Bettina Hoffmann
Catalogue of Solo and Chamber Music for Viola da Gamba
Ferrabosco, Alfonso II (?)
Two diminutions on «Vestiva i colli» («Sound out my voice») by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina:
- Sound out my voice Alfonso in viola bastarda style, D.246, pp. 135-137 (staff notation)
- Alfonsus, piece in bastarda or rather lyra viol style, D. 246, pp. 256-259 (staff notation); D.247, pp. 67-69 (tablature)
manuscript
GB-Ob ms.mus.sch. D.246 Merro, pp. 135-137; D. 246 Merro, pp. 256-259; D.247 Merro, pp. 67-69
For the identification of Alfonso as Alfonso Ferrabosco II see Ritchie, The pieces for viola bastarda, pp. 13-14.
Palestrina’s madrigal «Vestiva i colli», first published in Il Desiderio secondo libro de madrigali a cinque voci, Venezia, Scotto, 1566, became known to English musicians as «Sound out my voyce», included in Nicholas Younge’s collection Musica Transalpina, London, East, 1588.
It might be hypothesised that the anonymous piece on the pages following Sound out my voice Alfonso (D. 246, pp. 138-140, see), concluded by the word «fine», is related to this diminutions on Sound out my voice and possibly by Alfonso Ferrabosco II as well.
The second piece (Alfonsus) is characterised by elements of the viola bastarda (the madrigal as a basis, scales in 32nds, the wide range) with elements of the lyra viol (assiduous use of chords and bichords, scordatura of the sixth string in C, notation also in tablature).
Ashbee, Andrew, John Merro’s Manuscripts Revisited, «The Viola da Gamba Society Journal», 2013, vol 7, pp 1-19. http://vdgs.org.uk/journal/Vol-07.pdf
Morton, Joëlle, Redefining the Viola Bastarda: A Most Spurious Subject, «The Viola da Gamba Society Journal», 8, 2014, pp. 1-64. http://vdgs.org.uk/journal/Vol-08.pdf
Caroline Ritchie, The pieces for viola bastarda in John Merro’s partbooks, Gb-Ob Ms Mus Sch D.245-7. A preliminary investigation, Masterarbeit, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, 2011
