‘Viennese Tuning’ <http://www.viennesetuning.com> has been conceived as a web portal for all bassists and scholars interested in the legacy of a unique classical double bass, commonly called the Viennese bass, and its tuning. The purpose of the site is to promote research on and performance of the literature for this type of bass, which was universally used during the period 1760–1820 in Austro-German lands and Vienna (hence the name). Interest in this instrument and its literature are relatively recent phenomena when compared to most other specialized eighteenth-century fields. This bass type was almost exclusively associated with the classical Viennese tradition, and yet because of the convoluted evolution of the bass itself it was then neglected until the late 1960s, when serious consideration was finally given to its legacy. The first modern public performances using basses tuned in this way did not, as far as we have been able to determine, occur until the 1990s.

The Viennese bass has its origin in the Italian violin and German gamba traditions and later evolved into an instrument with improved timbre and resonance. An integral part of its set-up was a tuning of F¹–A¹–D–F♯–A, which was set with two A strings that vibrate sympathetically and so amplify the resonance already found in the body of the instrument. When those two characteristics – distinctive construction and distinctive tuning – were combined, an instrument of unique acoustic ability had appeared.

The entire known Viennese bass legacy consists of over forty concertos and hundreds of chamber pieces, the actual number of which is yet to be determined. Unfortunately, authentic performance of the majority of these pieces is not possible with modern bass tuning, given the technical and idiomatic difficulties posed by the Viennese system itself. Thus only a fraction of the solo literature from this legacy has been edited and is performed today.

The various sections of the site are devoted to instruction for beginners, a detailed account of the original literature and of usable modern editions, organology – including extant instruments and modern reconstructions – and historical information on composers and period performers. Up-to-date listings are provided for all relevant modern performances, lectures and research activities. One goal is to collect a comprehensive bibliography of all published works in the field. Another goal of this site is to raise the general level of appreciation of the bass as a solo instrument, by reinvigorating interest in and appreciation of the Viennese legacy in our time.