Ariosti's Collection for the viola d'amore
June 2019
Here are some scores of an edition I prepared for my Ariosti recordings more than a decade ago. First of all I will offer the works in F and in G. I found having an top c'' or d'' string made the double stops make much more sense to me.
Some of these scores I managed to improve after my recordings were completed. The Sonata in G minor is one of them. Especially in the slow movement I managed to figure out more musical solutions to problems in the facsimile.
How to read Ariosti′s version of scordatura: tune your viola d′amore (or violin or viola) to the accordatura given at the beginning of the work, then finger as if the instrument were a violin still tuned in 5ths. Alto clef means first position violin fingerings for first position of the top four strings of the viola d′amore, french violin clef applies first position vioin fingerings to the 2nd position on the viola d′amore, treble clef indicates first position violin fingerings to the third position, and a g clef on the third line of the staff denotes 4th position.
Baritone clef transfers d and g string fingerings to first position of the 4th and 5th strings, while bass clef transfers them to the lowest 5th and 6th strings. This sounds formidable, but most people this is easier to do that it might seem from reading about it. There is more information about scordatura on www.violadamore.com.
To reduce the number of accidentals in the scordatura part, I have used a 5 line stave with no key signature, and added accidentals only where they were needed for clarity.
Sonata 9 viola d'amore part (in g minor, the second in the Recueil)
The Sonata in a minor that follows had fewer editorial problems. You can hear the slow movement here. For a quite different version of the same, listen here.
Sonata 13 Scordatura (this numbering system is messed up.)
Sonata 10 in F viola d'amore part
Sonata 11 in a minor viola d'amore part