Ganassi, Silvestro di (EN)

Ganassi dal Fontego Silvestro di, *ca. 1492 Fontego (near Venice), †after 1542, Italian flautist and violist, teacher. In 1535, he was a musician of the Signoria of Venice. Ganassi’s works are manuals for playing the flute (Fontegara) and the viola da gamba (the other two). In the first, the author discusses the method of fingering, embouchure (also double embouchure) and the proper use of breathing. He emphasises the influence of these elements on achieving pure intonation, dynamic differentiation and the effects of expressive playing. He shows how to approach the ideal sound, which for him is the human voice. He teaches the performance of semitone, whole-tone and third trills and presents their varied expressive values. The scale he operates exceeds two octaves. In addition, Ganassi discusses at length the improvisational ornamentation of the melodic line, citing many diminutive figures (a copy of the print preserved in Wolfenbüttel contains over 170 further examples in this area written by Ganassi). Thanks to this part, Fontegara is a valuable source of knowledge not only about the way of playing the flute in the first half of the 16^th century, but also about the performance practice at that time in general. Ganassi’s two-part school for gambas, in addition to the description of the instruments, contains instructions on the technique of the left hand (grips reaching high positions, vibrato technique), different ways of bowing and the subject of solo playing, in an ensemble of violas and accompanying singers. It also discusses the method of intabulation of vocal pieces on the viol. In part 1, Ganassi also included 4 solo ricercaras of his own composition, and in part 2 another 4 and one arrangement of a madrigal for solo vocal and viola.

Literature: R. Eitner Schulwerke von 1535… (contains 5 pieces from Fontegara), “Monatshefte für Musikgeschichte” XX, 1888; E. Albini La Viola da gamba in Italia, “Revista Musicale Italiana” XXVIII, 1921; A. Moser Geschichte des Violinspiels, Berlin 1923; A. Dolmetsch The Interpretation of the Music of the 17th and 18th Centuries, London 1915, 2^nd ed. 1944; J. Wolf Handbuch der Notationskunde, vol. 2, (contains 2 ricercaras from Lettione seconda), Leipzig 1919; J. Bacher Die Viola da gamba (contains 5 ricercaras), Kassel 1932; E. Ferand Die Improvisation, Zurich 1938; A. Einstein The Italian Madrigal, vol. 2, Princeton 1949; I. Horsley Improvised Embellishment in the Performance of Renaissance Polyphonic Music, “Journal of the American Musicological Society” IV, 1951; G. Reese Music in the Renaissance, New York 1954, revised 2^nd ed. 1959; H. Peter An Introduction to Ganassi’s Treatise on the Recorder, “The Consort” XII, 1955; D. Kämper Studien zur Instrumentalen Ensemblemusik des 16. Jahrhunderts in Italien, “Analecta Musicologica” X, 1970; H.M. Brown Embellishing Sixteenth-Century Music, London 1976; R. D. Bodig S. Ganassis “Regola Rubertina” – Revelations and Questions, “Journal of Viola da Gamba Society of America” XIV, 1977; I. Gammie Ganassi: Regola Rubertina (1542). Lettione Secunda (1543). A Synopsis of the Text relating to the Viol, “Chelys” VIII, 1978–1979; M.V. Hulse Sixteenth-Century Embellishment Styles with Emphasis on Vocal-Ensemble Application, dissertation, Stanford University, 1988; H.W. Myers Renaissance Viol Tunings: A Reconsideration, “Journal of the Viola da Gamba Society of America” XLIV, 2007; T. Drescher Bellezza e bontà. Zur Transformation klanglicher Konzeptionen um 1500 am Beispiel der Viola da gamba in Italien – eine Einleitung, “Basler Jahrbuch für historische Musikpraxis” XXXV–XXXVI, 2011– 2012; T. Hirsch Nachweisorientierte Rekonstruktion einer RenaissanceViola da gamba nach Silvestro Ganassi, “Basler Jahrbuch für historische Musikpraxis” XXXV–XXXVI, 2011–2012; M. Kirnbauer Ganassi im Kontext – Bemerkungen zur Biographie von Silvestro Ganassi und seinem musikalischen Umfeld, “Basler Jahrbuch für historische Musikpraxis” XXXV–XXXVI, 2011–2012; M. Papiro Praticar l’armonia. Das Titelbild der Regola Rubertina von Silvestro Ganassi, “Basler Jahrbuch für historische Musikpraxis” XXXV–XXXVI, 2011–2012; M. di Pasquale Silvestro Ganassi: a documented biography, “Recercare” XXXI, 2019; D. Titan The Origins of Instrumental Diminution in Renaissance Venice, dissertation, Universiteit Utrecht, 2019; D. Titan The printing of Silvestro Ganassi’s Fontegara: a comparative survey of the extant copies, “Recercare” XXXIV, 2022.