Basso-relievo

“ These testimonies, of ancient poets and historians conjoined, prove it to be an art of the greatest antiquity. Cicero also mentions it; and it is affirmed that, with this machine, the Greeks and Romans [Pg 21] turned all kinds of urns and vases, and adorned them with ornaments in basso relievo. If to Turning we really owe those treasures of other days which are found buried among the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii—treasures so valued by the antiquary as a memorial of former ages; by the lover of the fine arts as beautiful and graceful additions to his cabinet of curiosities ”

“ The space between four of the pillars is formed into a small temple sacred to Mahadeva, and has an entrance on each side guarded by colossal figures. On the walls are several groups of figures in basso-relievo, evidently relative to the Hindoo mythology, and principally to Mahadeva: many of the figures are of colossal dimensions, and well executed. To the east and west are small apartments, decorated also in the same manner. ”

“ This Gate of the Jumma Musjed, or principal place of worship of the Mahommedans, was erected, together with the Mosque, by the Emperor Shah Jehan, in the year 1650 of the Christian era. The materials are of reddish stone, brought from the neighbouring Mewat hills, and white Cashmerian marble. The spires on the small domes are gilt. The folding doors are covered with brass, very neatly ornamented with a regular design in basso relievo. The whole is of excellent workmanship. ”

“ The upper portion of the white stone screen behind the alabaster work is also divided into five compartments of open work with geometrical tracery; in front rise five gables, the centre being larger and higher than the others. The outer mouldings of the centre gable are enriched with foliated crocketing with which is intermixed the early church symbol—pelican feeding her young—and the apex surmounted by a figure of our Lord enthroned: the inner portion of the gable contains, in a trefoil, a basso-relievo of the Annunciation, in alabaster. ”

“ The basso continuo of certain organists, who have fallen asleep over their pedals, soon becomes an intolerable nuisance for the audience. We should go wild at a performance of a symphony in which the double-basses played uninterruptedly from the first note to the last. Plain-song itself, thus interpreted, loses its eloquence; although the apparent monotony of its design, closely confined within the limits of an octave, would, above all, seem to be better adapted than any other form of music to a continuous bass. ”

“ Whether a bass melody be set against upper voices, or upper voices be concerted against one another upon a background of basso continuo, always sound-worlds of characteristic expression-quality work reciprocally upon one another in the infinity of tonal space, supporting, intensifying, raising, illuminating, threatening, overshadowing—a 231music all of interplay, scarcely intelligible save through ideas of contemporary Analysis. ”

“ As Freke drew the bow across the G-string, he would bring out tones as deep as the ’cello, while suddenly the sharp cry of the treble would cut into the somber depths of the basso like the shriek of a soul in torment. A melody like a wandering spirit appeared out of the deep harmonies, and lost, yet ever found, would make itself heard with a sweet insistence, only to be swallowed up in a tempest of sound, like a bird lost in a storm. And presently there was an abatement, then a calm, and the music died, literally, amid the twilight dusk and gloom. ”

“ THE Primo Basso is to the primo tenore what the draught horse is to the racer; drawing along the heavy business of an opera, whilst the other goes capering and curvetting through whole pages of chromatics, and runs bounding with unerring precision over the most fearful musical intervals. The basso, consequently, to uphold the vast superstructure of song, must be a man furnished with a strong supporting and sustaining voice. ”

“ I warmed to him and he reciprocated my feelings. He took me to his bosom. He often offered to go over my lesson with me, and I accepted his services with gratitude. He spoke in a warm, mellow basso that had won my heart from the first. His singsong lent peculiar charm to the pages that we read in duet. As he read and interpreted the text he would wave his snuff-box, by way of punctuating and emphasizing his words, much as the conductor of an orchestra does his baton, now gently, insinuatingly, now with a passionate jerk, now with a sweeping majestic movement. ”

