Viloncello and Bas

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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-

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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 obbligato 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 violin family in this range, the double bass found a place in the orchestra (otherwise a violin-family ensemble) as reinforcement of the ordinary basses-the cellos-at the lower octave. For this reason, it did not die out with the other viols in the middle and late Baroque. On the other hand, its great size and 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 after discussing the various violins, Mozart continues as follows:"

Eine f!infte Art sind die Altgeigen: welche von dem italianischen Viola di Braccio, auch Violen heissen; am ge- meinsten aber (von Braccio) die Brat- schen genennet werden. Man spielet damit sowohl den Alt als den Tenor, auch zur Noth, zu einer hohen Ober- stimme den BaB[.] {Ich hatte oft die Gelegenheit iiber Violoncellisten zu lachen, die den BaB zu ihrem Solo so gar mit einer Violin accompagnieren liessen, wenn gleich ein Violoncell noch zugegen war.} dazu man doch sonst

A fifth type [of stringed instrument] is the alto-violin, also called the viola, from the Italian viola da braccio, but which is most commonly called Bratsche (from braccio). Both alto and tenor parts are played on it; and, when necessary, the bass to high melodic parts. {I have often had to laugh at cellists who employed a violin as the bass to their solos, even when another cellist was available.} Normally, however, these high basses are played by

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 Fagotgeige brauchet; welche der Grasse und Beseytung nach von der Bratsche in etwas unterschieden ist. Einige nennen es auch das Handbafel; doch ist das Hand- baBel noch etwas gra*sser als die Fagot- geige. Man pflegt also... den BaB damit zu spielen: allein nur zu Violinen, Zwerchflauten, und andern hohen Oberstimmen; sonst wiirde der Grund die Oberstimme iiberschreiten, und, we- gen den wieder die Regel laufenden Auf- lISsungen, gar oft eine widrige Harmonie hervorbringen. Diese Ueberschreitung der Oberstimme mit der Unterstimme ist in der musikalichen Setzkunst bey Halb- componisten ein ganz gemeiner Fehler.

Die siebente Art heif3t das Bassel oder Bassette, welches man, nach dem italianischen Violoncello, das Violoncell nennet. Vor Zeiten hatte es 5. Seyten; itzt geigt man es nur mit vieren. Es ist das gemeinste Instrument den BaB damit zu spielen: und obwohl es einige etwas grS- ssere, andere etwas kleinere giebt; so sind sie doch nur der Beseytung nach, folglich nur in der Stark des Klanges, ein wenig von einander unterschieden.

Der groPe Ba3 {(il contra Basso) der auch gemeiniglich der Violon genennet wird,} oder Violon von dem italiinischen Violone ist die achte Gattung der Geig- instrumente. Dieser Violon wird eben- falls von verschiedener GrSsse verfertiget: allein es bleibt allezeit die namliche Stimmung; nur daB man bey der Besey- tung den n-thigen Unterschied beobach- tet. Weil der Violon viel gra-sser als das Violoncell ist; so ist auch dessen Stim- mung um eine ganze Oktav tiefer. Er wird am gewaihnlichsten mit 4, {und auch nur mit 3,} der grassere aber mit 5. Seyten bezogen. {Bey diesem mit 5. Sey- ten bespannten Violon sind an dem Hals durch alle Intervallen Bande von etwas dicken Seyten angebracht; welches das Ausfliegen der Seyten auf dem Griff- brette hindert, und folglich der Klang dadurch gebessert wird. Man kann auch auf einem solchen Basse die schweren

A sixth type, the bassoon-violin, whose size and use are somewhat differ- erit from those of the viola. Some call it the arm bass, but the latter is actually somewhat larger than the bassoon-violin. This instrument is used as a bass, but only to violins, Zwerchflauten, and other high melody instruments; otherwise the bass would cross the melody, and the forbidden resolutions [of dissonances] would often create an illegal chord. This crossing of the melody by the bass is a common mistake of inexperienced composers.

