Viloncello and Bas

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. 413438
Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the American Musicological Society
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Violoncello and Double Bass in the

Chamber Music of Haydn and his
Viennese Contemporaries,1750-I780
By JAMES WEBSTER
HE FIVE PRINCIPAL GENRES
Austrian chamber music, ex-
of early Classical
T clusive of scoringswith 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 cassationfor stringsor 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.2The present study discusses
the use of cello and double bass as bass instrumentsin early Classicalchamber
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
JamesWebster,"Towardsa Historyof VienneseChamberMusic in the EarlyClassical
Period," this
JOURNAL,
XXVII (1974), 212-47.
To the evidence against the use of the
continuoin Haydn'schambermusicgiven there(pp. 243-46) may be addednew arguments

against the use of the continuoin Haydn's orchestralmusic. See Sonia Gerlach,"Haydns
Orchestermusiker von 1761 bis i774," Haydn-Studien, IV/I (1976), 35-48.

2 Webster,
op. cit.,pp. 236-42; cf.CarlBar,"ZumBegriffdes 'Basso'in MozartsSerenaden,"
Mozart-Jahrbuch, 1960-6 i, pp. 13 3-55.
' David D.
Boyden,The History of ViolinPlayingfrom its Originsto I 761 (New York,
1965), PP. 6-16; Klaus Marx, Die Entwicklungdes Violoncellsund seinerSpieltechnikhis
1963), PP. 10-22, 43-6i, I75-82; WilliamS. Newman,

(Regensburg,
]. L. Duport (I520-1820)
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 AMERICANMUSICOLOGICALSOCIETY
memberof the viol family.4Becausetherewas no instrument

in the violin
in
this
the
double
bass
found
in
the
a
orchestra
(otherwise
range,
family
place
a violin-family
of the ordinarybasses-thecelensemble)as reinforcement
los-at theloweroctave.Forthisreason,it didnotdieoutwiththeotherviols
in the middleand late Baroque.On the otherhand,its greatsize and
status-was it a viol or a violin?-subjectedit to
ambiguous
organological
wide
variations
in
size,numberof strings,
unusually
tuning,playingtechnique,
and modeof musicalemployment.
We mustbeginour studyof eighteenth-century
Viennesestringedbass
instruments
theinconsistent
Wecan
andvariable
nomenclature.5
byclarifying
do
than
better
to
with
Mozart.
After
hardly
begin
establishing
Leopold
to "stringed
and after
instrument,"
"Geige"as the generictermequivalent
the
various
Mozart
follows:"
as
continues
violins,
discussing
Eine f!infte Art sind die Altgeigen:
welche von dem italianischenViola di

Braccio, auch Violen heissen; am ge-
meinsten aber (von Braccio) die Bratschen genennet werden. Man spielet
damit sowohl den Alt als den Tenor,
auch zur Noth, zu einer hohen Oberstimme 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 Violoncellnoch
zugegenwar.} dazu man doch sonst
A fifth type [of stringedinstrument]

is the alto-violin, also called the viola,
from the Italian viola da braccio,but
which is mostcommonlycalledBratsche
(frombraccio).Bothalto and tenorparts
are playedon it; and, when necessary,
the bass to high melodicparts. {I have
often had to laugh at cellistswho employeda violin as the bassto theirsolos,
even when another cellist was available.} Normally, however, these high
bassesare playedby
4 Adolf Meier, KonzertanteMusikfljr Kontrabassin der WienerKlassik(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
Die Geigen-und Lautenmachervom Mittelalterbis zur Gegenwart,6th rev.ed.,

Liitgendorff,
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 subjectsof
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 Trennungvom Violoncelloin der orchestralenInstrumentation
(Re-
gensburg, 1974).
Violin Playing, pp. 21-29, 42-45, 115-19, 323-24; Marx, Violoncell, pp.
5 See Boyden,
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 95I1, 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 HandbaBel noch etwas gra*sserals die Fagotgeige. 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, wegen den wieder die Regel laufenden AuflISsungen,gar oft eine widrige Harmonie
hervorbringen. Diese Ueberschreitung
der Oberstimme mit der Unterstimme ist
in der musikalichen Setzkunst bey Halbcomponisten ein ganz gemeiner Fehler.
A sixth type, the bassoon-violin,

whose size and use are somewhat differerit 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.
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 grSssere, andere etwas kleinere giebt; so sind
sie doch nur der Beseytung nach, folglich
nur in der Stark des Klanges, ein wenig
von einander unterschieden.
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 nowadays 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.
DergroPe Ba3 {(il contraBasso)der
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 differentsizes;
nevertheless, all have the same tuning,
the only differencesbeing 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 difficultpassages 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
auch gemeiniglich der Violon genennet

wird,} oder Violon von dem italiinischen
Violone ist die achte Gattung der Geiginstrumente. Dieser Violon wird ebenfalls von verschiedenerGrSsseverfertiget:
allein es bleibt allezeit die namliche
Stimmung; nur daB man bey der Beseytung den n-thigen Unterschied beobachtet. Weil der Violon viel gra-sserals das
Violoncell ist; so ist auch dessen Stimmung 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. Seyten bespannten Violon sind an dem Hals
durch alle Intervallen Bande von etwas
dicken Seyten angebracht; welches das
Ausfliegen der Seyten auf dem Griffbrette hindert, und folglich der Klang
dadurch gebessert wird. Man kann auch
auf einem solchen Basse die schweren
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
416
und ich
Passagenleichterherausbringen:
habe Concerte,Trio, Solo sc. ungemein
schon vortragengeha*rt.Doch habe ich
bemerkt, daB beym Ausdruck einer
Stiarkebeym Accompagnierenallezeit
sich zwo Seyten zugleichhoirenliessen;
weil die Seytenmerklichdinnersindund
naher beysammenstehen,als bey einem
Basse, der nur mit 3. oder 4. Seyten
bezogenist.}
Die neunte Art ist die Gamba ....
Die Viola di Gamba [list]von dem Vio-
a tendencyto play two stringsat once in

loud passages,because the strings are
considerablythinner and are placed
closertogetherthan in three- and fourstringedbasses.}
The ninth type is the gamba.
The
.... the
violadagamba is quitedifferentfrom
loncellin vielemunterschieden.
Es hat 6, cello. It has six or seven strings,but the
auch 7. Seyten; da das Bassel nur 4. hat. Basselhas only four. It also has a comEs hat aucheine ganzandereStimmung, pletelydifferenttuningand a morepleaseinen angenehmernTon, und dienet ant tone and is used most often for memeistentheilszu einer Oberstimme.
lodic parts.
Leaving the viola and the gamba aside, Mozart describesthe 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 instrumentswould 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
Violin Playing, pp. 1i5-17, 324.
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.
7 Boyden,
8
VIOLONCELLOAND DOUBLE BASS IN VIENNESE CHAMBERMUSIC
417
Germany and Austria. The names "Bassetto" (etc.) for "violoncello" appeared as early as 1687 in Daniel Speer's Grund-RichtigerKurtz-Leicht-und
NdthigerUnterrichtder musicalischenKunst;and they persistedthroughout

