The quinton is a five-string bowed instrument that developed in France over the course of the eighteenth century, closely tied to the French musical culture of the period. Its name comes from the term quinte, referring to its five strings, which are generally tuned in a hybrid pattern between the violin and the viola da gamba, combining two fourths and two fifths. This feature allows it to combine an extended upper range with a particularly rich middle and low register. The result is a highly flexible timbre, capable of moving from a bright, penetrating sonority to a softer tone colour.
The quinton remains a relatively rare instrument today, but the growing interest in historically informed performance practice has led to a rediscovery of its possibilities. Its distinctiveness lies not only in the fifth string, but in its capacity to embody an eighteenth-century conception of the musical instrument as a flexible, experimental, and at times virtuosic object.
It is precisely on this idea that I have based all my experimentation with the instrument, to the point of performing entire concerts drawn solely from the violin repertoire.
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