The seventh type is called the Bassel or Bassette, which also goes under the name Violoncell, from the Italian violoncello. Earlier, it had five strings, but now- adays it is played with only four. It is the most common bass instrument; and although there are larger and smaller models, they differ somewhat only in their stringing, and so in their strength of tone.

The double bass, or Violon from the Italian violone {the contrabass, which is commonly called the Violon} is the eighth type of stringed instrument. This double bass is also made in different sizes; nevertheless, all have the same tuning, the only differences being in the stringing. Because the double bass is much larger than the cello, it is tuned a full octave lower. It is most commonly strung with four strings, {occasionally with only three,} the largest, however, with five. {In this five-string double bass, one places frets of thick string on the neck at regular intervals, which prevent the strings from touching the fingerboard, and so improve the tone. On this bass it is possible to make difficult passages stand out more clearly, and I have heard concertos, trios, solos, etc., played uncommonly beautifully on it. But I have also noticed that in accompaniments, there is



Passagen leichter herausbringen: und ich habe Concerte, Trio, Solo sc. ungemein schon vortragen geha*rt. Doch habe ich bemerkt, daB beym Ausdruck einer Stiarke beym Accompagnieren allezeit 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- loncell in vielem unterschieden. Es hat 6, auch 7. Seyten; da das Bassel nur 4. hat. Es hat auch eine ganz andere Stimmung, einen angenehmern Ton, und dienet meistentheils zu einer Oberstimme.

a tendency to play two strings at once in loud passages, because the strings are considerably thinner and are placed closer together than in three- and four- stringed basses.}

The ninth type is the gamba. ....

The viola da gamba is quite different from the cello. It has six or seven strings, but the Bassel has only four. It also has a completely different tuning and a more pleas- ant tone and is used most often for melodic 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" appeared as early as 1687 in Daniel Speer's Grund-Richtiger Kurtz-Leicht-und Ndthiger Unterricht der musicalischen Kunst; and they persisted throughout the eighteenth century, appearing for example in Brossard (i703), Walther (1732), and Quantz ( 752).10 More significant for us is Albrechtsberger's description of the cello, written in Vienna just before 1790: his heading reads, "Das Bassetgen (Violoncello).""

Documents from Joseph Haydn's tenure at Esterhaizy demonstrate the equivalence of "Bassetl" and "Violoncello" beyond a shadow of doubt.12 The well-known cellist Anton Kraft first appears in the salary records, for example, as "Anton Kraft Bassetlista"; that is, cellist. But his signature, on another document whose text also refers to him as a "Bassetlist," reads "Anton Kraft Violoncelist."13 Cellists in this Kapelle who are designated "Bassetlist" in the documents include not only Kraft but Xavier Marteau (employed by Es- terhaizy 1771-78) and Valentin Bertoja (i 780-88).14 The famous Viennese violin maker J. J. Stadlmann, a regular supplier to the Esterhaizy Kapelle, submitted a bill itemizing delivery of a "Pasetl" and repairs to a "Pariton" [baryton]; Haydn's autograph countersignature to this document reads: "Obenstehende Zurichtung des Paritons, und Violoncello. ..." The same

1o Marx, Violoncell, pp. 66-67 and the tables on pp. [63-641. Cf. Georg Kinsky, Katalog des musikhistorischen Museums von Wilhelm Heyer in C61n, Vol. II (Cologne, 1912), pp. 570-71 and 571, fn. i. This denotative sense of "Bassetto" must be distinguished from an earlier one which meant

"high bass line"; i.e., which described a kind of part writing. "Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Gru'ndliche Anweisung zur Composition (Leipzig,

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 elsewhere: for example in Pressburg (Bratislava), where Haydn often performed.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 organological 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 simply, "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 the documents maintain the same term throughout this period, there is no evidence that the two different terms "Violone" and "Contrabasso" refer to different instruments. Similarly, in 1765, Haydn's predecessor G. J. Werner gave a precise account of the relationships among the instruments and their names. In complaining (among other things) that the instruments in the chapel at Eisenstadt had been allowed to fall into disrepair, Werner enumer- 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 D 2 detto C.... I detto grosses A....

