Front cover image for Geometry, proportion, and the art of lutherie : a study of the use and aesthetic significance of geometry and numerical proportion in the design of European bowed and plucked string instruments in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries

Geometry, proportion, and the art of lutherie : a study of the use and aesthetic significance of geometry and numerical proportion in the design of European bowed and plucked string instruments in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries

A study of the use and aesthetic significance of geometry and numerical proportion in the design of European string instruments in the 16th to 18th centuries.
Print Book, English, 1985
Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1985
viii, 178 pages : illustrations ; 32 cm
9780198161394, 9780198162469, 0198161395, 0198162464
10277402
1. Introduction
2. A mathematical background
3. Geometry, a short history
4. Proportion : Types of proportion ; Rational and irrational numbers ; Golden section, and the Fibonacci numbers ; The root proportional ; The vesica piscis ; The ionic volute in the geometry of the head ; Systems of measurement
5. The instruments : The drawings ; The analyses ; Categorization ; Selection of examples
6. Analysis of instrument examples : Viols : Bass viol, Pelegrino di Zanetto (c. 1550) ; Treble viol, Giovanni Maria da Brescia (c. 1575) ; Bass viol, Battista Ciciliano (c. 1590) ; Tenor viol, Henry Jaye (1667) ; Bass viol, Joachim Tielke (c. 1700) ; Pardessus de viole, Louis Guersan (1759). Liras da braccio : Lira da braccio, Giovanni Maria da Brescia (c. 1575) ; Lira da braccio, Gasparo da Salò (c. 1585) ; Lira da braccio (maker unkown) (c. 1570). Violins (viola, violoncello) : Violin (small model), Andrea Amati (1564) ; Violin, Nicola Amati (c. 1670) ; Violin, Antonio Stradivari (1666) ; Violin, Antonio Stradivari (1703) ; Viola, Giovanni Paolo Maggini (c. 1610) ; violoncello, Barak Norman (1718). Violas d'amore : Viola d'amore (maker unkown) (c. 1750) ; English violet, Paulus Alletsee (1724). Kits or pochettes : Pochette, Gaspar Borbon (1686) ; Pochette d'amour, Battista Genova (c. 1760). Lutes : Lute (drawings), Henricus Arnault (c. 1460) ; Tenor lute, Hans Frei (c. 1550) ; Alto lute, Giovanni Hieber (c. 1580) ; Chitarrone, Matteo Buechenberg (1614) ; Theorbo, Jacobus Henricus Goldt (1734) ; Theorbo, Michael Rauche (1762). Mandore and mandolines : Mandore (maker unknown) (c. 1640) ; Milanese mandoline, attr. Antonio Stradivari (c. 1710) ; Neapolitan mandoline, Johannes Vinaccia (1753). Citterns : Cittern (maker unknown) (c. 1650?) ; Bell cittern, Joachim Tielke (1676). Guitars : Guitar, Belchio Diaz (1582) ; Guitar, Christopho Cocho (1602) ; Chitarra battente/guitar, Mango Longo (1624)
7. Summary of analyses
8. Observations
9. Conclusions