“ The high, squeaking tones of the violins and flutes, and the growling ground bass of the bassoon are all that I can hear; they follow each other up and down in octaves, which tear the ear, until, at last, like one who is seized with a burning pain, I cry out involuntarily,
“What mad music! Those detestable octaves!”—Near me some one mutters.
“Cursed Fate! Here is another octave-hunter!” I look up and perceive now for the first time that imperceptibly to me a man has taken a place at the same table, who is looking intently at me, and from whom I cannot take my eyes away again. ”

“ BASSUS. Some derive this barbarous Latin term from the Italian word basso ; others think with Zarlino, the Italian musical writer, that basis is its root, and that it originally implied the fundamental sounds upon which all harmony, and even melody, is constructed. ”

“ There is the continuous shake, handed on from instrument to instrument, the slashing figure of the upper strings, the kind of basso ostinato, conventionally indicating the galloping of horses, and the chief melody, a mere bugle call, altered by a change of rhythm into a thing of superb strength. The only part of the music that ever so remotely suggests extravagance is the Valkyries’ call ”

“ It seems strange to read of the human voice exceeding wind instruments in length and loudness of tone; but there are some remarkable instances on record of great endurance on the part of singers. Lablache, the great basso, was noted for his power of tone, his voice being so strong as to dominate over the whole orchestra and chorus combined. ”

“ Range of the Human Voice.—In discussing a paper read before the Section of Physics of the American Association, Prof. W. Le Conte Stevens remarked that the lowest recorded tone of the voice is that of a basso named Fischer, who lived during the sixteenth century, and who sounded F0, about forty-three vibrations per second. Mr. Stevens himself, without possessing a bass voice, has sounded as low as A0, fifty-three and a third vibrations per second, when his vocal cords were thickened by an attack of catarrh. ”

“ One is, the wise God will have it so; some must pipe, and some must weep. Now Mr. Fearing was one that played upon this bass. He and his fellows sound the sackbut, whose notes are more doleful than the notes of other music are; though, indeed, some say the bass is the ground of music. And, for my part, I care not at all for that profession which begins, not in heaviness of mind. The first string that the musician usually touches is the bass, when he intends to put all in tune. God also plays upon this string first, when He sets the soul in tune for Himself. ”

“ Owing to its register—basso profondo + a still lower compass,—and its muffled resonance, the double bass is little capable of broad cantabile phrases and only in unison or in octaves with the 'cellos. In my own compositions there is no phrase of any importance given to the double bass without the support of 'cellos or bassoons.
Examples:
* No. 10. Legend of Kitesh 306. Double bass solo, doubled first by the double bassoon, later by the bassoon. This example affords an instance of the rare use of the alto clef (in the last few notes) . ”

“ The C clef, occurring frequently in bassoon music, ought to be well understood. When the learner has a sufficient knowledge of the notes, and can readily call them by their names, it will be advisable to practise the scale. The black dots represent the holes which are to be stopped, and the ciphers those which are to remain open. Great care should be taken to have the reed in good order. An old reed, if sound, is far better than a new one. ”

“ Under the delusion that only strong singing is beautiful, and that this can be achieved only by extraordinary exertion, most of our basso singers have a peculiar way of pressing out the windpipe, which is not only very fatiguing, but gives to the low tones a rough, disagreeable sound. Among public speakers also this exhausting, faulty way of bringing out the chest tones is not uncommon, frequently rendering their voices quite incapable of use. ”

“ These new singers are called by the novel appellation of basso cantante (which by-the-bye is a kind of apology, and an acknowledgment that they ought not to sing) , and take the lead in operas with as much propriety as if the double-bass were to do so in the orchestra, and play the part of the first fiddle. A bass voice is too unbending and deficient in sweetness for single songs, and fit only for those of inferior character, or of the buffo style. ”

“ He clearly saw the parts for a basso, a tenor, a soprano, and a contralto, and he set himself about doing all four by subtle modulations of his voice. Now, people do not as a rule mind a middle-aged parson's putting on a gruff voice when reading what a man said, or going up an octave or so when assuming the dialogue of a milder-mannered man ”