20 Once again, Forkel uses the international term "Contrabassisten" for Dietzl and Schirin- ger (as in fn. I4). For Symphony No. 56, see Joseph Haydn: Werke, edited by the Joseph Haydn-Institut, Cologne, under the direction of Georg Feder, Ser. I, Bd. 7 (Munich-Duisberg, 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 violas, then two celli, and finally two good large double basses." For similar data from the years I721 and 1754, using the same terminology, see Harold Dreo, "Die ffirstlich Esterhaizysche Musikkapelle von ihren Anf'dngen bis zum Jahre I766," Beitrdge zur Musikgeschichte des i8. Jahrhunderts (Eisenstadt, 1971), pp. 98, IO5; Harich, "Haydn-Dokumenta," VII (1970), 54-

22 For Haydn's recommendation of Dietzl, see Harich, "Haydn-Orchester," p. 25; Haydn Briefe, pp. 435-36. Haydn's works for concertante double bass are discussed below. The possibility that no professional double bassist was available to Haydn between October I765 and March I767 (cf. Gerlach, "Haydns Orchestermusiker," p. 46) does not materially affect this argument.

23 See Efrim Fruchtman, "The Baryton: its History and its Music Re-examined," Acta 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 should expect, the Esterhizy celli were four-string models tuned in fifths from C. The first two bills quoted specify A, D, G, and C strings, in that order-and for a "Passetl" in the one case, a "Violoncello" in the other. Both also specify wound ("iibersponnene") C and G strings, in accordance with the usual practice of the time.25

Double basses in eighteenth-century Austria were usually five-string models, tuned upwards from F, (occasionally E, or G,) in a series of thirds with one perfect fourth in the middle: F, A, D F# A. This pattern is confirmed by extant instruments from the late seventeenth century to 1822 (!), and by written descriptions dating from 1677 to 1849 (!).26 We have already noted Leopold Mozart's reference to the five-string double bass in the first edition of the Violinschule (i756) and his description of its use as a solo instrument in the second edition (0769). Albrechtsberger's description of I790 is equally precise:

Der Violon, oder CantrabaB [sic], hat gewShnlich fiinf ziemlich dicke Saiten, auch von Schafdarmen, welche von unten hinauf heissen; F A d fis a [staff notation]

24 Valk6, "Haydn maggarorszaigi miikSdese," VI (1957), P. 636, No. 7; pp. 638-39, No. 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 seventeenth century (Marx, Violoncell, p. 61). Albrechtsberger testifies to late eighteenth-century Viennese practice: the C and often also the G strings were wound (Griindliche Anweisung, p. 421).

26 These assertions summarize Meier, Kontrabass in der Klassik, pp. 16-25.



Die tiefsten zwey pflegt man zu fiberspinnen. Er klingt aber um eine Octave tiefer als das Violoncello.

.... Er hat zu jedem halben Tone einen Bund auf dem Griffblatte.

... Es giebt auch einen Violon, welcher nur vier Saiten und keine Blinde hat. Dessen Stimmung aber anders lautet, nalmlich: G A D G oder F A D G. Dieser und der dreyfache sind selten mehr zu sehen.27

