Quintet Hob. X:i o, for example, the many prominent low D's imply
the cello: the opening pitch, repeated in measure 2 and leading to imitation
with the viola; the repeated tonic pedal which opens the second movement,
79 See JHW, Ser. VIII (in preparation).

80 Cf. fn. 69, last paragraph.
and which returns as the goal of the final cadences; and the constant reitera-
tion of D in the minuet.
A better-known repertory with baryton, however, is that of the 126

baryton trios, in which the bass part in every authentic source reads simply
"Basso." Perhaps because the baryton itself has always been the center of
attention in studies of this repertory, the bass scoring of these works has, until
recently, excited little comment. Unverricht has hypothesized, on the basis of
part-crossing in the bass parts, that the baryton trios may call for double
bass.8' But they are quite clearly scored for solo cello. If we make the
simplifying assumption that all the baryton trios, which stem from the brief
period ca. 1765 - ca. 1774, are for the same scoring, we need merely sample
the earliest and latest works presently available in the new Haydn edition.82
Among the works of the earlier group, both of the first two movements which
can use low C as a structural pitch do so.83 Because the limitations of the
baryton led Haydn to favor the sharp keys G, D, and A, the lower boundary is
more often low D.84 None of the pieces avoids pitches under F.85 But
movements featuring prominent and significant low pitches are more com-
mon.86 Since we may presume that in these works of intimate texture, where
the baryton is already difficult enough to hear, there would have been no
doublings of the bass, these passages effectively settle the problem of the bass
scoring: it must call for solo cello. The comparable passages from the later
works differ only in appearing more idiomatic and more "consciously"
imagined."8
The bass parts in the string quartets Op. 9, whose authentic sources also
merely read "Basso," imply the cello just as clearly. In four of the six works,
the lowest pitch is C; in No. 5 in Bb it is D; and in No. 6 in A, presumably in
part because of the tonality, it is E. The appearances of low C bear obvious
significance: in the first movement of Quartet No. I in C, for example, this
pitch occurs in conjunction with the introduction of new material (m. 7), with
thematic, mobile figures (mm. 57-58), and at the final cadences; and it recurs
at the beginning of the minuet, in measures 55-57 of the slow movement, and
at measures 13 8-42 of the finale. Other examples include the first movement
81 Unverricht, Streichtrio, pp. 186-87; cf. Meier, Kontrabass in der Klassik, p. 49, fn. 7. As
we have seen, the presence of part-crossing in the bass does not constitute adequate evidence for
the use of double bass; see above, fn. 6o.
82]HW, Ser. XIV, Bd. 2 and 5.
83 Hob. XI:25 (II, trio) and XI:26 (II, 4, 60, 72)-the latter, admittedly, afterbeats.
84 See, for example, Hob. XI:27 (I, 54; II, io-i6, 54-60, 92-96, ioI; III, 33-40).
85Hob. XI:29 comes closest with only two notes below G#: two E's (1, 8; II, io).
86 See Hob. XI:32 (I, 21-22); XI:33 (1, 59-6I); XI:35 (III, 38-40); XI:36 (1, I-6);
XI:42 (I, I); XI:45 (II, 25-28); XI:47 (I, 44-45, 52-53; III, 1-8).
87 Hob. XI:97 (V, i-8; VII, 86-90); XI:ioo (1, 4, 15-26); XI:ioI (III, 104); XI:Io2 (II,
20-21, 31-34); XI:ioS (I, 77-79); XI:io8 (III, 6o-the triple stop G-d-b); XI:Io9 (III,
trio); XI:1io (1, 1-2); XI:III (1, Var. 3); XI:II7 (1, 8-9, 31-36; II, 20); XI:II8 (I, 7-10;
III, 21 [triple stop D-A-d], 80-85); XI:121 (1, 27); XI:I22 (III, 30); XI:I25 (I, 36-42);
XI:I26 (I, 62-64; II, 25-28).
of Quartet No. 3 in Eb (m. 67) and the first movement of No. 4 in D minor
(mm. i6 and 54). A similar emphasis on low C can be found in the three lyre
notturni Haydn did not later arrange for cello and double bass (Hob. 11:25,
26, and 29) and whose sources read merely "Basso": they, too, are for cello.
In Haydn's ten early string quartets, the bass parts are quite different in
profile from those of the quartets Op. 9. Although active motivically and
occasionally brought into thematische Arbeit, on the whole they are restricted
to harmonic support. In a very few movements do we encounter low C, and
hardly ever in any context other than the familiar cadential afterbeat. On the
other hand, each quartet touches at least one pitch lower than F, and indeed
Eb is an integral part of the tessitura. These features speak strongly against
scoring for solo double bass. Taken together, they might suggest that cello and
double bass were doubled on the part. Against the latter hypothesis, however,
speaks not only the anecdotal evidence surrounding these quartets, but also a
few passages, of which the subdued or intimate quality would seem to demand
solo cello.88
The other ensemble divertimenti from Haydn's pre-Esterhazy years89
have a bass profile resembling that of the early quartets. On the whole, their
character seems compatible with the use of solo double bass, but enough
sensitive low pitches appear to exclude this possibility. This is true even in
Hob. II:I and I I, scored for flute, oboe, violin, viola, cello, and "Basso," for a
sufficient number of passages within these works suggest that these "Basso"
parts cannot be for solo double bass.90 In this repertory, however, the possi-
bility of performing the bass with cello and double bass may seem more
attractive than in the early string quartets, especially in the works for large
mixed ensembles.91
We also find strong evidence for the use of the cello in the music of other
composers. Selected examples include a seven-part divertimento by P. Stefan
Paluselli (I748-i8o5), three quintets by Holzbauer, the bass part of a
concertante double-bass quartet of Hoffmeister, three quintets by Myslivetek,
and two quite interesting quartets, apparently modeled on Haydn's Op. 9 or
Op. 17, by Joseph Starzer (i726?-87).92 Similarly, a number of chamber
88 See the very opening of the slow movement of Op. 2, No. I in A, as well as mm. 35-38
and the pianissimo final cadence; also, in Op. 2, No. 2 in E, the "pulsing" sixteenth-note idea at
the end of the slow movement; and-most impressive among these passages-in Op. 2, No. 4
in F, the "mysterious" neighbor-note figure, C-Db-C, in mm. 79-81.
89Hob. 11:1, 2, 8, 9, II, 17, 20-22, D21, GI.
90 See Hob. 11:1 (II, 79, 112; IV, 8, I2); 11:1 I (1, last two bars; II, 24, 32; III, 4, 6; IV, 4,
I6). Current modern editions of these two works should be corrected to suggest the use of solo
cello instead of solo double bass.
91 Works for large mixed ensemble include Hob. 11:9, 17, 20o, and GI. The early quartets
are now available in reliable texts in JHW, Ser. XII, Bd. I; the ensemble divertimenti will
appear shortly in Ser. VIII.
92 PALUSELLI: DTO, Vol. 86, p. 70/brace 2; 72/1-3; 76/2. HOLZBAUER: Das Erbe
deutscher Musik, Bd. 24, p. I 13, Nos. 3-5; in the score of No. 3, see esp. (I, 5, 16; II, 19, 86,
works by Albrechtsberger imply the use of the cello, including a partita