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 Esterhaizydemonstrate 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 Esterhaizy1771-78) and Valentin Bertoja (i 780-88).14 The famous Viennese
violin maker J. J. Stadlmann, a regular supplier to the EsterhaizyKapelle,
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
1oMarx, Violoncell,pp. 66-67 and the tableson pp. [63-641. Cf. GeorgKinsky,Katalog
des musikhistorischen
Museumsvon WilhelmHeyer in C61n,Vol. II (Cologne, 1912), pp.
570-71 and 571, fn. i. This denotativesense of "Bassetto"must be distinguishedfrom an earlier
one which meant "high bassline"; i.e., which describeda kind of part writing.
"Johann Georg Albrechtsberger,Gru'ndlicheAnweisung zur Composition(Leipzig,
1790), p. 42 1.
a levltairi
12 This materialis drawnfromArisztidValk6,"Haydnmagyarorszigi
mflkSdese
akt~iktokreben,"ZenetudomanyiTanulmanyok,
VI (1957; Kodily Festschrift),
627-67; VIII
(1960; Haydn Emlikere),52 7-668; JanosHarich,"Haydn-Dokumenta,"
Haydn Yearbook,
II (1963/64), 2-44; III (1965), 122-52; IV (1968), 39-101; VII (1970), 47-168; VIII
idem, "Das Opernensemble zu Esterhiza im Jahr 1780," ibid., VII (1970),
(I97I), 70-163;
im Jahr 1780," ibid., VIII (I97I), 5-69. This material,

5-46; idem, "Das Haydn-Orchester
together with additionaldata from hitherto unpublisheddocumentsfrom the Esterhizy
archives,is convenientlysummarizedin Gerlach,"HaydnsOrchestermusiker."
13
VII (1970), 92; VIII ('97I), pp. I22-23, Nos. 323-25;
Harich,"Haydn-Dokumenta,"
Austrianorthographymakesno
idem, "Haydn-Orchester,"
pp. 22-24. Eighteenth-century
distinctionbetweenB and P; t and d; ch,g, gh, and k, etc. Hence the frequentappearanceof
for "Purksteiner,"
"Pasetl"for "Bassetl,""Paridon"for "Baryton,""Burghsteiner"
and so
forth.
"1On Kraft as "Bassetlist," see Harich, "Haydn-Dokumenta," VII (1970), 115; VIII
p. 124, Nos. 327-28; as "Violoncellist," ibid., III (1965), 132; IV (1968), p. 93, No.
('971),
I54. For documentson Marteauas "Bassetlist,"seeJosephHaydn: GesammelteBriefeund

ed. Denes Bartha(Kassel,I965), pp. 66-67, 74; Valk6,"HaydnmagyarorAufzeichnungen,
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
VIII (1960), 552, 575; Harich, op. cit., VII (1970), 67, 84. For documents on
(i957), 655;
Bertoja as "Bassetlist," see Harich, op. cit., VII (1970), 105, I14; VIII ('97'), 128 ("Valen-
tino"). In his well-knownaccountof the EsterhaizyKapelle (1783), the "outsider"Forkel

cites both Kraftand Bertojaas "Violoncellisten"
(quotedHarich,op. cit., IV [19681,p. 26,
fn. 39; trans.H. C. RobbinsLandon,The Symphoniesof JosephHaydn [London,I9551, p.
I 12). Cf. Gerlach,"HaydnsOrchestermusiker,"
p. 39.
5
Valk6, op. cit., VIII (i960), p. 596, No. 197: "[I have approved] these repairs to the
barytonand the violoncello."
418
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-stringone in 1769-nowhere does he imply a
correlation between these differenttypes and the differentnames. Once again,
Albrechtsbergermaintains 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 describedas "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"continuedto appear in works like
the baryton octets, and the triumph of "Contrabasso" had to wait until the
"1See, 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, Kontrabassin der Klassik,p. 163.
17 See, for example, "Kontrabass," MGG, Vol. VII, col. I521; or Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart: Neue Ausgabe sdimtlicherWerke, 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,
372. Documents on Schiringer are quoted in Harich, "Haydn-Dokumenta," VIII
I882),
(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.
VIOLONCELLO AND DOUBLE BASS IN VIENNESE CHAMBER MUSIC
419
regular division of the string basses in the "London" symphonies.20Since 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 predecessorG. 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 Eisenstadthad been allowed to fall into disrepair, Werner enumerated 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 Violonen. . . ." 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 Bassistenin wienn
[Vienna] und ganzen Konigreich Ungarn." Similarly, the concertantedoublebass passages and the lost double-bassconcerto Hob. VIIc:I prove that Haydn
also reckoned with professional-level players on that instrument.22Thus,
Haydn enjoyed the presence of both cellists and double bassistsof professional
caliber throughout his tenure at Esterhaizy. At the same time, no other
stringed bass instruments were represented (the baryton remaining a special
case).23Under these conditions, the case that "Bassetl" denoted the cello and
"Violone" the double bass is airtight.
The five-string double bass as a soloisticinstrument.The Esterh~izy
documents also inform us how these instrumentswere strung and tuned. A bill
from I763, for example, itemizes the following strings supplied to the "hochfirstl. Cammer Musique":
3 PassetlA
4 dettoD
G
4 dettotibersponnene
2 dettoC....
i ViolonA
I dettofis
i dettoD
I dettogrossesA....
20Once again, Forkeluses the international