Among the makers of these five-string double basses were J. J. Stadlmann, M. I. Stadlmann, and Mathias Thir, all of whom provided instruments, accessories, and repair service to Esterhizy during Haydn's tenure there.28 The strings ordered for the double basses agree perfectly with the written descriptions: F#, D [ordinary], A, and three other types of a strings: "large" ones, "low" ones, and "wound" ones. The latter three terms can only refer to the lower of the two a strings on the type of double bass Albrechtsberger describes-he specifies that the lowest two strings were wound-while the ordinary a strings will have been the higher ones. This combination of double- bass strings was the norm at Esterhizy from 1760 to at least 1782.29 The converse arguments also support this position: if the modern tuning E, A1 D G had been used, e and g strings should have been supplied; and, on the other hand, only one kind of a string would have been necessary. Neither is the 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 musikalische Zeitung of Leipzig for I816.32 Neither has any relevance for Austrian music between 175o and I8oo. For this period, even D, as lowest pitch is documented only in Germany, and only on six-string basses. Systematic attempts to expand the double-bass range down to C1 did not begin until the nineteenth century.33 The Esterhizy documents never refer to any kind of c strings for the double basses, let alone "low" or "large" ones; were Landon's assumption correct, such strings should have been common. Finally, the modern claims for low C, strings in the eighteenth century derive from misunderstandings of the older terminology. In particular, these claims are animated by the belief that "Bassl" designated some kind of small double bass.34 If this were true, such instruments would have had c strings. But as we now know, "Bassl" simply meant the cello. (To be sure, the Esterhaizy documents do not cite any strings lower than "low A." This might suggest that Haydn's double bass had only four strings A, D F# A, a tuning which can be documented in the practice of Johannes Sperger [1750o-1812], the leading virtuoso on the instrument in the region during the I78os.35 And many Viennese instruments of the period went no lower than A1.36 On the other hand, Haydn's double-bass parts regularly go down to G1, and occasionally to Fl. The lack of citations for such strings in the documents thus remains an unexplained inconsistency.)

Designed expressly for soloistic performance, this Austrian five-string 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 "Farewell" Symphony (1772), and in the baryton octets Hob. X:i-6, 12 (1775).39 More- over, he wrote a lost concerto "per il Violone" or "Contra Violone" (Hob. VIIc:i) which, as it also dates from the early I76os, may well be the first double-bass concerto in history-if so, it would be one more "invention" we 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, frequently in conjunction with the normal designation "Basso," meaning simply the bass part."4 But many other works call for the cello tout court, among them: a string trio, a set of twelve sonatas for two violins and cello, sets of six quartets and quintets each, another quartet with "Violoncello concertante," 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 string trios and four oboe quartets by Gassmann; Joseph Haydn's horn trio Hob. IV:5 and lost baryton duets Hob. XII:7-I2; a lost quartet by Holzbauer; an Ordoniez quartet; a Hoffmeister viola d'amore quartet; a lute trio of Karl Kohaut (1726-82); a mixed quintet by Leopold Koieluch (1747-1812); a serenade by Pleyel for string quartet; Richter's string quartets later published as

"Op. 5"; ten trios and two cassations for string trio and two horns by Vanhal; and a sextet for four violins, viola, and cello by Wagenseil.45 And contemporary descriptions, such as those by Dittersdorf (i756), Haydn (ca. 1757), Burney (1772), Daube (1773), Petri (1782), and in the Pressburger and the Wiener Zeitung all speak explicitly or implicitly of the solo cello- 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 musicologica, 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 this basis that the cello was little used before 1770. Many works which specify it cannot be dated even approximately; and as we now know, many works 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 instrument 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 imitative 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 this method. Orchestral bass parts were notated on a single staff, labeled "Basso" or "Bassi"; these were written loco for celli (and bassoon) and notated in terms of their full range down to C. The double bassists evidently had to adjust the pitches which exceeded their lower boundary of F1. Hence, orchestral bass parts cannot be used as evidence of the double-bass range. The same consid- erations apply to soloistic music which brings cello and double bass together in a single part.63

