Gasparo da Salò

Gasparo da Salò.

Gasparo da Salò (May 20, 1542, Salò - April 14, 1609) is the name given to Gasparo di Bertolotti, one of the earliest violin makers and expert double bass player of which many and very detailed historical records (about 100 documents and over 80 original instruments) exist.

He was born in Salò on Lake Garda, in a family with legal, artistic, musical and craft interests. His grandfather Santino, a land and flock owner, probably producer of musical gut strings, moved from Polpenazze to Salò, capital of the Riviera del Garda, to give more opportunities to the family. The art and music scene in Salò was very rich and vibrant. Gasparo is the son and grandson of two brothers musicians, players and composers of the highest professional level, Francesco and Agostino, specialized enough to be called in documents “the violì” or even in extended form, to avoid doubts, “ the violini”. [1] 

Uncle Agostino in addition to being an expert in musical instruments [2], will become the first Kapellmeister of Salò and his son Bernardino, Gasparo's cousin, become a virtuoso musician (violinist and trombonist) working prior in Ferrara at the powerful Este music court, then in Mantua by Vincenzo Gonzaga I during Monteverdi presence, and then went to Rome as "Musician of His Holiness the Pope in the Castle of S.Angel. " 

Gasparo's musical education, certainly of the highest level seen the previous environment, takes place in the family life and in the wake of ever higher goals achieved by the lyra and viola players from Salò active in the Basilica of St. Marco in Venice, and from the Brescian violinists active also in Venice and in the European courts from the early 1540 until the end of the century. The deep musical performing education, most likely has been reached by emulation of parents, and accompanying the family violin duo, since in a document in Bergamo, in 1604, concerning music in S. Maria Maggiore, is cited as a very talented violone player. 

When his father died, around 1562, he moved to Brescia. Immediately rent a house with shop in a neighborhood hub of musical life, the Contrada Antegnati, for the presence of the famous dynasty of organ builders and other skilled multi-instrumentalists in the Second Quadra St. John, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio del Podestà (now Via Cairoli) and married soon after. The ability to rent almost immediately a house with shop, in addition to the little possibilities derived from the division of inheritance, not certainly conspicuous for the number of brothers and sisters, can be derived almost certainly from an already very good string making trade, because three years after, work and earns allow him to marry Isabetta Cassetti daughter of a potter artisan and glassmaker. Besides that, maintains friendly relations and involvement with professional artistic reasons with Girolamo Virchi, one of the most prominent artist-craftsmen of the city, defined in the 1563 document "maestro de musica instrumentis", which in 1565 will be godfather of Gasparo's son Francesco, the first of six others, three males called Marcantonio, two of whom died almost immediately, and three daughters. 

In addition, in that neighborhood lived two very famous organists of Brescia Cathedral, Fiorenzo Mascara and his successor Costanzo Antegnati, and a very good violin player, Giuseppe Biagini. Like many other Brescian multi-instrumentalists, Mascara was also an excellent viola da gamba player. The direct knowledge of, and friendship with Virchi and Antegnati's work open up new artistic horizons and consequently new strings and violins concept and sound. Appraisal of the Policy of 1568 (a tax return) testifies to a flourishing business, which will continue in significant growth. In 1575 bought a house in the Cossere district, his historic headquarter, and subsequently many goods. His workshop quickly became one of the most important in Europe, if not the most important, in the second half of 1500 for the production of every type of stringed instrument of the time. Developed an art to a very high level, and passed it to 5 students: the eldest son Francisco, the Frenchman Alexandro de Marsiliis (from Marseille, France), Giovanni Paolo Maggini from Botticino in the surroundings of Brescia, Jacomo de Lafranchini from Valle Camonica, and a certain, not well identified Baptista. Exports reached Rome, Venice and France, as is clear from the Policy of 1588 and other documents, buying strings and precious woods for his art from Rome and Venice. The business allowed him to acquire extensive landholdings in the territory of Calvagese, with adjoining manor houses and farmhouses. Gasparo, humanly, is also revealed careful and sensitive. After have done assistance to his sister Ludovica, acts as guardian to the three sons of his wife brother, Rocco Cassetti, presumably dead, with his own wife, in the plague of 1577. 

