Volume 1, August 2004
A Critical Review

by Shanon P. Zusman

Studies in Italian Sacred and Instrumental Music in the 17th Century. By Stephen Bonta. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Co., 2003. [xii, 338 pp. ISBN 0-86078-878-4 $99.95 (cloth).]

6. Conclusion

[6.1] Bonta's writings are essential materials to all those studying the early history of stringed bass instruments and the performance of seventeenth-century Italian instrumental music. The Ashgate collection makes readily available his contributions for generations to come. Although many of Bonta's arguments for the use of the early bass violin in favor of the G violone may be challenged, it is clear that the field of early stringed bass research owes a debt of gratitude to this scholar. To Stephen Bonta, a sincere thank you for his scholarly spirit, inquisitive nature, and trail-blazing research.