One must begin by testing these hypotheses on bass parts unambiguously designated for either cello or double bass. The concertante double-bass solos in the trios of Haydn's Symphonies Nos. 6-8, in the variation finales of Sym- phonies Nos. 3 1 and 72, in the Adagio section of the finale of the "Farewell" Symphony, and in the fifth variation of the Divertimento Hob. II:24-all have a collective notated tessitura of G to c", with the normal range spanning, perhaps, A to g'.64 In Haydn's Symphony No. 7 ("Le Midi"), the same measure that brings the flight of fancy in the double bass to c" (Minuet, m. 52) finds the orchestral celli, which naturally constitute "the bass" in this passage, on low C. Other prominent low C's for cello occur in the second movement of Symphony No. 6 ("Le Matin," mm. 65-66), the second movement of "Le Midi" (mm. 36 and 39), and the second movement of Symphony No. 8 ("Le Soir," mm. 127-29). This "reversal" of register, with the cello notated below the double bass, is characteristic of Haydn's concertante double-bass passages. Hence it may be evidence of the scoring even when the absolute boundaries of the tessiture are not involved. For example, in the first movement of "Le Midi" (mm. 62-67), the downbeats for solo cello are consistently an octave lower than those of the other basses, reaching low D; in the parallel passage (mm. 129-34), however, where all the basses are notated in unison, the first downbeat is low F, but instead of E and D Haydn writes e and d, an octave higher. Thus both hypotheses find initial support: the aesthetic and stylistic characteristics of Haydn's concertante double-bass parts cannot easily be distinguished from those of the cello parts; but, although the celli freely exploit low C, the double bass never exceeds the boundary F (here they descend no lower than G).

By and large, Haydn's bass parts all behave the same way. In the Lyre Notturno Hob. 11:3 i, for example, the double bass never goes below F, while the cello consistently exploits low C. In the Baryton Octet Hob. X:6, the lower boundary for double bass is A; for the cello it is E. In the opening of the Lyre Notturno Hob. 11:32, the active cello part begins with arpeggios from low C

keyboard works by means of the registral limits of known instruments.) The present account is the first extensive survey of this repertory from this perspective.

63 This confusion could be responsible for the mistaken assertions that Haydn's double basses go down to C1 (see above, fn. 31).

64 For editions of these works, see above, fn. 39. Henceforth in this article, pitch names will refer, in all contexts, to notated pitch.



and double stops spanning the octave C-c (mm. I7-2 I)-this in contrast to the modest downbeats on c for the double bass, which honors G as the lower boundary.65 Still another indication of Haydn's reluctance to write low pitches for the double bass is his frequent unison writing, notated an octave lower in the cello, even when the "potential" tessiture would have permitted octaves. Such unisons appear, for example, among the imitative motivic entries in the Notturno Hob. 11:31 (I, 63-7I).66

In his first string quartets to specify the cello in the authentic sources, Op. 17, Haydn provided idiomatic use of the lowest range in full measure. The increased compositional "weight" of such low writing for cello in the sub- sequent sets, Op. 20 and Op. 3 3, confirms this picture.67 These distinctions of range also characterize the separate cello and double-bass parts of Haydn's orchestral music. In the symphonies, operas, and the "Seven Last Words," every explicit double-bass part observes the boundary F,68 while the separate cello parts routinely exploit the lowest range between F and C.69 If one

65 Hob. X:6 is pr. in JHW, Ser. XIII; the lyre notturni, in Ser. VII (the example described is on pp. 48-49). Similar passages occur in the revised version of Hob. 11:3 2 (II, 9-10, 20-23); 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 des

Streichquartetts, I, I82. On the "emancipation" of the cello and the "radical equality" of the parts in Op. 20, see Sandberger, "Haydnschen Streichquartett," rev. ed., pp. 259-61; and Tovey, "Haydn's Chamber Music," pp. 40-47. On the scoring of the early quartets, cf. fn. 48.