“ I have heard, and you doubtless, in a fine concert of viols, extemporary descant upon a thorough bass in the Italian manner, when each performer in turn plays such variety of descant, in concordance to the bass, as his skill and present invention may suggest to him. In this manner of play the consonances invariably fall true upon a given note, and every succeeding note of the ground is met, now in the unison or octave, now in the concords, preserving the melody throughout by the laws of motion and sound. I have thought that this is life. ”

“ While the various sections are distinct from each other, it is like a gradation of colors whose harmony arises only from the order of their selection. This series of strokes produces something more than the feeling of continuity, it frees itself of an intensity of expression which is increased at every measure; but the climax is attained with stately chords, in five real parts, the bass emphasizing them by a quarter-note upon each beat. ”

“ Never leave a bass string the slightest amount too sharp. As flatness is so obnoxious in the treble, just so is sharpness in the bass, so if there must be any variation in any bass tone let it be flat ”

“ Chaos and anarchy reigned in the piano case, all laws of sound and harmony were o'erthrown, the bass clef could no longer be trusted to produce a low note, nor the treble a high one, and a chromatic scale produced such an extraordinary conglomeration of sounds, as would certainly have caused a German band to die of envy. ”

“ It is round, rich, and clear, of wonderful flexibility, and such astonishing firmness, that it is impossible to suspect any note is passed over unperceived. He has the neatness and precision of execution that Ber and Barizel have acquired on the clarionet or bassoon. The tone is equal in its whole extent, taking and holding F with as much ease as a tenor voice would do, or running over the notes with a vivacity unheard of till now; while its pathetic tones, in the cavatina from La Straniera, Mai tu vieni o misera, move the hearer even to tears. ”

“ I seem to hear
Oboe and cymbal in a rhythmic beat
⁠With bass-drum and bassoon; their drear
⁠And droll crescendo louder growing,
⁠Then falling back, like waters ebbing, flowing,—
Back to the silence sweet! ”

“ A man's voice breaks into falsetto on the “Boo-ee!” Well, anyhow, such a young man as I am telling you of would be ashamed to sing with a hog noise. He wants to sing bass. Now the regular hymn-tunes change the bass as often as they change the soprano, and if you go fumbling about for the note, by the time you get it right it is wrong, because the tune has gone on and left you. The Sabbath-school songs had the young man Absalom distinctly in view. ”

“ He was grunting and buzzing the bassoon parts, humming when the violoncello had the melody, whistling for the flutes, singing hoarsely for the horns, barking for the trumpets, squealing for the oboes, making indescribable sounds in imitation of clarionets and drums, and marking each sforzando by a toss of his head and a gnash of his teeth. ”

“ I recognise in the deepest tones of harmony, in the bass, the lowest grades of the objectification of will, unorganised nature, the mass of the planet. It is well known that all the high notes which are easily sounded, and die away more quickly, are produced by the vibration in their vicinity of the deep bass-notes. ”

“ The notes of the lowest register, when played piano, sound weird and sometimes grotesque, and are sometimes used instead of the kettledrum; when played forte the tone is grand and full. The lowest octave is mainly used as a fundamental octave bass to ’cello, bassoon or trombone. ”

“ The tones of the lowest octave are full and rich and of ample power to form a foundation for the entire wood-wind section. The medium register is not especially resonant but is characterized by an agreeable dryness which is absolutely unique. Possessing neither the incisive bite of the oboe nor the liquid beauty of the clarinet, and with limited capability for swelling and diminishing the tone, the bassoon rivals the flute itself in the rendition of staccato passages. ”

“ Again, the bass naturally suggests gravity and earnestness, because that is the case with the speaking voice. 'No man of real dignity,' says Aristotle, 'could ever be shrill of speech;' and similarly, when we look for serious or dignified music, we expect to find some prominence given to its lower register. Much, too, of this association is due to the motions of our ordinary life: the force that strikes like a blow in the first phrase of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, the agitation so often expressed by rapid and irregular movement; the broken voices at the end of the Funeral March in the Eroica ”