CHAMBER BASS
OR
BASSO DI CAMERA
The chamber bass shown above is owned by Dr Eric Bloomfield of Barnet, Hertfordshire, England. The following appeared as a letter in The Strad in March 1988.
The very bulk and power of the modern orchestral double bass presents problems of mobility and musical balance to the chamber music player.This dilemma was recognised around 1820, when an amateur in the Treasury of London, named Barraud, devised an instrument midway between 'cello and bass. He persuaded a number of well known luthiers including Kennedy, Morrison and Gilkes to make them and christened it the Basso di Camera. Tuned in fifths using four strings, it is played an octave below the 'cello, and could easily be played with standard (although rather stretched) cello technique.
The bottom string (C'), however, was rather inadequate. Various solutions were proposed for this, including double wire covering, but a Mr Thomas Hancock, a cellist in the Royal Opera Orchestra in the 1840's, had another proposal. He dispensed with the C' string altogether and left the lowest one at G', thus presenting fewer problems for the cellist (the top string now being A°). When playing classical chamber music on the three stringed version (in particular Schubert's Trout Quintet) the music's occasional forays below the line can be played by octave transposition..
Although many of these instruments were probably cut down into 'cellos, a magnificent example of this rare beast has survived unharmed (see photos). made by William Booth Snr. (1779 - 1858), originally a hairdresser, it is inscribed inside with the following:
"This Chamber Double Bass
Made by William Booth, Mill Hill,
Leeds In the year of our Lord 1821
for Dr Hay... of Cambridge
being the 3rd that has been known
to be made in this country"
The words "Basso di Camera" are also written in ink below the tailpiece, and there is a seal of a deer below the button.
In completely original condition, it has been adapted to the three string mode. The original tailpiece etc have been preserved for any future reversion as happened recently (see below).
The superbly carved scroll head has machine pegs mounted in ivory and rosewood, and the dimensions are:
Cm | |
| Length of Body | 80 |
| Depth of body | 16.5 |
| Upper Bouts | 46 |
| Lower Bouts | 56 |
| Bridge to Nut | 72.5 |
After much experimentation with strings, the best were Spirocore Soft contrabass viola da gamba (violine) strings by Thomastik, while a double bass bow has proved ideal.
The Instrument described above is now in regular use in chamber music, where its modest yet correctly sounding tone provides excellent balance. It even had an airing at the Proms in August 1987 when it was played in a Lully Divertissement. Perhaps the time is now right for modern copies of this elegant yet robust specimen of the luthier's art to grace our domestic music making?
Dr Eric Bloomfield
Barnet, Herts"