harp, violin, viola, two horns, and "Basso"' (1772); two oboe quartets f
the mid-i77os; the Trio Op. 4, No. 3 (1784) and hence presumably the e
opus; the quartets Op. 7, Nos. i-3 (1787) and hence presumably the e
opus; and a quartet dated I790.93
It is difficult, on the other hand, to find clear evidence for the use of
double bass, except for those works cited above where it is specified.
relatively straightforward example is a "Partita" by Matthaius Schloge
1722-66), whose bass part never dips below F."9 But the work m
orchestral; and the majority of the bass parts in both Haydn's and Mo
early symphonies do not exceed the boundary F either. (In Salzburg, M
and Michael Haydn wrote numerous works for solo double bass.)"9 Am
Haydn's ensemble divertimenti, the least unpromising case for the use of
double bass can be found in two of the four mixed works a 9: Hob. 11:
20. In both works, only an occasional afterbeat strays below F. But the ba
in their companion works (Hob. II:I 7 and G I) clearly imply the use of
(perhaps doubling the double bass), and so we must assume its presence in
four compositions.96
CONCLUSIONS
The solo cello seems to have been the bass instrument used principally
Viennese chamber music, especially in string quartets and allied genres, at
Hofkapelle, and in less formal music for the nobility, such as the baryton t
for Esterhizy. In mixed ensembles and in works that appear to be orchest
style-and perhaps also in more casual, serenade-like music for strin
alone-the bass part may have been intended for both cello and double
Even during its flowering in the I760s and early I770s, the double bass see
to have been used but sparingly in this capacity, compared to its frequent
as a concertante instrument. It flourished principally in provincial courts
II9-24). HOFFMEISTER: ed. Horst Buttner (Leipzig, I969). MYSLIVE?EK: Musica An