term "Contrabassisten"
for Dietzland Schirin-
ger (as in fn. I4). For SymphonyNo. 56, see JosephHaydn: Werke,editedby the Joseph
Haydn-Institut,Cologne,underthe directionof GeorgFeder,Ser. I, Bd. 7 (Munich-Duisberg,
1966), p. 95. Hereafter,the new Haydn editionwill be abbreviatedJHW.
21 Haydn Briefe,p. 5 3: "Twelveold and new violins,two old andtwo new violas,thentwo
celli,and finallytwo goodlargedoublebasses."ForsimilardatafromtheyearsI721 and 1754,
usingthe same terminology,see Harold Dreo, "Die ffirstlichEsterhaizysche
Musikkapellevon
ihren Anf'dngenbis zum Jahre I766," Beitrdgezur Musikgeschichtedes i8. Jahrhunderts
(Eisenstadt, 1971), pp. 98, IO5; Harich, "Haydn-Dokumenta," VII (1970),
54-
of Dietzl,see Harich,"Haydn-Orchester,"
For Haydn'srecommendation
p. 25; Haydn
Briefe, pp. 435-36. Haydn's works for concertantedouble bass are discussedbelow. The
possibilitythat no professionaldoublebassistwas availableto Haydn betweenOctoberI765
and March I767 (cf. Gerlach,"HaydnsOrchestermusiker,"
p. 46) does not materiallyaffect
this argument.
23 See Efrim Fruchtman,"The
Baryton:its Historyand its Music Re-examined,"Acta
musicologica,XXXIV(1962), 2-17.
22
420
A
3 Passetl
Mehr3dettodetto....
fis
I Violon
I dettoA
A
4 Passetl
Two similarrequisitions
dated1764 read:
samtneuenSatl[bridge]
neuebesait
strung]
.. FUrdasVioloncello...
[newly
A.jedeszu4 xr.[Kreutzer]
6 Biischl[bundles]
...
ItemsovielD. zu6 xr...
3 G.zu 17 xr....
Ingleichen
Item3 C.jedeszu 24 xr....
Musicgelieferten
Saiten.
... zurCammer
... EintiefesViolonA...
... 2 ViolonA..
Comparethe followingfrom 1780:
...
ViolonA ...24
iibersponnene
establish
Theseand dozensof similardocuments
that,as we shouldexpect,
modelstunedin fifthsfromC. The first
the Esterhizycelliwerefour-string
two billsquotedspecifyA, D, G, and C strings,in thatorder-and for a
in the other.Bothalso specify
"Passetl"in the one case,a "Violoncello"
C andG strings,in accordance
withtheusualpracwound("iibersponnene")
tice of the time.25
Doublebassesin eighteenth-century
Austriawereusuallyfive-string
models,tunedupwardsfromF, (occasionally
E, or G,) in a seriesof thirdswith
oneperfectfourthin themiddle:F, A, D F# A. Thispatternis confirmed
by
extantinstruments
fromthe late seventeenth
centuryto 1822(!), and by
writtendescriptionsdatingfrom 1677 to 1849 (!).26 We have alreadynoted
to thefive-string
doublebassin thefirsteditionof
LeopoldMozart'sreference
the Violinschule
his
and
of
in
description itsuseas a soloinstrument
(i756)
the secondedition(0769). Albrechtsberger's
is
of I790 equally
description
precise:
DerViolon,oderCantrabaB
dickeSaiten,
fiinfziemlich
[sic],hatgewShnlich
auchvonSchafdarmen,
vonuntenhinauf
F A d fisa [staff
welche
notation]
heissen;
24
Valk6, "Haydn maggarorszaigimiikSdese," VI (1957), P. 636, No. 7; pp. 638-39, No.
ii; 25p. 640, No. '5; VIII (1960), p. 589, No. 172.
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.
VIOLONCELLOAND DOUBLE BASS IN VIENNESE CHAMBERMUSIC
421
Die tiefstenzwey pflegtman zu fiberspinnen.

Er klingtaberum eine Octavetiefer
als das Violoncello..... Er hat zu jedemhalbenTone einenBundauf dem Griffblatte.
... Es giebtauch einenViolon,welchernurvier Saitenund keineBlindehat. Dessen
Stimmungaber anderslautet, nalmlich:G A D G oder F A D G. Dieser und der
dreyfachesind seltenmehr zu sehen.27
Among the makers of these five-stringdouble basseswere 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 referto
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 doublebass 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 rejected.31Only two referencesto double basses tuned from C1 are cited in the
literaturefrom before I85o: one is in Johann Philipp Eisel'sMusicusAutodidac27
GriindlicheAnweisung,pp. 421-22: "The violonor contrabassnormallyhas fivethick
strings,alsoof sheep'sgut,whichfrombelowaretunedF1A, DF# A. The twolowestarenormally
wound.It soundsan octavelowerthanthe cello.It hasfretson the fingerboard
at eachhalfstep.
There is also anothertypeof doublebasswith onlyfourstringsandwithoutfrets,whosetuning
is different,namelyE1A1 D G or F1A1 D G. This and the three-stringmodel [dreyfache]are
rarelyseen 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. Furtheron 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, Kontrabassin
der Klassik,p. 25; and Planyavsky,Kontrabass,

p. 184. (The ostensiblec stringsfora "Violon"
quoted in Valk6, VI (1957), p. 643, No. 21, stem merely from a misreading for "Viola," as
Sonja Gerlachkindlyinformsme.)
"0The e and a stringsfor violinswere alwaysdeliveredin bundlesof a dozenor more;e.g.,
"2 Bund Violin E . . ." (Valk6, VI 11957], 636).

axLandon,
Symphonies,p. 126. The same assertion,with the same lack of evidentiary
justification,is foundin Planyavsky,Kontrabass,p. I78. Cf below,p. 429.
422
ticus (Erfurt,1734); the otherappearedin the Allgemeinemusikalische

forAustrianmusic
Zeitungof Leipzigfor I816.32Neitherhasanyrelevance
between175o and I8oo. Forthis period,evenD, as lowestpitchis documentedonlyin Germany,
andonlyon six-string
basses.Systematic
attempts
to expandthedouble-bass
rangedownto C1didnotbeginuntilthenineteenth
TheEsterhizydocuments
neverreferto anykindofc stringsforthe
century.33
doublebasses,let alone"low"or "large"ones;wereLandon'sassumption
suchstringsshouldhavebeencommon.Finally,themodernclaimsfor
correct,
ofthe
low C, stringsin theeighteenth
centuryderivefrommisunderstandings
In particular,
olderterminology.
theseclaimsareanimatedbythebeliefthat
If thisweretrue,such
somekindof smalldoublebass.34
"Bassl"designated
wouldhavehadc strings.Butas we nowknow,"Bassl"simply
instruments
meant the cello. (To be sure, the Esterhaizydocuments do not cite any strings
lower than "low A." This might suggest that Haydn's double bass had only
four stringsA, 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; Dittersdorfalso 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 Pressburgfollowing Dittersdorf;the composer-publisherFr. A. Hoffmeister
(1754-1812);
Sperger; and, of course, W. A. Mozart (whose aria "Per
K. 612, which calls for obbligato double bass, has been
mano"
bella
questa
misunderstood
until recently).38Joseph Haydn included concertante
completely
double-bass parts in five symphonies from the early I76os (Nos. 6-8, 3 1, and
32 Planyavsky,Kontrabass,
pp.
io8, 212.
Kontrabassin der Klassik,pp. 26-35; Planyavsky,Kontrabass,pp. 288-89;
"Kontrabass,"
MGG, Vol. VII, col. 1520. (Planyavsky'sdiscussions[pp. 267-69, 340-41],
to
low C1 beforeI850, still throw no light on eighteenth-century
find
Vienna.)
attempting
a four34 E.g., the statementin MGG, Vol. VII, col. 152o that LeopoldMozartdescribes
stringdoublebasswith tuning C G D A.
Kontrabass,p. 7I.
35 Planyavsky,
um 1783," Beitrdige
zurMusikgeschichte
des i8.
36 Otto Biba,"Die WienerKirchenmusik
Jahrhunderts(Eisenstadt,1971), p. 69.
Kontrabassin der Klassik,pp. 55-7, 156-9 .
37 Meier,
38 Ibid., pp. 50-5I,
53-55, 91-93, 118; on the Mozart aria, see Alfred Planyavsky,
"MozartsArie mit obligatemKontrabass,"Mozart-Jahrbuch,1971-72, pp. 313-36. The
musicis now availablein NMA, Ser. II, Werkgrp.7, Bd. 4.
33 Meier,
423
in the Divertimento Hob. 11:24 from 1761 or 1762, in the "Farewell"