68 In addition to the concertante solos already discussed, these passages include the symphonies Hob. 1:24 (IV, 52-58); I:56 (I, 163-64); 1:61 (I, 10-14); 1:67 (I, 18-24, 114-16, 123-26, 134-38, 155-59, 179; 1, 73); 1:68 (IV, 56-60); 1:83 (I, 97-105 [perhaps]); 1:99 (I, 1-4, 27-31, 107-15; II, 1-7, 15-16, 47-50, 89-92; IV, 250-54); 1:102 (I, 130-32); I:Io3 (I, 2-13, 48-51, I32-34; and, perhaps, II, I43-46, I6o-68, I96-98). The "Seven Last Words": Introduction (mm. 39, 50-5I); Sonata I (mm. 21-22, 25-27, 30-31, 39-40, 89-92, 99-102); Sonata II (mm. 1-18, 21-36, 81-96); Sonata III (mm. 72-75, 92-96); Sonata VI (mm. 42-44, 52-53). Lo Speziale, No. 20; perhaps also Le Pescatrici, No. 43 (mm. 74-86); La Fedelth premiata, No. 24 (mrm. 6 3 3-45), No. 43 (mm. 178 fft); Orlando Paladino, No. 43; Armida, overture (mm. 39-42, 84-87, 1 27, 39-42). (This list is based exclusively on the texts in JHW. Other editions, including Landon's miniature-score edition of the symphonies, are not sufficiently reliable for this purpose.)

69 These assertions are restricted to explicitly designated double-bass parts; i.e., those listed in fn. 6 8. These are but a small minority of the passages in which the bass splits in two. In all of these, the upper part is labeled (or can be assumed to be for) "Violoncello," but the lower part usually bears no designation or, once in a while, reads "Basso." These lower parts cannot be assumed to be for double bass(es) alone; indeed, Haydn may have intended them for another cello and double bass. (It would exceed the bounds of this study to document this assertion here; 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 of only two exceptions: one is in the minuet of Symphony No. i oo (the "Military" Symphony, m. 46), where the "Bassi" strike low D. But the authentic Elssler parts rewrite this passage (here labeled for the double bass, of course) so as to avoid any pitch lower than d (JHW, Ser. I, Bd. I7, Critical Report, p. 47). Thus, the part may have been intended for double basses alone, Haydn making a "slip of the pen" in this bar (cf. fn. 78). The other case, the second movement of Symphony No. 103 (the "Drum Roll" Symphony, m. 146), includes a low C. At the beginning of the movement, Haydn writes separate indications for "Violoncelli" and "Con-



example had to be named, it would be the bass melody that opens the introduction to the "Drum Roll" Symphony. By the same token, with only one possible exception, Mozart's double-bass parts in the last six symphonies and in the overtures to Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflbte, and La Clemenza di Tito observe the boundary F.70

One finds the same pattern in the music of other masters. In a Dittersdorf serenade for two horns and strings, the "Violone" part never once goes below G; in a concerto for double bass, the lowest pitch is A. An Albrechtsberger divertimento for viola, cello, and double bass observes the F boundary throughout. In three works of Sperger-a flute quartet; a cassation for two *horns, viola, and double bass; and a rondo for flute, two horns, and strings- the collective double-bass boundary is Fg. Finally, in Mozart's "Per questa bella mano" the limit is G.7 Together with Haydn's concertante parts noted above, this modest but varied repertory supports the hypothesis that Viennese double-bass parts ought not to dip below F.

Problematic double-bass parts. If every double-bass part in this repertory behaved as nicely as these, the lower boundary of the tessitura would offer a nearly foolproof method of determining the scoring of chamber-music bass parts marked "Basso." Unfortunately, in some double-bass parts an occasional pitch lower than F occurs. Two aspects of these passages, however, suggest that our principle may still hold. (i) Many of these pitches occur in contexts in which the notation is explicitly or implicitly col cello (or col fagotto). (2) trabassi," but he supplies no separate musical parts. Hence it remains conjectural whether in mm. 135-46 Haydn intended a division of cellos and double basses, or, rather, one between cello (on the one hand) and cello and double bass (on the other). There is no indication of the scoring here or in any of the later split bass parts in this movement. Or, Haydn may have made another slip of the pen like the one in the "Military" Symphony; in this case, all the lower parts "intend" to observe the boundary F, and scoring for double basses alone seems indicated.