Bohemica, No. 31 (Prague, n.d.), No. I (II, ioy); No. 3 (II, 7'). STARZER: DT(O, Jg.
(Bd. 31) (Vienna, 1908), p. 9y/brace 3; 97/I, 2, 4; 98/4; 99/1; 100/3, 5; 1to/I; 1
missing?]; 111/4; 113/5; 1i4/5- 11/3.
93 The harp quintet is pr. in Musica Rinata, No. 17 (Budapest, I970). The oboe quar
are misleadingly edited, as if they were intended for orchestra, in Concertino, No. 5999 (M
I967). The Trio Op. 4 appears in Diletro Musicale, No. 289 (Vienna, 1968); the quart
Op. 7, in DTO, Jg. XVI/2 (Bd. 33) (Vienna, I909). For a mod. ed. of the quartet dated
see Diletto Musicale, No. 201 (Vienna, 1969). Cf. Somfai, "Albrechtsberger-Eigenschrif
(1961), 20-21; 1V (1963), 47; and I (1961), 28-30, 3 1--respectively.

94 DTO, Jg. XV/2 (Bd. 31), pp. 86-93.
95 Mozart's chamber music for strings will be the subject of a separate study by the pr
writer, to appear shortly.
96 In Hob. 11:17, see particularly Minuet I, mm. 8, 32, 68; Andante I, m. 24; Minu
mm. 12, 41, 73; Andante II, m. 26. In Hob. II:GI, see (1, 8, 42); (II, '9); (IV, 12, i6,
Esterhaiz, Grosswardein, Pressburg (and Salzburg). In the later I770s and the
I780s the concertante tradition, but not the use of the bass in chamber music,
also brought the double bass to Vienna. These conclusions accord well with the
documented history of the instrument and its players.
Thus in the majority of cases, especially when prominent low pitches
occur, the correct interpretation of "Basso" in this repertory will be "solo
cello." Of the hypotheses proposed above (pp. 425 f.), we can provisionally re-
ject the one which supposed that the change from "Basso" to "Violoncello" in
the sources was correlated with a change of scoring from double bass (or from
continuo) to cello. The other hypotheses-that "Basso" always meant (or
could mean) the cello; and that in the I75os and I760s numerous different
scorings existed, the cello gradually assuming sole prominence in the I770s
and I78os-both seem substantiated. But the emphasis always lay on the
cello.
We have been able to suggest the precise scoring of many works from this
repertory for which no determination, or in some cases a false guess, had
previously been made. Although not infallible, the lower boundary of the
tessitura seems a better criterion for deciding these cases than many which
have been used until now. Especially when employed in conjunction with the
detailed historical, documentary, and organological evidence now available,
this criterion helps us obtain a more accurate picture of early Classical
chamber music in and around Vienna than was available heretofore.
This survey deals only with clear-cut cases, concentrating principally on

