The violino piccolo (also called the ''Diskantgeige'', ''Terzgeige'', ''Quartgeige'' or ''Violino alla francese'' and sometimes in
English
English usually refers to:
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Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
as the Piccolo Violin) is a small
stringed instrument
String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner.
Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the st ...
of the
baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...
period. Most examples are similar to a child's size
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...
in size, and are tuned a
minor third
In music theory, a minor third is a musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval number). The minor third is one of two com ...
(B
3–F
4–C
5–G
5) or a
fourth higher (C
4–G
4–D
5–A
5). The most famous work featuring violino piccolo is the first
Brandenburg Concerto
The ''Brandenburg Concertos'' by Johann Sebastian Bach ( BWV 1046–1051), are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, MacDonogh, Giles. ''Frederick the Great: A Life in D ...
of
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...
.
The best-known violino piccolo is the Brothers Amati example in the National Music Museum, in
Vermillion, South Dakota
Vermillion ( lkt, Waséoyuze; "The Place Where Vermilion is Obtained") is a city in and the county seat of Clay County. It is in the southeastern corner of South Dakota, United States, and is the state's 12th-largest city. According to the 2020 ...
. By modern measurements, the body is size, the neck size, and the head corresponds to that of a size instrument. The string length is the equivalent of a violin stopped a minor third from the nut, which corresponds with its normal tuning of a third higher than a violin. It's notated in E flat. This Amati violin also has fingerboard widths similar to that of a board cut a third shorter, which in view of the other measurements implies a clear conceptual relationship to the -sized violin.
When the
construction of the violin changed as the
rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
period began, it became possible to play many higher-pitched violin parts on a standard violin, and the piccolo was no longer considered necessary.
Violins of similar tuning have been built in modern times (specifically the soprano violin of the
new violin family
The violin octet is a family of stringed instruments developed in the 20th century primarily under the direction of the American luthier Carleen Hutchins. Each instrument is based directly on the traditional violin and shares its acoustical prop ...
) but have not yet been accepted as standard.
See also
*
Rabeca chuleira
The rabeca or rabeca chuleira is a fiddle originating in Portugal, commonly used in Portugal, Northeastern Brazil, where it is most commonly used in Brazilian forró music, and Cape Verde. It is descended from the medieval rebec.
History
The rab ...
, a short-scale Portuguese fiddle
*
Pochette (musical instrument)
References
External links
Violino Piccolo – Mark SheadThe Violino Piccolo in the Leipzig Orbit, 1650-1750
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Violin family instruments