violone

The violone of the sixteenth century was a viola da gamba; in fact Diego Ortiz (1533) uses the word as a generic term for gambas; subsequently it designated a double-bass gamba, later still it was a synonym of our double bass. The word occurs in an Este inventory of 1520. A somewhat later Verona inventory (1543) included una cassa cum sette violoni—they could not have been very large if they all fitted into one case—and a second chest containing —they could not have been very large if they all fitted into one case—and a second chest containing ...