The lyre-way fiddle: violin scordatura in Britain to 1705

This study examines the use of violin scordatura in Britain from the mid-seventeenth century to 1705, to establish how and why scordatura was used, its development, its relation to Continental practice, and why so few scordatura sources have survived. All extant British scordatura pieces from the period are considered and listed in a thematic inventory. I use an integrated methodology, which combines both traditional and practice-led approaches. Alongside archival work, editing and analysis, performance-based experiments establish how the music might have sounded, the advantages and disadvantages of scordatura, and the practicalities of stringing for different tunings and playing from lyra-viol tablature. This combined approach has led to wider insights than could have been achieved by traditional research methods alone. My work centres on Valentine Reading, the most prolific scordatura composer in Britain. I demonstrate a clear influence on his output from the Central European school. The authorship of a suite attributed to Thomas Baltzar is questioned, in the light of a Central European concordance. Works by Davis Mell and Gottfried Finger are also considered, alongside popular tunes published by Playford and Marsden, and anonymous manuscript pieces. Extant descriptions show that the increased resonance from scordatura was highly valued within the contemporary sound aesthetic, despite any associated inconveniences. Scordatura can facilitate certain chords or fingerings, and influence the outcome of improvised ornamentation. My research suggests violin scordatura was more prevalent than extant sources in handgrip notation suggest, with sounding scores and viol tablature belying hidden scordatura violin practices. I also explore cross-stringing to facilitate more extreme tunings, considering its possible use in the seventeenth century and for present-day performers. I hope my work will encourage and contribute to a wider re-evaluation of the use of the solo violin in Britain in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.