Its tuning, sound and modus sonare are described the reasons for the long-standing argument on this instrument are analyzed. The latter is defined as a late French viol with violin traits, which appeared circa 1725 as a viol response to the prestige of Italian violin music in France, and was used mostly during the Early Classic Period as an instrument favored by women. Chapter VI addresses late French viols and their violin traits, with a thorough study of the controversial quinton. Chapter V focuses on viol building in the German lands, placing German viols with violin traits in the context of the great diversity which characterized the German school of viol-making. The influence of Italian viols with violin traits upon English instruments and the role of the Amati viols as a source of inspiration for English makers - leading to the construction of viols with an arched back canted at the top - are discussed. A differentiation is provided between the six-string division-viol and the enigmatic six-string bass violin referred to by Talbot. Chapter IV is dedicated to England, centering on the violin-like English Division Viol, defined and considered in the light of historical sources such as Christopher Simpson and James Talbot (with a necessary correction offered for a mistake in the latter’s manuscript). The viols with violin traits made by the Amatis and Stradivari are studied, as well as the patterns and moulds employed to build them. Building trends in the making of viols with violin traits are described, identified with the cities of Brescia and Cremona, and a clear-cut model is defined, named as the El Greco model. The problematic status of viols with violin traits is discussed: if they should be considered as viols at all, and if their existence did represent any significant trend in Italian viol-making. Chapter III examines the variability of outline of Italian viols, defining their 4 basic designs (viol, violin, guitar and festoon). The second chapter provides an overview of the history of the viol in Europe, from its origins in Spain and its flowering in Italy, England, France and Germany, until its demise in the late 18th century it also addresses the viol as being more than an ensemble of organological features, as having a specific character, and defines viols with violin traits in relation to the viol and violin families. It begins with a large introductory chapter exposing the objectives of the present work the state of research to the present time specific problems of research (related to the reliability of extant instruments, the limitations of iconography and of terminology, missing instruments) empirical and literary sources and the methodology employed in the research. Volume I addresses History and Organology of viols with violin traits. The thesis supplies theoretical and historical background, extensive iconographical material and a Catalogue of 207 viols with violin traits, with the aim to provide tools to enable the identification of extant instruments which have been altered, and their restoration to the original state. Made by some of the very best makers in the history of lutherie (among them the Amatis, Maggini, Stradivari, Barak Norman, Castagneri), a significant number of such viols have been transformed into instruments of the violin family, due to their similarity with these.
The present thesis provides the first comprehensive study of the quinton and other viols with violin traits, an unstudied branch of the viol family.
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