Hearing Double: how to use the double bass in the VI Concerti Armonici by Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer.

Eva Euwe

Name: Eva Euwe Main Subject: Violone Research Supervisor: Johannes Boer Title of Research: Hearing Double Research Question: Was the double bass used in the VI Concerti Armonici by Unico Wilhelm Van Wassenaer, and if so, how was it used? Summary of Results: As far as we know, the VI Concerti Armonici by Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer were written for a chamber music setting with one instrument per part. We do not know which basso continuo instrumentation was intended or preferred by the composer, but it could have been possible that a double bass was to be used. At that time in the Netherlands, double basses and bassists were around and it is not unlikely that they also played in relatively small settings such as chamber music. If the double bass played the basso continuo line in this piece, there are many reasons that it was used in a different way than the more usual 'concerto grosso' style of playing the continuo line. It is also likely that instead of a double bass, a smaller bass instrument in the 8 foot register was used to double the continuo line with. This would be an instrument that is perhaps bigger than most baroque cellos and close to a basse de violon or a G-violone. To illustrate these possibilities, I have recorded several versions of the same Concerto with different basso continuo instrumentations. Biography: Eva Euwe (Amsterdam, 1988) studies historical double bass and violone with Margaret Urquhart at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague. She received her Bachelor’s diploma from the Utrecht Conservatory where she studied modern double bass with Quirijn van Regteren Altena. She received masterclasses from world-class bassists such as Joel Quarrington and Edicson Ruiz.  Alongside her studies, Eva works as a freelance bassist with several ensembles such as De Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht, BarokOpera Amsterdam and Música Temprana. She also performs with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment as a participant of the OAE Experience 2018.

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websites

https://www.greatbassviol.com/iconography.html accessed November 13, 2017.

https://rkd.nl, accessed February 5, 2018.

Musical scores and parts

van Wassenaer, Unico Wilhelm. VI Concerti Armonici. Unkown manuscript with autograph notes in the hand of Van Wassenaer. ca. 1740. NMI mf IX/193

____, Edition by Carlo Ricciotti (Den Haag, 1740). NMI mf IX/194.

____, Edition by J. Walsch, London. NMI mf IX/195

____, Edition with commentary by Albert Dunning. Monumenta Musica Europea, Turnhout, 2003.

Recordings with CD booklets

Van Wassenaer, Unico. VI Concerti Armonici. Innovation Chamber Ensemble, Richard Jenkins, Somm, 2016.

____, L'Orfeo Ensemble Di Spoleto & Hermans Consort, Fabrizio Ammetto, Bongiovanni, 2014.

____, The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Ton Koopman, Erato-Disques, 1988.

____, The Brandenburg Consort, Hyperion, 1993.

Image front page: Unkown painting, probably by Jan Josef Horemans (de jongere), 1714-1790

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