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Bass-cittern

between 1580 and 1596, Manufacturer: anonym

 

 

Bass-cittern

The body of this fantastically designed instrument with its flat back is reminiscent of the cittern, while the use of gut strings is characteristic of the instrument family of lutes. A fundamental problem of all string instruments is the fact that the bass strings should be considerably longer than the descant strings. Although this was taken into account in the design of this instrument, the resulting situation for the fingers of the left hand is highly unusual. As we can see from the irregular positioning of frets, the finger position for the same interval is different for all strings. (bd)

Location: Neue Burg, Sammlung alter Musikinstrumente Saal 9

Object data

Object Name

Bass-cittern

Culture

Germany (?)

Dated

between 1580 and 1596

Manufacturer

Dimensions Cover size is a museum or exhibition-specific information. It does not specify the real dimensions of the musical instrument.

1800 mm x 570 mm x 200 mm

Image rights

Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Sammlung alter Musikinstrumente

Inv. No.

Sammlung alter Musikinstrumente, 55

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