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Originally Posted by Michael Glynn
Thanks for posting those references to the other thread. I just ran across that stuff and thought it was interesting to hear what people of their own time thought of those instruments.
I'm with you on the origins of the supposed "Bussetto" bass. I just noticed that the Viola d'amore Society of America says the viola d'amore first appeared around Munich, Salzburg, and Bohemia and only later appeared in Italy. Looking at a random selection of violas d'amore, it seems the vast majority of the old makers had German names, which would seem to support the theory of the German origin and production of that type of instrument. And of course, Mittenwald is quite close to Munich and Salzburg, so it isn't surprising to see some of the design elements I would associate with the viola d'amore in instruments from Mittenwald.
It looks like in your conversation with Michael Krahmer you have helped confirm what I have long suspected--that the entire reason we call rounded lower corners "busseto" corners comes from the very suspect attribution of that one old bass.
Do you have any idea why that bass would have been attributed to Busseto in the first place? Does it share any features with his known instruments?
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I have no clue or answers to this or why or when. Just that when I look at that bass, the bouts and style without the lower corners or sound holes, I see the word
GERMAN loud and clear. I have seen a few instruments in books by the real maker Busetto. These I recall were Violins. I will have to look again to see if there were any other small instruments. Looking though at Busetto's work, style, varnish, etc. I have no idea how his name was ever associated with this bass other than a bass that needed a name to fit a price point.
How many German and non-Italian Basses have we seen mis-named as Italians. Also, not ONLY Italian but the MOST famous names possible. Sounds like dealer tampering if you ask me.
I am not saying that this so called Busetto is not a great bass. Maybe it is the best sounding bass ever heard. It just doesn't make it Italian. Remember, Stainer who is from northwest Austria just below Germany reportedly trained with the Amati family. Mathias Klotz reportedly trained with Stainer and also a Fussen maker that was working in Italy. Then Klotz returned to Mittenwald and founded the school of Violin making there. That is some high class associations if you ask me. With those credentials I would expect his work and that of his followers to be of a high order if so desired. There are many appreciated Italian makers who had less of an association at their start so being German is not a crime, just a fact.
These big German basses from Mittenwald can stand up to just about any Italian Bass in a professional Orchestra from what I have heard and seen. Remember, those powerful sounding Orchestras of the 19th century were not Italian, English or French. They were from Germany and Central Europe. I once heard that if in the 18th or 19th century you wanted to play good music, you were told to go to Vienna! This is how many of the Italian Violins found their way to Vienna and how some of the makers learned about them. I have also read that the English learned a lot about Orchestra basses from visiting Orchestra and seeing the big German 4-stringers when the English were still playing on 3-strings.
.. I guess because there was no Internet back then or '
Ken's Corner', you had to wait for a visit from outside your area to learn of these things if not travel yourself to see it.