For the period through 1774, at least, Gerlach's conclusion ("Haydns Orchestermusiker," p. 47) that the normal bass scoring in Haydn's orchestra was one cello, one double bass, and one bassoon implies that when the bass part splits in two, the cello (and bassoon?) take the upper part, the double bass the lower part. This interpretation agrees exactly with Haydn's statement in the famous letter of 1768 accompanying the cantata Applausus that his preferred bass scoring was one cello, one double bass, and one bassoon (cf. Webster, "Viennese Chamber Music," pp. 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 afterbeats at cadences, a context that suggests they may have been written without regard 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 col violino primo in a second violin part and col basso in a viola part). In the baryton octets, for example, where the two bass parts are often doubled at the (notated) unison, Haydn frequently writes merely a single part, sometimes in 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 both instruments), hardly constitutes evidence that Haydn intended his double basses to play low C, no more than if we were to encounter the same procedure in an orchestral bass part.72 Even if the bass part should appear notated in unison in both staves within an autograph-as might have oc- curred in the Lyre Notturno Hob. II:28-it hardly implies that the double bass actually performed the pitches below F.73 Further indirect evidence for this position is the familiar registral distinction between the two instruments found elsewhere in the same piece: the cello plays the octaves C-c (I, 48-50); 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 in "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 in unison or in octaves with the cello, almost never as an independent part in the sense of a pitch class. But when the cello uses this register, it is almost always 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 [asso]" in the bassoon(s), rather than the other way round, the one part is dependent on the other. Hence, these passages also say nothing about the compass of the double bass. In Eine kleine Nachtmusik, the bass part functions just like an orchestral bass part; the few low pitches are merely notated loco for the cello. The same interpretation applies to a Holzbauer quartet which, in a modern score, calls for a double bass: the critical report cites parts for both cello and

72 See the Lyre Notturno Hob. 11:32 (III, 32, 48, 103-12), mod. ed., JHW, Ser. VII; (observe brackets in the double-bass part, mm. 13 and 144, and the explanation, p. [x]). See also Hob. II:27 (I, 127-29, 140; III, 94, 96). On Haydn's notational practice in these situations, 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 this work is lost, and the only extant sources are inauthentic and may misrepresent Haydn's intentions.

7" The same principle applies to the frequent passages of this kind in the baryton octets. See 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, merely reflect the cello's presence."

These passages threaten our principal hypothesis less seriously than a small number of others in which an independent double-bass part ranges below F. A few occur in Haydn's baryton octets.7" In Hob. X:2 (I, 90), following a half cadence on A, the double bass drops to D while the cello rises 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 in 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 double bass at the beginning of Hob. X:i--once in the first measure in unison with the cello and twice in the next system-is merely a registral doubling on a 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 common.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 possibility 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 for harp, violin, viola, two horns, and "Basso"' (1772); two oboe quartets from the mid-i77os; the Trio Op. 4, No. 3 (1784) and hence presumably the entire opus; the quartets Op. 7, Nos. i-3 (1787) and hence presumably the entire opus; and a quartet dated I790.93

It is difficult, on the other hand, to find clear evidence for the use of solo double bass, except for those works cited above where it is specified. One relatively straightforward example is a "Partita" by Matthaius Schloger (ca. 1722-66), whose bass part never dips below F."9 But the work may be orchestral; and the majority of the bass parts in both Haydn's and Mozart's early symphonies do not exceed the boundary F either. (In Salzburg, Mozart and Michael Haydn wrote numerous works for solo double bass.)"9 Among Haydn's ensemble divertimenti, the least unpromising case for the use of the double bass can be found in two of the four mixed works a 9: Hob. 11:9 and 20. In both works, only an occasional afterbeat strays below F. But the b