the works of Joseph Haydn. Every one of the thousands of ensemble works
from this repertory must, someday, be queried with respect to its scoring. As in
every aspect of the early Classical period, chronology remains a vexing
problem: we still have no idea, to take the obvious example, of the date or the
author of the first string quartets. Like every other stylistic feature, Austrian
bass parts must be compared to those from other repertories before we can
presume to understand the history of Classical style as a whole. We still go
wrong in our interpretations of many repertories-not the least among them
early Classical Austrian music-merely because the music does not behave
like the "Classical" masterpieces of Mozart's and Haydn's mature style. So
long as these fundamental tasks remain unfinished, our writing about Classical
style will continue to be hampered by bias and ignorance.97
Cornell University
97 Readers may be interested in comparing the present study with Stephen Bonta's
brilliant investigations of the same complex of problems in seventeenth-century Italy, to appear
in "Further Thoughts on the History of Strings?" Journal of the Catgut Acoustical Society,
No. 26 (November, 1976); and "From Violone to Violoncello: A Question of Strings?"
Journal of the American Music Instrument Society, CXI (1977).

James Webster - Violoncello and Double Bass in The Chamber Music of Haydn

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Violoncello and Double Bass in the Chamber Music of Haydn and His Viennese

American Musicological Society, University of California Press are collaborating with

T HE FIVE PRINCIPAL GENRES of early Classical Austrian chamber music, ex-

The instruments and their nomenclature. The cello originated in the

Eine secbste Gattung, namlich die A sixth type, the bassoon-violin,

Die neunte Art ist die Gamba ....

7 Boyden, Violin Playing, pp. 1i5-17, 324.

Germany and Austria. The names "Bassetto" (etc.) for "violoncello"

usage can be documented in musical practice and journalistic accounts else-

This consistent and widespread testimony establishes "Bassetl" and its

regular division of the string basses in the "London" symphonies.20 Since

Johann Dietzl, appointed in 1775, was a virtuoso double bassist, as

The five-string double bass as a soloistic instrument. The Esterh~izy

3 Passetl A I Violon fis

Two similar requisitions dated 1764 read:

... zur Cammer Music gelieferten Saiten .

Compare the following from 1780:

... iibersponnene Violon A ...24

These and dozens of similar documents establish that, as we shou

24 Valk6, "Haydn maggarorszaigi miikSdese," VI (1957), P. 636, No. 7; pp. 6

Among the makers of these five-string double basses were J. J. Sta

Given this extensive and consistent documentation, Landon's sweeping

ticus (Erfurt, 1734); the other appeared in the Allgemeine musikalis

32 Planyavsky, Kontrabass, pp. io8, 212.

" Webster, "Viennese Chamber Music," pp. 240-41.

17, from 1771 ." But it would be premature, of course, to conclude on

Insufficiency of the documentary evidence for interpreting "Basso." Let us

STYLISTIC EVIDENCE FOR THE SCORING OF THE BASS

Traditional criteria. The essential stylistic development with respect to

51 Ibid., pp. 227, 229, 247; Bir, "Basso," p. i53.

uration, participation in thematische Arbeit, and the alleged registral "gap"

Double-bass parts with lower boundaries at notated F. If the distinction

Of course, only solo double-bass parts can be reliably located by

example had to be named, it would be the bass melody that open

Problematic double-bass parts. If every double-bass part in this reperto

Another problematic pitch is found in the Divertimento Hob. II:24."7 In

Unknown bass scorings. Despite the difficulties alluded to above, many

79 See JHW, Ser. VIII (in preparation).

A better-known repertory with baryton, however, is that of the 126

works by Albrechtsberger imply the use of the cello, including a partita

II9-24). HOFFMEISTER: ed. Horst Buttner (Leipzig, I969). MYSLIVE?EK: Musica An

(1961), 20-21; 1V (1963), 47; and I (1961), 28-30, 3 1--respectively.

This survey deals only with clear-cut cases, concentrating principally on

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