Symphony (1772), and in the baryton octetsHob. X:i-6, 12 (1775).39 Moreover, 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
72),
Double bass and cello in chamber music. The solo double bass flourished
not only in concerti and concertanteensembles, 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 specifiedas "Violone"; an early trio and string
quartet by Holzbauer; a Gassmann oboe trio; and a Vanhal quintet for violin,
viola, two horns, and "Violone."41Albrechtsbergeroften 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,seeJensPeterLarsen,Die Haydn-LOberlieferung

(Copenhagen,1939),
p. 233. For SymphoniesNos. 6-8 and 72, see Landon'sminiaturescore edition(Vienna,
1964-68), Vols.I, VII;forNos. 31 and45, seeJHW, Ser. I, Bd. 4, 6; for Hob. 11:24,seeJHW,
Ser. VIII (in preparation);for the barytonoctets,see JHW, Ser. XIII.
4o Larsen,Die Haydn-tOberlieferung
p. 233, datesthe workat 1765 or earlier;thisagrees
with the datesof mostof the otherconcertantedouble-basssolos.LeopoldMozart'sinclusionof
a descriptionof concertantedouble-bassplayingin the 1769 editionof the Violinschule,
where
none had been offeredin I756, indirectlytestifiesto the rise of virtuosoplaying on this
instrumentaboutthe early I760s.
41
MANN: Denkmailer
der Tonkunstin Osterreich(hereafterDTO), Jg. XIX/2 (Bd. 39)
Carl Krebs,
(Vienna, 1912), thematic catalogue by Wilhelm Fischer, No. 90o. DITTERSDORF:.
Dittersdorfiana (Berlin, 1900), thematic catalogue, Nos. 219, 179-84, and 128, respectively;
GertrudeRigler, "Die KammermusikDittersdorfs,"Studien zur Musikwissenschaft,

XIV
in derKlassik,pp. 49-54; DTO, Jg. XLIII/2 (Bd. 8i)
(1927), I85, 187; Meier, Kontrabass
(Vienna, 1936), pp. 62-63. HOLZBAUER:Das Erbe deutscherMusik, 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 workssee loc. cit.
in der NationalbibliothekSz&chenyi,
42 LAszl6Somfai, "Albrechtsberger-Eigenschriften
Budapest," Studia musicologica, I (1961), pp. 175-202,
Nos. 58, 59, 62.
43
Nos. 19, 24; IV (I963), pp. 179-90,
On the autograph,see Helga Scholz-Michelitsch,

Das Orchester-und Kammermusikwerk von Georg ChristophWagenseil:ThematischerKatalog(Vienna, 1972), No. 445; the
existence of six such works is noted by Theodor Aigner in "Johann Gallus Mederitsch:
Komponistund Kopist des ausgehenden18. und frUihenI9. Jahrhunderts,"Die Musik-
forschung, XXVI (1973), 342.
424
The cello was certainly specified more often than the double bass, frequently in conjunction with the normal designation "Basso," meaning simply
the bass part."4But 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);
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 cellonever 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.47Proof that
designation for solo cello was exceptional is that the earliest explicitly dated
Austrian string quartetsto specify the cello appear to be those of Haydn's Op.
"
Webster, "VienneseChamberMusic,"pp. 240-41.

DITTERSDORF:Krebs, Dittersdorfiana, Nos. 131, 140-52
"45
[sic], 191-96, 185-90; Rigler,
"Dittersdorf,"p. i86; Krebs,op. cit., No. I29-respectively. FSRSTER:DTO, Jg. XXXV/i
Warren Kirkendale, Fuge und Fugato in der

(Bd. 67) (Vienna, I928), p. [viii]. GASSMANN:
Kammermusikdes Rokokound der Klassik(Tutzing, 1966), pp. 32, 34-35; William Newman, The Sonata in the ClassicEra, 2d ed. (New York, i971), p. 355; Eve Rose Meyer,
"FlorianGassmannand the VienneseDivertimento"(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 Musicwith Stringsof Carlosd'Ordofiez:A Bibliographicand StylisticStudy,"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
BreitkopfThematic Catalogue (New York, 1966), p. 279. KozELUCH: MGG, Vol. VII, col.
MGG, Vol.X, col. 1356. RICHTER:MusicaAntiquaBohemica,No. 7 (Prague,
1663. PLEYEL:
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,
KammermusikWagenseils,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,Sonatain the ClassicEra, p.
355. HAYDN: cf. fn. 45.
VIOLONCELLO AND .DOUBLE BASS IN VIENNESE CHAMBER MUSIC
425
of course,to concludeon this

17, from1771." But it wouldbe premature,
basisthatthecellowaslittleusedbefore1770. Manyworkswhichspecifyit
cannotbe datedevenapproximately;
and as we now know,manyworks
labeled"Basso"werewrittenforthe cello.
Insufficiency
of the documentaryevidencefor interpreting"Basso."Letus
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.49Both instrumentswere in use as concertanteinstrumentsand 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 instrumentswere 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 accompanied keyboardworks-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 quartetsrequireseparatetreatment.See
Webster,"The Chronologyof Haydn'sStringQuartets,"TheMusicalQuarterly,LXI(1975),
17-46; idem, "The Bass Part in Haydn's Early String Quartetsand in AustrianChamber
Music" (Ph.D. diss.,PrincetonUniv., '973), Chaps.6-7, fromwhich an abstractedarticleis
scheduledfor publicationshortly.
49 Other works specifyingboth cello and double bass includeMozart's"Serenada[sic]
Notturna"K. 239 and Haydn'sdivertimentiHob. 11:1,11, 24; barytonoctetsHob. 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 instrumentshave independentpassagesin additionto doublings.

