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- Title
MICHEL COLLICHON AND THE ORIGINS OF THE PARDESSUS DE VIOLE.
- Authors
Mace, Thomas Fitz-Hugh
- Abstract
The recent discovery of a pardessus de viole built by the great Parisian luthier Michel Collichon in 1686 pushes the invention of the pardessus back from the early eighteenth century, when it was previously thought to have occurred, to the height of the seventeenth-century French viol tradition. With this earlier historical context in mind, this study examines the unusual design of Collichon's pardessus, which served as models for later French makers for as long as six-string pardessus continued to be built. The pardessus's higher tessitura and extremely long scale (ratio of pitch to string length), unprecedented in earlier or contemporary viols, seems to have been designed to achieve a maximum of power and penetration. The adoption of a shorter absolute string length, a very close match to that of the late-seventeenth-century violin, may have marked the moment when diatonic fingering, documente weakly if at all for treble viols in contemporary written sources and inherently difficult to execute on large French trebles of the period, became the norm. The study also reviews the documentary evidence concerning the Collichon workshop, including the important viol players who found lodgings under its roof. It suggests a collaboration between Michel and his father, Nicolas, also a master luthier, which came to an end only in the final decade of Michel's relatively brief life. The paper looks at possible musical roles for the pardessus at the time of its invention and suggests, contrary to some previous studies, that the burgeoning fashion for Italian music in the French capital may have been one of several driving forces behind the invention of the instrument.
- Subjects
PARDESSUS de viole; COLLICHON, Michel, 1641-1694; VIOLS; PARDESSUS de viole music; STRINGED instruments; WORKSHOPS (Facilities)
- Publication
Journal of the Viola da Gamba Society of America, 2012, Vol 47, p42
- ISSN
0507-0252
- Publication type
Article