He died April 14, 1609. The short but highly significant death act is known and reads: Messer Gasparo Bertolotti maestro di violini is dead & buried in Santo Joseffo. The exact location where his remains lie in the Brescia musical Pantheon, in company with Antegnati Costanzo, Don Cesare Bolognini and Benedetto Marcello, unfortunately is not known. One of his most famous double basses, with the rapidity of response similar to that of a violin (a property of the XVIII-XIX century virtuoso Domenico Dragonetti) is preserved today in the Basilica of San Marco in Venice; a second, exceptionally rare, in practice a real unicum worldwide in what still also has the original head with six holes for the pegs of a violone contrabasso, has been discovered by roman master Luigi Ottaviani in the stores of, and now is on display, in the Museum of Musical Instruments in Rome. 

Artistic life 

It is debatable whether Gasparo da Salò or others like Gasparo Duiffopruggar or Andrea Amati were the first to produce the violin in its basically modern form; surely Gasparo developed an instrument of modern character, very powerful in tone (the violins at that time had to play mixed with cornettos and trombones in open air places during processions) and very quick in response, that was later studied by Stradivari between 1690 and 1700 for the model called Long Strads. In this last years of studies on the growing of the brescian strings instruments and of violin in early times, come evident the opera of the an anonymous master of 1495 for viols and the Micheli dynasty from Montichiari (Brescia)active from 1520-25 and the oldest in the world. The instruments from Brescia, in all the Renaissance period from 1490, were spread all over Europe and more requested in high musical courts than Cremonese ones until 1630 year in which the plague killed all the best brescian masters, giving opportunity for Cremona to raise his trade; a reply of Fulgenzio Micanzio to a letter of Galileo Galilei of 1636 testifies it: "the instruments from Brescia are easy to buy..." and another document testify " because you can find its in every corner...". It is also very interesting to state that the word "violino" appear in Brescia archive documents starting from 1530 and in Cremona only in the last two decades of XVI century. Some of the brescian violins were wonderfully decorated, others have some rough features of finishing but all always have a perfect very powerful and beautiful tone.

Gasparo start the activity and continues it when is not yet extinct the musical style of early sixteenth century, in which vocal and instrumental full emancipation stimulate each other. For this reason his production covers all possible variants of string instruments, both as a organological type, as both as variety of models, with a sporadic production of cetere (cittern), dating to the decades following the death of Girolamo Virchi. 

He built violins with measures already perfect for a modern violin, in an era not yet standardized, as well as small models, but are typical the particularly large; built violas of different sizes from small to very large (39 to 44.5 cm, both alto and tenor, in turn large or small in size, sometimes with only two corners), violas da gamba, violins, cellos, violones, probably lyre and lironi. 

It is important to follow the evolution of its production from the numerous references in the many documents regarding violin making in Brescia, scattered throughout the world by Livi and Foffa, and other historians of early twentieth century. Gasparo is revealed as early as 1568 and until 1579 as “maestro di violini”. It should be noted, however, that the title of the manufacturer in Brescia "master of the violin," is clearly distinct in contemporary documents from the period of "sonadore de violini" (the violin players); the title of master start since 1558 and is attributed first to such Guglielmo Frigiadi and Francesco Inverardi before Gasparo, which at that time was still in Salò. Curiously, his oldest competitor, Andrea Amati, of which we know so far, will not recognize this honor, and will not have the wealth of evidence of documents on violin making like Gasparo (eleven for Amati, slightly less than a hundred for Gasparo ), the only one document that clearly mentions the work of Amati is also the last to see him alive, it is very late, of 1576, eight years after the Gasparian and says simply: "l'arte sua è de far strumenti da sonar” ("his art is of making instruments to play") without mentioning, like in all the others, to the acclaimed violin, which Amati, has practiced seems since around 1560 and apparently with great success. 

From 1581 and until 1588 the mentions of Gasparo like master of violin (begun in 1568), is further and substantially changed and specified for 9 times, with various quotations in Latin, in “artefici (or artifex) instrumentorum musicorum” (maker of musical instruments) and twice in Italian “artefice d'istrumenti musici” (maker of instruments for music) and “instrumenti de musicha” (of music) in order to emphasize his mastery of all kinds. 

In 1585 he resumed the old tradition of "master of violins”, which will continue to be his specialty from 1591 until his death. The number of violin citations is interrupted briefly in February and March of 1597 with that of magister (o magistero) a citharis (magister of citterns), that's special and sought after type of instrument called cetra, or more commonly cetera. Of him remains a significant though not very high number of instruments certainly true, about eighty, very rare examples exceptional mastery of violin making, with exceptional sound characteristics. 