"0Webster, "Viennese Chamber Music," pp. 239-42.
426
early preferencefor the former term merely reflectsprevailing early Classical

usage, and his later specification of the cello agrees with the increasing
tendency, about 1780, toward terminological precision.51The 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 scoredfor 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
specificdesignations ("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
with respectto
criteria.The essentialstylisticdevelopment
Traditional
chambermusichasalwaysbeentakento be therise
the basspartin Classical
Theotherpossibilities
bassscoring.53
of the solocelloas theobligatory
which,
account-solo
taken
into
must
be
to
the
evidence
here,
presented
according
doublebass,and celloand doublebasstogether-havenot receivedmuch
attention.
The traditional
stylisticcriteriaforsolocellopartshavebeenhigh
notatedrangeanduse of the tenorclef,melodicpassagesanddifficultfig51 Ibid., pp. 227,
229, 247; Bir, "Basso,"p. i53.

The best
For the worksand theirsources,see Somfai,"Albrechtsberger-Eigenschriften."
is
the
in
the
and
of
music
of
string
Albrechtsberger
quartet
similarity
Haydn
stylistic
example
thatwas falselyattributedto Haydn(Hob. III:D3); cf. Somfai,"Albrechtsby Albrechtsberger
I (1961), No. 39; Webster,"Chronologyof Haydn'sQuartets,"p. 4 1;
berger-Eigenschriften,"
Feder,"Apokryphe'Haydn'-Streichquartette,"
Haydn-Studien,III (1973/74), 135-36.
53 Ursula Lehmann,Deutschesund italienisches
Wesenin der Frihgeschichtedes Streichquartetts(WUirzburg,I939), pp. 47-73; Fritz OberdSrffer,Der Generalbassin der Indes ausgehendeni8. Jahrhunderts
strumentalmusik
(Kassel,I939); Ruth Halle Rowen,Early
52
Chamber Music (New York, 1949), PP. 48-55,
73-90,
124-37; Kirkendale, Fuge und
Vol. I: Die
Fugato,pp. 83-95; LudwigFinscher,Studienzur Geschichtedes Streichquartetts,
Entstebungdes klassischenStreichquartetts:Von den Vorformenzur Grundlegungdurch
Vol. III (Kassel, '974), PP.
Studien zur Musikwissenschaft,
Joseph Haydn, SaarbrUicker
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.
427
uration,participationin thematischeArbeit,and the allegedregistral"gap"

thata solodoublebasswouldproducebetweenthe bassandthe otherparts.
Althoughthese criteriamay sufficeto distinguishsolo cello partsfrom
orchestralbassesandfrombasspartswith cello anddoublebasstogether,they
cannot be used to excludethe possibilityof a solo doublebass.The normal
upper limit for solo cello partsin this repertorywas perhapsg' or a', with
extensionsto d" or e" in unusualcases;but the samenotatedrangeappearsin
the concertantedouble-bassparts. The tenor clef also appearsregularly.
Similarly, melodicactivity,participationin thematischeArbeit, rapid and
difficultfiguration,and registralmobilitycharacterizemany of theseparts."5
An excellentexampleof all thesefeaturesis the obbligatodouble-basspartin
Mozart's"Per questabella mano."65But the more numerousconcertiand
concertanteworks from the I760s also exploit the virtuosicand melodic
possibilitiesof the Austriandoublebass.In the solo fromthe trio of Haydn's
SymphonyNo. 7 ("LeMidi"),for example,the tenorclefappears,the double
bassbearsthe leadingmelody,and in measure52 Haydnwindsthe partup to
a climaxon c" (soundingc'). The bass solo in the seventhvariationof the
finale of SymphonyNo. 31 (the "Hornsignal")exhibitsa notatedrangeof
more than two octaves(A-b'), scalarpassagesin tripletsixteenthand thirtysecondnotes, frequentoctaveleaps, and even one leap of a fourteenth(m.
II5).56 (The skipsto and from A, d, and a in mm. 114-15 and 127-28,
incidentally,substantiatethe tuning F, A, D F# A for this instrument.)
AlthoughtbematischeArbeit is excludedfrom a concertantepart of this sort
"by definition,"otherdouble-basspartsdo includesuchpassages:the imitative entriesover a horn pedal,for example,in Haydn'sBarytonOctet Hob.
X:2 (I, 58-69)."57
The registral"gap"betweenviola and doublebass,whichmightthreaten
the equalityand interchangeability
of the parts supposedlycharacteristic
of
Classicalchambermusic,is oftenallegedto be sufficientgroundsfor excluding
the doublebass.58But in spiteof the replacementof olderscoringssuchas the
trio sonataby newerones withoutsuch "gaps"duringthe Classicalperiod,""
this criterionis also insufficientlyflexible.In the firstplace, it substitutesan
54 Bar, "Basso,"pp. 150, 153; Marx, Violoncell,
pp. i35-37; Meier, Kontrabassin der
Klassik,pp. 38-41, 98-104.
55 See above,fn. 38.
All the works
edition,Vol. I; JHW, Ser. I, Bd.4, respectively.
56 Landon'sminiature-score
cited henceforthin this articleare availablein completeeditionsof major composers,monumentslike D TO, or widelydistributedrecentserieslike Diletto Musicale.
57 Otherdouble-bass
passagesin the barytonoctetsusing thematischeArbeitincludeHob.
X:2 (III, Var.2); Hob. X:5 (I, 25-39); and Hob. X:4 (I, Var.4)-all pr. inJHW, Ser.XIII.
this view appearsto have originatedwith Adolf
58 At least as far as Haydn is concerned,
Sandberger,specificallywith his influentialessay,"ZurGeschichtedes HaydnschenStreichquartetts,"AltbayerischeMonatsschrift,II (1900), 41-64, repr. and rev. in Ausgewdhlte
zur Musikgeschichte, Vol. I (Munich, 1921), p. 254.
Aufsditze
59
Cf. Unverricht,Streichtrio,pp. 74-108, 199-233; Webster,"VienneseChamberMusic," p. 224.
428
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 thematischeArbeit and other cherishednotions of Classical
chamber style actually appear in the music only now and then, by way of
contrastand intensification,strictequality among the parts turns out to be only
one textural resource among many. The same stricturesapply 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 justificationfor using it
as "evidence" for or against any particular scoring of the works in which it
appears.
Double-bassparts with lower boundariesat notatedF. If the distinction

