Baroque salterio

Other musical instruments

Here is a trapezoidal-shaped salterio with two sound holes. This type of salterio was played in countries like Italy and Spain by the upper-class aristocracy. It could be played using the battuto technique which used hammers or sticks or using the pizzicato or plucked technique.

Proudly presented inside the salterio is a label with the name of the maker, plus the place and exact date it was made – 1743! We were unable to find out any more details about the mysterious Veronese instrument maker Alexander VACCARI.

It must have been truly a sight for the eyes when it was first presented to its owner. Sadly, much of the decoration is worn away or missing, but we can clearly see that the instrument is decorated with “Arte Povera” motifs. These include a gentleman and a dog, plus floral arrangements.

LIBRARY OVERVIEW

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G-sharp key

Open/closed G-sharp key
The open G-sharp key was promoted by Theobald Boehm. So, G-sharp is fingered like a G on the modern-day flute and G is fingered like the modern-day G-sharp. The open G-sharp key mechanism avoids having an additional second G-sharp tone hole, which is not optimal in acoustical terms.
The closed G-sharp key is the regular mechanism on modern day instruments as well as traditional conical wooden more-keyed flutes. G-sharp is obtained by pressing the G-sharp lever. G is produced by pressing down all four fingers of the left hand.
Theobald Boehm’s open G-sharp was not successful in the end and is no longer used in flute-making, with some exceptions.