Theorba

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A historical stringed instrument resembling a lute, often played in Renaissance and Baroque music
2. A type of musical instrument with a long neck and a rounded body, typically used for accompaniment in early music
3. An ancient string instrument characterized by its distinctive shape and use in orchestral compositions during the 16th and 17th centuries

Etymology: The instrument's most striking feature is its neck. A second pegbox sits beyond the first and carries long unstopped bass strings that sound below the fretted ones. Those extra low strings made it well suited to accompanying singers and continuo parts in the late Renaissance and early Baroque, and they gave it a silhouette unlike any other lute. Its name is less certain. It is usually linked to the Italian "tiorba", but the word's ultimate origin is unclear, and no source has been firmly established. Italians also called this kind of instrument "chitarrone", meaning roughly "big guitar". That alternative name is a useful clue to how players and listeners understood it: as a larger, deeper member of the lute family.

Synonyms: theorb, lute, bass lute, chordophone, string instrument