8 - Related family members

Summary

The violino piccolo and other small violins with four strings tuned in fifths at the interval of a third, fourth or even a fifth higher than the standard violin, were fairly common in the early seventeenth century. Michael Praetorius calls the instrument a ‘klein discant Geig’ (small treble fiddle) and several ‘claine discant’ violins are included in an inventory (1596) of the collection in Schloss Ambras in Austria. These violins produced a clear, bright sound at their higher tunings – the most common was c¹–g¹–d²–a² – and were probably used not only to fulfil the tonal requirements of a higher voice range than the standard-size violin, but also to allow for comfortable playing in higher registers; with them, players could retain a lower left-hand position with limited shifting at a time when such shifts were rarely executed. Leopold Mozart confirms that ‘Some years ago one even played concertos on this little violin (called by the Italians Violino Piccolo) and, as it was capable of being tuned to a much higher pitch than other violins it was often to be heard in company with a transverse flute, a harp, or other similar instruments. The little fiddle is no longer needed, and everything is played on the ordinary violin in the upper registers.’