Unknown luthier, 18th century
The instrument below is from the musical instrument collection of the Historical Museum
in Basel, Switzerland, ex. Paul Sacher collection. It is an instrument
with seven playing strings, but without sympathetic strings. The viola
d'amore's typical rosette lies here underneath the fingerboard.
Benedict Wagner, 1723
The instrument below is from the musical instrument collection of the Historical Museum
in Basel, Switzerland, ex. Paul Sacher collection. It is an instrument
with seven playing strings and seven sympathetic strings, and the head
is that of a satyr.
6/6 flat back Viola d'amore
Johann Benedict Wassern, 1707
The instrument below is from the musical instrument collection of the Historical Museum
in Basel, Switzerland, ex. Paul Sacher collection. It is an instrument
with six playing strings, and six sympathetic strings. It shows the
typical cupid head, as well as a rosette underneath the fingerboard and
flaming sword shaped sound holes. The sympathetic strings are attached
on the underside of the tailpiece, not far behind the holes for the
playing strings.
Christoph Entzensberger, 1714
The instrument below is from the muscial instrument collection of the Historical Museum
in Basel, Switzerland, ex. Paul Sacher collection. It is an instrument
with six playing strings, and six sympathetic strings. The scroll is in
the form of a blindfolded woman's head, and there is a rosette on the
top of the instrument. Note the viol-style attachment of the tailpiece
with a piece of wood, not with tailgut. Also the attachment of the
playing strings and the sympathetic strings is by means of pegs in the
tailpiece.
Paul Sacher (28 April 1906 – 26 May 1999) was a swiss conductor, patron and impresario. He founded and conducted the Basler Kammerorchester (1926-1987). He commissioned notable works of composers of the 20th century and premiered them with the chamber orchestra.
Sacher studied under Felix Weingartner, among others. In 1926 he founded the chamber orchestra Basler Kammerorchester,
which specialized in both modern (twentieth-century) and pre-classical
(mid-eighteenth-century) repertory. In 1928 he founded the Basel Chamber
Choir. Both the orchestra and choir gave their last performance in
1987. In 1984 the Serenata Basel was formed, with no direct connection to Sacher; they later adopted the name Kammerorchester Basel. Source:
www.violadamoresociety.org and Wikipedia
