Better known as a place or male name, this is also a five-string hybrid of violin and treble viol, popular in mid 18th-century France, used as the fifth voice (quinta vox) in ensembles, and created as a rival to the Italian violin with a greater range. Its tuning is conventionally C-G-D-A-E, as opposed to the violin’s standard G-D-A-E. It is also a cousin of the six-string and fretted pardessus de viole, played upright and between the knees as the rest of the viol family.
The quinton was invented around 1730 and made by French luthiers as reaction not only to the increasing success of Italian violin makers, but also play more powerful high notes as well as more full-bodied lower register. Jacques Aubert was among composers who created sonatas for the quinton.
It was particularly popular with female players and at concerts, reaching its peak at around 1750. Many French luthiers made them, including Jacques Boquay, Claude Boivin, Augustin Chappuy, Jean Colin, François Gaviniès, Paul-François Grosset, Louis Guersan, François Le Jeune, and Jean-Baptiste Salomon, built quintons and well-known head-carver La Fille put particular focus on creating distinctive headpieces, yet the instrument, particularly used in aristocratic circles, seemed to die out with the advent of the French Revolution.
Though violin-like in sound, it is generally played vertically, like the viol, as demonstrated here by Juan Manuel Quintana, joined by Julio Caballero on harpsichord, reciting Tomasso Albinoni’s (1671-1751) Sonata II in G Minor from Trattenimenti Armonici op. 6.
And here Giuseppe Accardi demonstrates and explains his quinton and plays from Le Cygne by Saint-Saens.
A quinton from around 1750 from the maker Louis Guersan
So then, any more pieces featuring the rare sound of the quinton? Feel free to share any further ones from any form of music, or even film, art or other contexts in comments below.
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