A family of late 16th century double-reed, conically bored wind instruments, softer in tone than shawms or curtals. No example survives, although bassanelli were described and illustrated by Praetorius (2/1619). They had seven finger-holes, the lowest controlled by a key, the lower part of which was covered by an elaborate fontanelle. A reed was fitted to a bassoon-like crook. Uniquely among Renaissance wind instruments bassanelli possessed a remarkable amount of decorative turnery. It has been suggested (Foster, 1992) that the bassanelli illustrated by Praetorius were of five-part jointed construction, the joints being strengthened and disguised with bulbous collars or bracelets; by extending or contracting these joints, a tuning variation of a semitone may have been obtainable. Praetorius listed three sizes capable of playing a range of about an octave and a 4th above C (bass), G (tenor/alto) and d (cantus).
Although Praetorius attributed the invention of the instrument to Giovanni Bassano, it seems most likely that the inventor was his father, Santo Bassano, who was awarded a patent for a new instrument on 13 June 1582 (Ongaro, p.412). Others have argued that the inventor was Jeronimo Bassano (i), perhaps in 1503 (Ruffatti). Instruments identifiable as bassanelli appear in three published inventories: Graz, between 1577 and 1590 (Schlosser, p.20); Verona, 1593 (Castellani, p.16); and Cassel, 1613 (Baines, p.30).
PraetoriusSM
J. von Schlosser: Die Sammlung alter Musikinstrumente (Vienna, 1920/R)
A. Baines: ‘Two Cassel Inventories’, GSJ, iv (1951), 30–38
M. Castellani: ‘A 1593 Veronese Inventory’, GSJ, xxvi (1973), 15–24
G.M. Ongaro: ‘New Documents on the Bassano Family’, EMc, xx (1992), 409–13
C. Foster: ‘The Bassanelli Reconstructed: a Radical Solution to an Enigma’, EMc, xx (1992), 417–25
A. Ruffatti: ‘La famiglia Piva-Bassano nei documenti degli archivi di Bassano del Grappa’, Musica e storia, vi (1998), 349–67
CHARLES FOSTER