(from It. doppio: ‘double’).
A woodwind instrument of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, known principally in Italy. Zacconi (1592) gave the ranges of three sizes of doppioni: soprano (canto), c'–d''; tenor, c–d'; and bass,C–a. These were repeated by Cerone (1613), who translated the name into Spanish as ‘doblados’. Praetorius (1618) referred directly to Zacconi’s description, stating that he had been unable to find such an instrument, but supposing that it might be similar to his wind-cap Kortholt or to the Sordun or the Cornamusa (i). The restricted range of a 9th for soprano and tenor has led to the assumption that the doppioni had a wind cap (see Wind-cap instruments). Sachs believed that ‘doppioni’, ‘crumhorn’ and ‘dolzaina’ were different names for the same instrument; he claimed that it was called ‘double’ because its pitch was an octave lower than its size suggested (owing to its having a cylindrical bore); that is, it sounded at a pitch one would expect from an instrument ‘double’ the length. Kinsky regarded as untenable Sachs’s theory that the three names referred to the same instrument since Zacconi listed the doppioni alongside both the crumhorn (‘cornamuto torto’) and dolzaina. He did, however, favour their identification as wind-cap instruments.
It is more likely that the doppioni was so called because it had two separate bores. Two instruments of this type survive in the Accademia Filarmonica in Verona and are described in Weber and van der Meer. Each of these has two cylindrical bores tuned about a 4th apart, effectively combining two instruments in one, though both cannot be played at the same time. They have tenons, as if for wind caps, but the tenons are perforated, implying that a transverse pin was fitted. The caps therefore could not have been airtight, and the instrument was presumably played with a reed on a brass crook which could be inserted into either bore. It is possible that these two examples were originally wind-cap instruments which were later adapted for open reeds, the caps (now lost) being retained as protective covers. Doppioni thus appear to represent an experiment in combining two instruments in one to give the player a choice of ranges. The much larger range given by Zacconi for the bass instruments compared with the soprano and tenor may be the result of his giving the combined ranges of both bores for a bass/great bass size, but the range of only one bore each for the soprano/alto and the alto/tenor or tenor/bass sizes. An inventory from Modena of 1600 lists 12 instruments da due registri, l’uno di più sorte, which may be doppioni.
PraetoriusSM, ii
L. Zacconi: Prattica di musica (Venice, 1592/R)
D.P. Cerone: El melopeo y maestro (Naples, 1613/R)
C. Sachs: ‘Doppioni und Dulzaina: zur Namensgeschichte des Krummhorns’, SIMG, xi (1909–10), 590–93
G. Kinsky: ‘Doppelrohrblatt-Instrumente mit Windkapsel’, AMw, vii (1925), 253–96
R. Weber and J.H. van der Meer: ‘Some Facts and Guesses concerning Doppioni’, GSJ, xxv (1972), 22–9
B.R. Boydell: The Crumhorn and Other Renaissance Windcap Instruments (Buren, 1982)
K.T. Meyer: The Crumhorn: its History, Design, Repertory, and Technique (Ann Arbor, 1983)
BARRA R. BOYDELL