Bettina Hoffmann
Catalogue of Solo and Chamber Music for Viola da Gamba
anonymous transcriber
transcription of: Froberger, Johann Jacob (Jakob)
Capriccio | A 3. Viol: di Gamb: | Froberger, for three violas da gamba and basso, transcription of the first bars of a composition by Johann Jacob Froberger, FbWV 512a
manuscript
D-W, Cod. Guelf. 34.7 Aug.2° (Jakob Ludwig Partitur Buch), p. 112, n. 64 (incomplete and crossed out)
The piece, notated in score, is interrupted after one line, i.e. eight bars, and crossed out; the piece does not appear in the register of the manuscript and the number 64 was reused for the following sonata.
It is a transcription of the beginning of a capriccio for keyboard instrument by Froberger, FbWV 512a, known from Johann Valentin Eckelt's Tabulaturbuch of 1692, fol. 34v-39r. Some minor differences in bars 6-7 can be explained by the fact that there the keyboard version has four parts, rendered in the viol version by three viols. The title of FbWV 512a is Canzona, while the version FbWV 512 bears the title Capriccio.
The three violas da gamba are noted in the keys of C3, C4 and F4. The incipit is suitable for a tenor viol and two basses, but the following music - not transcribed - would have required treble, alto-tenor and bass. In addition, the transcription adds a fourth staff for an accompanying bass, which at the beginning is a basso seguente and then follows the part of the third viola with some simplifications.
