Giants of the dulcian family: an exploration of the doppelfagott and the fagotcontra in music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

Verschuren, W. (2023) Giants of the dulcian family: an exploration of the doppelfagott and the fagotcontra in music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Doctoral thesis, Royal College of Music.

Abstract

For more than a century, large dulcians were the lowest existing loud wind instruments next to the bass bombard and the bass sackbut. This thesis investigates the use of the quart-, quint-, and octave-bass dulcian from the moment of their creation in the second half of the sixteenth century until they retire from the music stage at the end of the seventeenth century, focussing on their repertory, geographical presence, makers, players, and their construction. Large dulcians were especially favoured by the powerful Austrian Habsburg family, who held the title of Holy Roman Emperor for generations. Originating from the northeast of the Italian peninsula near Venice, large dulcians were predominantly used at the Habsburg courts and in the German-speaking states ruled by the emperor. They were put on bass parts in large-scale compositions, often following the fashionable Venetian polychoral style. Such grand works, employing a large number of musicians, were expensive to stage. Therefore, it is possible to recognize regions and periods of peace and prosperity in which large dulcians flourished and other times when they were in decline, such as the Thirty Years’ War in the German-speaking states. The writings of Michael Praetorius give a detailed insight into the use of large dulcians in music from the second half of the sixteenth century in which the instrumentation was omitted, as was often the case. The lesser-known “Instrumentälischer Bettlermantl”, a musical compendium dating from the middle of the seventeenth century, provides valuable information concerning large dulcians in the middle of the seventeenth century. This thesis includes a thorough examination of the ten instruments that survived the perils of time currently preserved in collections in Germany and Austria, and a list of repertory containing parts for great-bass dulcian.

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