Violino Piccolo

Joseph Hill

ca. 1750 · Spruce, maple, ebony · Musical Instruments

This small-size violin is a rare form of the instrument known as a violino piccolo. Instruments such as this were used to play higher passages in ensemble music written in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Most famously, there is a part for a violino piccolo in J. S. Bach's first Brandenburg Concerto. As playing techniques changed in the second half of the eighteenth century, violinists began to shift their hands higher on the fingerboard, allowing them to play these higher passages on standard instruments. Surviving violinos piccolo are quite rare and significantly, this example retains its original internal bass bar and neck, parts that were often replaced in the nineteenth century. This instrument was in the personal collection of New York City violin dealer Rembert Wurlitzer and is attributed to the London maker Joseph Hill.

Artist

Joseph Hill

Date

ca. 1750

Medium

Spruce, maple, ebony

Culture

British

Department

Musical Instruments

Credit line

Purchase, Edward J. and Susan M. Greenberg Gift, 2022