About the baryton

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So what exactly is a baryton?

Favoured by Joseph Haydn’s employer, Prince Nicholas II of Esterházy, the Classical baryton is similar to a bass viola da gamba in having 6 bowed strings, frets and the same tuning.  However, the baryton has the super fun addition of (in the case of Laura's instrument) 10 metal strings which run behind the fingerboard. These extra strings both vibrate sympathetically, giving the instrument a unique resonance and silvery zing when bowed, and are at times used as part of the melody, plucked by the left-hand thumb. The sound is amazing!  Laura's baryton was made by German luthier Henner Harders, and is a copy of one by Daniel Agnatius Stadlmann, Vienna, 1732.  It's the only baryton in the Antipodes.