bassanello
Illustration — Bassanelli The bassanello (plural bassanelli) was a Renaissance double reed woodwind instrument which was described in 1619 by Michael Praetorius in his Syntagma Musicum II: • "Bassanelli derive their name from the master who created them, Johann Bassanello, an illustrious Venetian musician and composer. The bore of bassanelli is straight and opens at the bottom; and these instruments only have one key. They are blown by direct contact with the reeds, exactly as are curtals, pommers, and bassets, and are nearly the same as these instruments in timbre, but much softer.
Also recorded as bassanelli · armilloni
bassanello
- Field
- double reed instrument · single oboe with conical bore
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Illustration — Bassanelli The bassanello (plural bassanelli) was a Renaissance double reed woodwind instrument which was described in 1619 by Michael Praetorius in his Syntagma Musicum II: • "Bassanelli derive their name from the master who created them, Johann Bassanello, an illustrious Venetian musician and composer. The bore of bassanelli is straight and opens at the bottom; and these instruments only have one key. They are blown by direct contact with the reeds, exactly as are curtals, pommers, and bassets, and are nearly the same as these instruments in timbre, but much softer.
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getty · 500081880 · wikidata · Q3636033 · wikipedia · Bassanello
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The cant, which is the littlest of the bassanelli, is notably excellent to hear on the tenor part in ensembles in which all types and sets of instruments are used, for its tuning is rather accurate, and is similar to flutes in the execution of a tenor part. Like shawms, they have seven fingerholes, with a key on the lowest. In the rear, however, there is no hole to be found. They are pitched a fourth lower than chamber pitch, for their lowest size is the bass in F, but in chamber pitch this is understood as the 8 foot C." Though Praetorius attributes the invention of bassanelli to Johann Bassanello (a.k.a. Giovanni Bassano), it is more likely Giovanni's father Santo who invented them. A comparison of the lengths for the various sizes shown in the scale drawings by Praetorius to the pitches he gave for them, indicates the acoustical properties of a conical bore. The fact that there is no thumbhole (like the shawm) also points to a conical bore instrument that overblows at the octave, with no need to extend the range upward by means of a thumbhole (as is seen on the crumhorn, sordun, and other cylindrical bore reed instruments.) The quiet timbre was apparently produced by a narrow conical bore without a terminal flare.
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- “Bassanello”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3636033: bassanello
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
authority file
- Getty Union List of Artist Names 500081880, Bassanello.
General reference · The Getty Research Institute
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These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Lasocki, David, with Roger Prior, The Bassanos: Venetian musicians and instrument makers in England, 1531-1665 (Cambridge: Scolar Press, 1995), p. 217.
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Getty Union List of Artist Names 500081880, Bassanello.The Getty Research Institute
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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