between solo cello and solo double bass on the grounds just discussedremains
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
prevalenceelsewherebids us considerit a possibilityhere, 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. Hencecontrary 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
429
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 bassistsevidently had to adjust
the pitches which exceeded their lower boundary of F1. Hence, orchestralbass
parts cannot be used as evidence of the double-bass range. The same considerations 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
designatedfor either cello or double bass. The concertantedouble-basssolos in
the trios of Haydn's Symphonies Nos. 6-8, in the variation finales of Symphonies Nos. 31 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 tessituraof G to c", with the normal range spanning,
perhaps, A to g'.64 In Haydn's Symphony No. 7 ("Le Midi"), the same
measurethat brings the flight of fancy in the double bass to c" (Minuet, m. 52)
finds the orchestralcelli, 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 characteristicof Haydn's concertante double-bass passages.
Hence it may be evidence of the scoring even when the absolute boundariesof
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
distinguishedfrom 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. 11:3i, for example, the double bass never goes below F, while
the cello consistentlyexploits 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
keyboardworksby meansof the registrallimitsof knowninstruments.)The presentaccountis
the firstextensivesurveyof this repertoryfrom this perspective.
for the mistakenassertionsthat Haydn's double
63 This confusioncould be responsible
bassesgo down to C1 (see above,fn. 31).
in thisarticle,pitchnameswill
64 For editionsof theseworks,see above,fn. 39. Henceforth
refer,in all contexts,to notatedpitch.
430
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.65Still another indication of Haydn's reluctanceto 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 subsequent sets, Op. 20 and Op. 3 3, confirms this picture.67These distinctionsof
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 lyrenotturni,in Ser. VII (the exampledescribed
is on pp.48-49). Similarpassagesoccurin the revisedversionof Hob. 11:32 (II, 9-10, 20-23);
Hob. 11:31(I, 5-8, 52-55, 120-121; II, 50-52).
66 The NotturnoHob. 11:31is pr. in JHW, Ser. VII; see esp.
p. 81.
67 For these quartets,see JHW, Ser. XII, Bd. 2-3. See also Finscher,Geschichtedes
of the celloand the "radicalequality"of the
I, I82. On the "emancipation"
Streichquartetts,
rev. ed., pp. 259-61; and
parts in Op. 20, see Sandberger,"HaydnschenStreichquartett,"
Chamber
On
the
of
the
Music,"
Tovey, "Haydn's
pp. 40-47.
scoring
earlyquartets,cf.fn.48.
68In additionto the concertantesolos alreadydiscussed,these passagesincludethe symphoniesHob. 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 "SevenLastWords":
Introduction(mm. 39, 50-5I); Sonata I (mm. 21-22, 25-27, 30-31, 39-40, 89-92,
SonataII (mm. 1-18, 21-36, 81-96); SonataIII (mm. 72-75, 92-96); SonataVI
99-102);
(mm. 42-44, 52-53). Lo Speziale,No. 20; perhapsalso Le Pescatrici,No. 43 (mm. 74-86);
La Fedelthpremiata,No. 24
6 33-45), No. 43 (mm. 178
OrlandoPaladino,No. 43;
fft);
(mrm.
Armida,overture(mm. 39-42,
84-87, 1 27, 39-42). (Thislistis basedexclusivelyon thetexts
in JHW. Othereditions,includingLandon'sminiature-score
editionof the symphonies,arenot
sufficientlyreliablefor this purpose.)
69 These assertions
are restrictedto explicitlydesignateddouble-bassparts;i.e., thoselisted
in fn. 68. Theseare but a smallminorityof the passagesin whichthe basssplitsin two. In all of
these,the upperpart is labeled(or can be assumedto be for) "Violoncello,"butthe lowerpart
usuallybearsno designationor, once in a while, reads"Basso."These lower partscannotbe
assumedto be for doublebass(es)alone;indeed,Haydn may have intendedthem for another
celloanddoublebass.(It wouldexceedthe boundsof thisstudyto documentthisassertionhere;
a separatetreatmentis sorelyneeded.Cf. also the remarkson Hob. 11:24on p. 434.)
In fact,however,theselower basspartsalmostalwaysobservethe boundaryF. I know of
only two exceptions:one is in the minuetof SymphonyNo. i oo (the "Military"Symphony,m.
46), wherethe "Bassi"strikelow D. But the authenticElsslerpartsrewritethis passage(here
labeledfor the doublebass,of course)so as to avoidany pitchlowerthand (JHW, Ser. I, Bd.
I7, CriticalReport,p. 47). Thus, the part may have been intendedfor doublebassesalone,
Haydnmakinga "slipof the pen"in this bar (cf.fn. 78). The othercase,the secondmovement
of Symphony No. 103 (the "Drum Roll" Symphony,m. 146), includesa low C. At the
beginningof the movement,Haydn writesseparateindicationsfor "Violoncelli"and "Con-
431
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 overturesto 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 stringsthe 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-bassparts. 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-bassparts an occasional
pitch lower than F occurs.Two aspectsof 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 suppliesno separatemusicalparts.Hence it remainsconjecturalwhetherin
mm. 135-46 Haydn intendeda divisionof cellosand doublebasses,or, rather,one between
cello (on the one hand) and cello and doublebass(on the other).Thereis no indicationof the
scoringhereor in any of the latersplitbasspartsin this movement.Or, Haydnmayhavemade
anotherslip of the pen likethe one in the "Military"Symphony;in thiscase,all the lowerparts
"intend"to observethe boundaryF, and scoringfor doublebassesalone seemsindicated.
For the periodthrough1774, at least,Gerlach'sconclusion("HaydnsOrchestermusiker,"
p. 47) thatthe normalbassscoringin Haydn'sorchestrawas one cello,one doublebass,andone
bassoonimpliesthat when the basspart splitsin two, the cello (and bassoon?)takethe upper
part,the doublebassthe lowerpart.This interpretation
agreesexactlywith Haydn'sstatement
in thefamousletterof 1768 accompanying
the cantataApplaususthathis preferredbassscoring
was one cello,one doublebass,and one bassoon(cf.Webster,"VienneseChamberMusic,"pp.
237-38).
The exception occurs in the first movement of Symphony No. 41 K. 55I (m. 125). Since
70
it is merely a single pitch, one must take into account the same possibilitiesdiscussedin
connectionwith Haydn's "exceptionalcases"(cf. fn. 69): the lowerpart may imply celli and
doublebasses,or Mozartmay have madea slip of the pen. (It was presumablyon the basisof
this pitch than Hans Engel ["MozartsInstrumentation,"
Mozart-Jahrbuch,1956, p. 551
statedthatthe limitof Mozart'sdouble-bass
tessiturais Eb. Since Engel providesno justification
for this assertion,it cannotbe acceptedwithoutcriticalscrutiny.)
No. 128, pr. in DTO, Jg. XLIII/2
71 DITTERSDORF: the serenadeis Krebs,Dittersdorfiana,
(Bd. 8i); the concerto is Krebs, No. 171, mod. ed. by Franz Ortner (Mainz, 1967). ALIV (1963), No. 58; mod. ed. in
Somfai, "Albrechtsberger-Eigenschriften,"
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:
BRECHTSBERGER:
see above,fn. 38.
432
When they are not col cello, most of these pitches are conventional afterbeats
at cadences, a context that suggeststhey 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.72Even if the bass part should appear
notated in unison in both staves within an autograph-as might have occurred 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 divergencesin
"favor" of the cello in other passages of the same movement (mm. 38, 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. 361 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 bracketsin 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.
In fact,however,the autographto this
III, I22-23).
73 See Hob. 11:28 (I, 7 1-75, 152-60;
work is lost, and the only extant sources are inauthentic and may misrepresent Haydn's
intentions.
of this kind in the baryton octets. See
7" The same principle applies to the frequent passages
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).
433
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 afterbeatin the double-basspart 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
differentiatedin 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 "accidental" remains plausible.
This leaves only two truly independent double-basspitches in the baryton
octets: Hob. X:3 (III, 26) and X:4 (I, 24). But both of these are mere
afterbeatformulas. 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 persuasivesupport in an
alteration made in Artaria's authentic print of the baryton octets, the effect of
which is to remove the offendinglow pitch in the first of these two passages.78
K. 361, consultW. A. MozartsSimtlicheWerke,Ser.9, Abt.I, esp.
7 Forthe Serenade
ownedby the Libraryof
PP.400, 401, 403, 408, 419, 420, 423, 440. (The autograph,
wasprepared
forfacsimile
NealZaslaw,whohadthe
Congress,
publication
by mycolleague,
to allowmeto consulthisphotographs;
kindness
of theeditionhasbeendelayed.)
publication
on EinekleineNachtmusik,
Further
seeNMA,Ser.IV,Werkgrp.
i2, Bd.6, p. ix,elaborating
on Bar,"Basso,"
seeDasErbedeutscher
Musik,Bd.24, p.
quartet,
p. 152. FortheHolzbauer
1' 3, No.6. Although
thetitlepageis quotedas " ... Viola(Celloadlib.)/ e / ContraBasso,"
the accompanying
remarksestablish
thatcelloanddoublebass,not celloandviola,belong
together.
to becitedhereappearinJHW,Ser.XIII,pp.43, I20, 13 , 103, and
78Thefivepassages
Iio, respectively.
It
works.
77E.g.,Hob.X:2 (I, 94-97);X:5(I, 25-26); X:3 (II, 24-25)-to citethesame
is noteworthy
thatin the barytonoctetsfromtheyear1775thecellois primarily
a melodic
instrument
in tenorrange,whilein thelyrenotturni
(1788-90),Haydnemploysit muchmore
in thelowestoctaveandwiththefunctionof a bassinstrument.
the
hereessentially
78 SeeJHW,Ser.XIII,Critical
Report,
p. 21 andfn.60. Weencounter
seeabove,fn.
samesituationdescribed
earlierin connection
withthe "Military"
Symphony;
69.
434
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 instancesare, 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 C1after all. The case
for casual error seems far more plausible, however, especially in view of the
occasional "corrections"these low pitches receive. A third hypothesiswould 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 difficultiesalluded to above, many
bass parts whose scoring hides behind the vague term "Basso" can be confidently 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
80
See JHW, Ser. VIII (in preparation).

