Baryton
1686 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The baryton is a stringed instrument, played with a bow like a cello. It is fitted with six strings which supply the melody, and a series of wire strings at the back, which are either plucked with the left thumb or allowed to vibrate freely as the instrument is played.
This example is dated 1686, and was made by Joachim Tielke (1641-1719) of Hamburg, who made a large number of stringed instruments, highly sought after by royalty and nobility. The most famous baryton composer was Josef Haydn (1732-1809) who wrote a large number of pieces for his patron, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy (1714-1790), a Hungarian nobleman and an enthusiastic baryton player.
This example is dated 1686, and was made by Joachim Tielke (1641-1719) of Hamburg, who made a large number of stringed instruments, highly sought after by royalty and nobility. The most famous baryton composer was Josef Haydn (1732-1809) who wrote a large number of pieces for his patron, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy (1714-1790), a Hungarian nobleman and an enthusiastic baryton player.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 17 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Carved pine pegbox, pine top and burr maple sides and back, with gilt and stained tailpiece; carved and pierced maple board running parallel to ivory neck |
| Brief description | German (Hamburg) 1686. Joachim Tielke and box for strings |
| Physical description | Belly of pine, with 'flame' holes and with double purfling forming small decorative knots at the indentations between the bottom lobes of the festooned body. Two-piece back with signs of a wax seal. At the base, a ferrule for resting the instrument on the floor, and a hook-bar. The pegbox is carved on the back with figures in relief. A carved triple lion's head forms the finial. On the treble side of the pegbox is a narrow cavity accommodating the boxwood pegs of the six playing strings, which run to a tailpiece in the shape of two savages, carved in wood stained black and partly gilt. The twenty-five wire sympathetic strings run from wrest pins in the main width of the pegbox, thence behind a pierced and carved neck and under a frame, across which is stretched some silk material, to their attachment on a fixed bridge glued obliquely to the belly. Some old holes into the pegbox show that this arrangement has been altered at some time. The instrument is furnished with two bows and also a shaped cardboard box which can be fitted exactly into the hollow behing the neck; this box contains eight spools of brass wire of various gauges, and manuscript sheets and cards giving the gauges and tunings of the sympathetic strings. The corresponding gauges are marked in ink alongside the appropriate wrest pins on the instrument itself. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Unique |
| Marks and inscriptions | JOACHIM TIELKE/ IN HAMBURG FECIT/ ANNO 1686 (1) Makers's mark 2) Signature; Latin; Capital; Beneathe pierced and carved board running alongside the neck of the instrument; ink; Tielke; 1686)
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| Gallery label | BARYTON by Joachim Tielke, Hamburg. 1686, inscribed Joachim Tielke/ in Hamburg fecit/ Anno. 1686. Pine top, maple back and sides, stained maple bridge, maple neck and tuning head, ebony finger board. The tailpiece is decorated with Indians.
The instrument has six strings over the finger board and twenty-two sympathetic ones underneath.
Museum No.: 115-1865
Non-Keyboard Catalogue No.: 2/6
The baryton was most frequently played in Central Europe from about 1640 until about 1800. Joseph Haydn composed a large number of baryton pieces for his patron, Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy, an enthusiastic player of this instrument. The upper strings were tuned like a bass viol (D-G-c-e-a-d') and played with a bow. The sympathetic strings were either played with the left thumb or allowed to vibrate freely.
Joachim Tielke (1641 - 1719) settled in Hamburg in 1667,
where he made fine instruments, of which nearly a hundred still survive.(pre September 2000) |
| Object history | Bought from M. Baur, Paris, £40. 0. 0. 'Viola da Bardone (see C. Engels Print catalogue)' Conserved 1968 by Reg Dee (V&A Conservation dept.) |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | The baryton is a stringed instrument, played with a bow like a cello. It is fitted with six strings which supply the melody, and a series of wire strings at the back, which are either plucked with the left thumb or allowed to vibrate freely as the instrument is played. This example is dated 1686, and was made by Joachim Tielke (1641-1719) of Hamburg, who made a large number of stringed instruments, highly sought after by royalty and nobility. The most famous baryton composer was Josef Haydn (1732-1809) who wrote a large number of pieces for his patron, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy (1714-1790), a Hungarian nobleman and an enthusiastic baryton player. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 115 to B, D to Q-1865 |
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| Record created | May 16, 2001 |
| Record URL |
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