The best of Gasparo are violas and double basses, favorite from virtuosos worldwide for their powerful sound, preferred to those of Stradivari, together with those of his pupil Maggini, since all have a very full-bodied tone and penetrating , a fast response and a power unsurpassed, designed by Antonio Stradivari in 1690 and 1700, that is 100 years later of violin making changes, after the Gasparian goals. It was also greatly re-evaluated by Charles Beare and others [3] its importance with regard to the canonization of the characteristics of the oldest and finest violins in the world with a strict technical comparison on sound with the best works of the last period of Guarneri del Gesu, such as the violin Vieuxtemps in 1741, in which Guarneri copied very strictly the arching used by Gasparo, which developed an instrument of modern character, very powerful in tone (the violins at that time had to play very loudly, mixed with cornettos and trombones in open air places during processions. Gasparo made, probably with the help of Virchi for the outlines and decorative part, a truly unique, wonderful violin that belonged from 1570 to the Archduke Ferdinand I of Tyrol. The masterpiece was then inserted into the Habsburg imperial collections, and after being gone from them, was bought in 1841 by the Norwegian virtuoso Ole Bull, who used it, along with a magnificent Guarneri del Gesu and Nicolo Amati large model, for nearly forty years tour of frenzied, fiery improvisation and repertory. The violin has measures, profile, and set the perfect violin characters like stated in the most recent international meeting, held in 2009 in Salò as a team of interdisciplinary studies [4] which has corrected dubious attributions of the masterpiece [5], in addition to that, the violin has virtuoso purfling made of 5 very thin layers of ebony and figue wood chained in arabesques inlaid on bottom, while the head is decorated with a beautiful golden polychrome sculpture, a pitto' head and an angel, originally embellished with gemstones and golden studs. 

For his artistic versatility and for the transition period in which Gasparo operated, many of the characteristics of Gasparian art are yet to be fully appreciated through a really deep study of all its production, both modern models and hybrids with the oldest (lyre, lironi, viola da brazzo, also with only one pair of corners, viola da gamba with and without corners, citterns). 

The sound of genuine Gasparo instruments is always very strong, powerful, and speedy, but a little dark, typical of the Brescian school, like that of viola da braccio. Some of his violins desclosed the door for the Guarneri idea of one of the best violin sound in the world.

Gasparo as already stated, was a double bass virtuoso, which makes us understand his high knowledge of the instrument. For a religious ceremony in St. Maria Maggiore in Bergamo in 1604, is paid more than double the other, as violone player. 

==Notes== 

   1. ^ Documents are reproduced in A. M. Mucchi, “Gasparo da Salò” , 1940

   2. ^ Catalog "Gasparo da Salò architetto del suono", pg. 16  

   3. ^ Catalogue of the international exhibition on Giovanni Paolo Maggini held in Brescia in 2007  

   4. ^ City of Salò, Celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the death of Gasparo da Salò, organological and music instruments exhibition, and conference "Gasparo da Salo architetto del suono" Salò 4 to 27 April 2009, where was presented, for first and unique time outside Norway, the Ole Bull violin, a very special loan from the Vestlandske Kustindustrimuseum of Bergen (Norway), and instruments from the National Museum of Musical Instruments in Rome, the Bank fur Staats Baden Wurttemberg (Karlsruhe), the Vettori Collection (Florence), the Biondo collection (Salò) and documents from the Brescia State Archive, catalog and study day have seen contributions from Marco Bizzarrini, Marcella Borgogni, Brigitte Maria Brandmair, Casali Flavio, Flavio Dassenno, Benjamin Hebbert, Rudolph Hopfner, Harald Herresthal, Trond Indahl, Mariella Marchina Annibale, Attilio Mazza, Luigi Ottaviani , Stefano Pio. See also: Ole Bull Celebration, Bergen 4 to 6 June 2010, Conference on Ole Bull's violins. 

   5. ^ Catalog "Gasparo da Salo architect of sound," pp. 80 et seq. 

References

• Anton Maria Mucchi, Gasparo da Salò. Hoepli, Milano, 1940
• Farga, Franz, Violins & Violinists. Trans. Egon Larson with Bruno Raikin. New York: Frederick A. Prager, 1969.
• Andrews, Robert, Gasparo Bertolotti da Salo. Berkley 1953.
• Dassenno, Flavio - Ravasio, Ugo Gasparo da Salò e la liuteria bresciana tra rinascimento e barocco . Brescia 1990.
• Dassenno, Flavio Per gli occhi e 'l core. Strumenti musicali nell'arte. Cortefranca, 2004.
• Dassenno, Flavio (a cura di) "Gasparo architetto del suono", Città di Salò, 2009.
• Elgar, Raymond (1967). Looking at the Double Bass. Baskerville Press. 

Persondata
Name	Da Salo, Gasparo
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1540
Place of birth
Date of death	April 14, 1609
Place of death