Cf. fn. 69, last paragraph.
435
and which returnsas the goal of the finalcadences;and the constantreiteration of D in the minuet.
A better-knownrepertorywith baryton,however, is that of the 126
barytontrios,in which the bass part in everyauthenticsourcereadssimply
"Basso."Perhapsbecausethe barytonitself has always been the center of
attentionin studiesof this repertory,the bassscoringof theseworkshas, until
recently,excitedlittle comment.Unverrichthas hypothesized,on the basisof
part-crossingin the bass parts, that the barytontrios may call for double
bass.8' But they are quite clearly scored for solo cello. If we make the
simplifyingassumptionthat all the barytontrios,which stem from the brief
periodca. 1765 - ca. 1774, are for the samescoring,we needmerelysample
the earliestand latestworkspresentlyavailablein the new Haydn edition.82
Amongthe worksof the earliergroup,bothof the firsttwo movementswhich
can use low C as a structuralpitch do so.83Becausethe limitationsof the
barytonled Haydnto favorthe sharpkeysG, D, andA, the lowerboundaryis
more often low D.84 None of the pieces avoids pitches under F.85 But
movementsfeaturingprominentand significantlow pitchesare more common.86Sincewe may presumethat in theseworksof intimatetexture,where
the barytonis alreadydifficultenough to hear, there would have been no
doublingsof the bass,thesepassageseffectivelysettlethe problemof the bass
scoring:it must call for solo cello. The comparablepassagesfrom the later
works differ only in appearing more idiomaticand more "consciously"
imagined."8
The basspartsin the stringquartetsOp. 9, whoseauthenticsourcesalso
merelyread"Basso,"imply the cello just as clearly.In fourof the six works,
the lowestpitchis C; in No. 5 in Bb it is D; and in No. 6 in A, presumablyin
part becauseof the tonality,it is E. The appearancesof low C bear obvious
significance:in the first movementof QuartetNo. I in C, for example,this
pitchoccursin conjunctionwith the introductionof new material(m. 7), with
thematic,mobilefigures(mm. 57-58), and at the finalcadences;and it recurs
at the beginningof the minuet,in measures55-57 of the slow movement,and
at measures138-42 of the finale.Other examplesincludethe firstmovement
Kontrabassin der Klassik, p. 49, fn. 7. As
81 Unverricht, Streichtrio, pp. 186-87; cf. Meier,
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.
54-60, 92-96, ioI; III, 33-40).
84 See, for example, Hob. XI:27 (I, 54; II, io-i6,
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).
Hob. XI:97 (V, i-8; VII, 86-90); XI:ioo (1, 4, 15-26); XI:ioI (III, 104); XI:Io2 (II,
87
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).
436
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 thematischeArbeit, 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
three quintets by Holzbauer, the bass part of a
Paluselli (I748-i8o5),
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
andthepianissimo
finalcadence;
ideaat
sixteenth-note
also,in Op.2, No.2 in E,the"pulsing"
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 SeeHob.11:1
(II, 79, 112; IV,8, I2); 11:1I (1,lasttwobars;II,24, 32; III,4, 6; IV,4,
to suggest
theuseof solo
I6). Currentmoderneditionsof thesetwoworksshouldbecorrected
celloinsteadof solodoublebass.
91 Works
forlargemixedensemble
includeHob.11:9,17, 20o,andGI. Theearlyquartets
arenowavailablein reliabletextsin JHW, Ser.XII,Bd. I; the ensemble
will
divertimenti
appearshortlyin Ser.VIII.
92 PALUSELLI: DTO, Vol. 86, p. 70/brace2; 72/1-3;
76/2. HOLZBAUER:Das Erbe
deutscher
Musik,Bd.24, p. 13,
I Nos.3-5; in thescoreof No. 3, seeesp.(I, 5, 16; II, 19,86,
437
works by Albrechtsbergerimply 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 presumablythe 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 straightforwardexample 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.)"9Among
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 basses
in their companion works (Hob. II:I 7 and G I) clearly imply the use of cello
(perhaps doubling the double bass), and so we must assume its presence in all
four compositions.96
CONCLUSIONS
The solo cello seems to have been the bass instrument used principally in
Viennese chamber music, especially in string quartets and allied genres, at the
Hofkapelle, and in less formal music for the nobility, such as the baryton trios
for Esterhizy. In mixed ensembles and in works that appear to be orchestralin
style-and perhaps also in more casual, serenade-like music for strings
alone-the bass part may have been intended for both cello and double bass.
Even during its flowering in the I760s and early I770s, the double bass seems
to have been used but sparingly in this capacity, compared to its frequent use
as a concertante instrument. It flourished principally in provincial courts like
HOFFMEISTER: ed. Horst Buttner (Leipzig, I969). MYSLIVE?EK: Musica Antiqua
II9-24).
Bohemica, No. 31 (Prague, n.d.), No. I (II, ioy); No. 3 (II, 7'). STARZER:
DT(O, Jg. XV/2
(Bd. 31) (Vienna, 1908), p. 9y/brace 3; 97/I, 2, 4; 98/4; 99/1; 100/3, 5; 1to/I; 107/1 I
missing?]; 111/4; 113/5; 1i4/5- 11/3.
The harp quintet is pr. in Musica Rinata, No. 17 (Budapest, I970). The oboe quartets
93
are misleadingly edited, as if they were intended for orchestra, in Concertino, No. 5999 (Mainz,
I967). The Trio Op. 4 appears in Diletro Musicale, No. 289 (Vienna, 1968); the quartets of
Op. 7, in DTO, Jg. XVI/2 (Bd. 33) (Vienna, I909). For a mod. ed. of the quartet dated 1790,
see Diletto Musicale, No. 201 (Vienna, 1969). Cf. Somfai, "Albrechtsberger-Eigenschriften,"I
and I (1961), 28-30, 3
(1961), 20-21;
1V (1963), 47;
1--respectively.
94 DTO, Jg. XV/2 (Bd. 31), pp. 86-93.
will
chamber
for
the
of a separate study by the present
music
be
Mozart's
subject
strings
95
writer, to appear shortly.
96 In Hob. 11:17, see particularly Minuet I, mm. 8, 32, 68; Andante I, m. 24; Minuet II,
mm. 12, 41, 73; Andante II, m. 26. In Hob. II:GI, see (1, 8, 42); (II, '9); (IV, 12, i6, 25).
438
Esterhaiz,Grosswardein,Pressburg(and Salzburg). In the later I770s and the

