Brillenbässe (spectacle basses)
A mocking name for bass figures of two slurred half notes a third or sixth apart, whose notation resembles spectacles; typical of Rossini's accompaniment style.
In the notation
Brillenbässe (literally "spectacle basses") are bass figures in which two half notes joined by a slur are stacked a third or sixth apart. The round noteheads, linked by the slur, visually resemble a pair of spectacles, which gave the term its name.
Musical use
The term was coined mockingly for simple, formulaic accompaniment figures found in early nineteenth-century Italian opera accompaniment, particularly in the style of Gioachino Rossini. Critics steeped in the stricter German contrapuntal tradition accused such basses of being harmonically banal and lacking craft.
This older, disparaging judgment is best understood today as reflecting the historical dispute between the German contrapuntal tradition and Italian operatic practice, rather than an objective compositional flaw. Spectacle basses should be distinguished from the Alberti bass, a broken accompaniment figure made of single notes rather than slurred double notes.