The division viol is an English type of bass

viol The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitc ...

, which was originally popular in the mid-17th century, but is currently experiencing a renaissance of its own due to the movement for historically informed performance.

John Playford John Playford (1623–1686/7) was a London bookseller, publisher, minor composer, and member of the Stationers' Company, who published books on music theory, instruction books for several instruments, and psalters with tunes for singing in churc ...

mentions the division viol in his ''A Brief Introduction'' of 1667, describing it as smaller than a

consort __NOTOC__ Consort may refer to: Music * "The Consort" (Rufus Wainwright song), from the 2000 album ''Poses'' * Consort of instruments, term for instrumental ensembles * Consort song (musical), a characteristic English song form, late 16th–earl ...

bass viol, but larger than a

lyra viol The lyra viol is a small bass viol, used primarily in England in the seventeenth century. Described as "the smallest of the bass viols", one should consider that the consort bass was much larger in 17th century England than most bass viols nowa ...

."Division viol" As suggested by its name, ( divisions were a type of

variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individual ...

), the division viol is intended for highly ornamented music, and for

improvisations Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

. The division viol also had a very large range with the tuning D–G–c–e–a–d', resulting in the ability of skilled players to play divisions on any part in a

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

vocal piece. The division viol may be historically connected with the viola bastarda, and came into being in the mid-17th century in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Music for the division viol was mainly linear, although there were occasionally lyra-like passages, and music for it was written on a staff, rather than in

tablature Tablature (or tabulature, or tab for short) is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches. Tablature is common for fretted stringed instruments such as the guitar, lute or vihuela, as well as many fr ...

like the lyra viol's music. Christopher Simpson, a prominent viol player, wrote a treatise on how to play the division viol, aptly titled ''The Division-viol, or The Art of Playing ex tempore to a Ground'' (1665), and also ''The Division-Violist'' (1659). Both of these are frequently used as references by those interested in historically informed performance on the viol. Although the division viol is a specialized instrument for playing divisions, divisions of the same period that this instrument flourished were almost as likely to be played on a consort bass or a lyra viol, and instruments constructed as division viols were certainly used in consorts when called upon."Division"

References

*Frank Traficante. "Division viol", ''

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and the ...

'', ed. L. Macy (accessed July 29, 2006)
grovemusic.com
(subscription access). *Frank Traficante. "Division", ''

'', ed. L. Macy (accessed July 29, 2006)
grovemusic.com
(subscription access).

External links

(Simpson)

(Playford) {{Viol family Viol family instruments Renaissance music