I780s the concertantetradition, but not the use of the bass in chamber music,
also brought the double bass to Vienna. These conclusionsaccordwell 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 hypothesesproposed above (pp. 425 f.), we can provisionallyreject 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 conjunctionwith 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 respectto 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 interpretationsof 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
CornellUniversity
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).

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

Violoncello and Double Bass in the

HE FIVE PRINCIPAL GENRES

Austrian chamber music, ex-

The instruments and their nomenclature. The cello originated in the

XXVII (1974), 212-47.

To the evidence against the use of the

continuoin Haydn'schambermusicgiven there(pp. 243-46) may be addednew arguments

Orchestermusiker von 1761 bis i774," Haydn-Studien, IV/I (1976), 35-48.

1965), PP. 6-16; Klaus Marx, Die Entwicklungdes Violoncellsund seinerSpieltechnikhis

1963), PP. 10-22, 43-6i, I75-82; WilliamS. Newman,

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICANMUSICOLOGICALSOCIETY

memberof the viol family.4Becausetherewas no instrument

welche von dem italianischenViola di

A fifth type [of stringedinstrument]

4 Adolf Meier, KonzertanteMusikfljr Kontrabassin der WienerKlassik(Giebing fiber

Die Geigen-und Lautenmachervom Mittelalterbis zur Gegenwart,6th rev.ed.,

VIOLONCELLG AND DOUBLE BASS IN VIENNESE CHAMBER MUSIC

Eine secbste Gattung, namlich die

A sixth type, the bassoon-violin,

Die siebente Art heif3t das Bassel

The seventh type is called the Bassel

DergroPe Ba3 {(il contraBasso)der

The double bass, or Violon from the

auch gemeiniglich der Violon genennet

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY

a tendencyto play two stringsat once in

The ninth type is the gamba.

VIOLONCELLOAND DOUBLE BASS IN VIENNESE CHAMBERMUSIC

NdthigerUnterrichtder musicalischenKunst;and they persistedthroughout

570-71 and 571, fn. i. This denotativesense of "Bassetto"must be distinguishedfrom an earlier

im Jahr 1780," ibid., VIII (I97I), 5-69. This material,

I54. For documentson Marteauas "Bassetlist,"seeJosephHaydn: GesammelteBriefeund

tino"). In his well-knownaccountof the EsterhaizyKapelle (1783), the "outsider"Forkel

barytonand the violoncello."

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY

This consistent and widespread testimony establishes "Bassetl" and its

Meier, Kontrabassin der Klassik,p. 163.

VIOLONCELLO AND DOUBLE BASS IN VIENNESE CHAMBER MUSIC

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

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

20Once again, Forkeluses the international

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY

VIOLONCELLOAND DOUBLE BASS IN VIENNESE CHAMBERMUSIC

Die tiefstenzwey pflegtman zu fiberspinnen.

Given this extensive and consistent documentation, Landon's sweeping

der Klassik,p. 25; and Planyavsky,Kontrabass,

"2 Bund Violin E . . ." (Valk6, VI 11957], 636).

justification,is foundin Planyavsky,Kontrabass,p. I78. Cf below,p. 429.

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY

ticus (Erfurt,1734); the otherappearedin the Allgemeinemusikalische

VIOLONCELLO AND DOUBLE BASS IN VIENNESE CHAMBER MUSIC

in the Divertimento Hob. 11:24 from 1761 or 1762, in the "Farewell"

For the concerto,seeJensPeterLarsen,Die Haydn-LOberlieferung

GertrudeRigler, "Die KammermusikDittersdorfs,"Studien zur Musikwissenschaft,

Nos. 19, 24; IV (I963), pp. 179-90,

On the autograph,see Helga Scholz-Michelitsch,

Komponistund Kopist des ausgehenden18. und frUihenI9. Jahrhunderts,"Die Musik-

forschung, XXVI (1973), 342.

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY

a mixed quintet by Leopold Koieluch (1747-1812);

Webster, "VienneseChamberMusic,"pp. 240-41.

[sic], 191-96, 185-90; Rigler,