Instruction or a Method for the Viola da Gamba
| Facsimile of the treatise with introduction and translation |
The treatise Instruction or a Method for the Viola da Gamba is unique in the history of the viola da gamba. No other German text from the Renaissance or Baroque periods which deals exclusively with this instrument and provides technical instruction on fingering and bowing has survived or is even known by name. However, the Instruction will not only interest gamba players: independent from other treatises, its advice on performance practice is a valuable stone in our all too patchy view of the mosaic of German music in the first half of the eighteenth century, and it is a testimony from the areal and temporal environment of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Complete facsimile including a transcription of the German text, an English translation and an extensive introduction by the editor Bettina Hoffmann.