Cello History

Preface

Three centuries later, the debate still rages concerning which instrument –or instruments– Johann Sebastian Bach had in mind when he composed his 6ème Suitte a Violoncello Solo senza Basso, BWV 1012.
On the one hand, we know that the composer usually grouped his chamber works in homogeneous sets of six. On the other hand, we also know that Bach had a natural propensity to exploit the organological capabilities of the instruments for which he wrote.
But in the case of the Suites a Violoncello Solo BWV 1007-1012, the resulting ensemble seems to contravene one or other of these two tendencies. Not only have we the scordatura anomaly in the Quinta Suite, a modification that might be considered minor. In a further range of exploration, Bach –his copyists– specify that the Sesta Suite requires an instrument with five strings (à 5 cordes). If a different -and probably smaller- cello is required, this would imply that whoever wanted to play this volume of Suites would need two instruments. In this case, and following the reasoning of coherence, it would be more appropriate to say that Bach would have composed Six Suites a Violoncellist Solo.
If, on the other hand, we want to imagine that Bach composed these Six Suites for all of them to be played on a 5-stringed violoncello, this would clash with his penchant for using the full range of his instruments. Certainly, the first five suites contain some passages that are greatly favoured by the use of a smaller instrument, but in no case do they exploit this hypothetical high fifth string. In fact, this first five suites are works that systematically move in a medium-bass register –in contrast to his Sonatas & Partitas a Violino Solo BWV 1001-1006–.
The musical sources of other Bach works that feature violoncellos piccolos (arias from cantatas) divide this music alternately between the violinist's and cellist's particellas. This makes it equally acceptable for this Sesta Suite to be performed with a violoncello piccolo 'da gamba', i.e. between the legs, or with a violoncello piccolo 'da spalla', i.e. over the shoulder or chest.
In case the performer is not equipped with one of these violoncellos à 5 cordes, the possibilities are reduced to two:
The first option is to play it in the original key –D major–, which transforms it in an extraordinarily virtuosic piece. It would be the equivalent of playing the First Suite on a 3-stringed cello. Not at all impossible, but certainly far from the mood the composer seems to be looking for.
The other option, explored by several previous editions, consists of lowering the entire Sixth Suite by a descending fifth. This possibility is helped by the fact that –with the exception of the Prélude– it is reasonably easy to accomodate the low notes that we now have to give up.
The case of the Prélude is special, since its use of the lower register is more pronounced. The transposition to G major leaves many sections on the C string, something that Bach and other composers used to reserve for specific instances in their solo music. On the other hand, the original Prélude also explores the high register of the violoncello (to the extent that a sixth string would have been welcome), so the lowering of a fifth is still no assurance of ease and comfort in performance.
The present edition, therefore, has sought to homogenise the registers and the degree of difficulty so that this Prélude would be equivalent to the previous five. Some low passages have been raised by an octave –although they were feasible– and some bars have been lowered by another octave. In the same way, a chord has been added and notes not doubtful in any of the preserved sources have been modified. The aim has not been to respect the text but, in another divergent line, to recreate the hypothetical transcription by a 4-stringed cellist in Bach’s time.

In my performance practice and pedagogy, I approach the inter-related elements of playing the cello – technique, interpretation and performance – as a single integrated domain. This article seeks to elucidate this notion, highlighting the inherent continuity between the development of the cello’s technical and expressive capacities. Within the broad area of ‘technique’, I believe that traditional and contemporary technical styles can evolve through a fluid process of interactions – a ‘dialogue’ that is enlivened by tensions, transitional turns and mycelial exchanges.

Focusing on Nomos alpha by Iannis Xenakis – one of the most complex works for solo cello of the twentieth century – the article investigates the dynamics of these interactions and how the traditions established in the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries might support the expanding domain of new techniques and approaches to the cello. I argue that the extended and ‘extreme’ techniques employed by Xenakis to convey the sound architecture of Nomos alpha must be viewed as a part of a global perspective on the traditions of cello playing.

By juxtaposing the orthodox cello method by David Popper (Hohe Schule des Violoncello-Spiels Op. 73) with contemporary studies compiled and edited by Siegfried Palm, Pro musica nova: Studien zum Spielen neuer Musik: für Violoncello and the set of Ten Preludes by Sofia Gubaidulina, the article explores the interactions, interrelationships and interdependencies that exist in the superficially different approaches to cello technique.

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo discutir e definir o processo de reestruturação técnica no ensino e aprendizado do violoncelo. O objeto de estudo é abordado através de uma revisão bibliográfica e dos conceitos de dois violoncelistas/professores brasileiros, Alceu Reis e Márcio Carneiro. Para tanto foi elaborado um questionário que foi aplicado em ambos presencialmente, cujas respostas foram transcritas e embasadas com a bibliografia. Concluiu-se que, com base nas teorias de aprendizado motor, a aquisição da habilidade de reestruturação técnica é algo primordial no desenvolvimento instrumental em todos os níveis.

Composer virtuosi since the 19th Century frequently arranged and transcribed popular masterpieces to expand the repertoire of their instruments. Perhaps Franz Liszt’s paraphrases are the most well-known examples. However other famous performer/composers, like Sergei Rachmaninoff, Fritz Kreisler, and Ferruccio Busoni to name a few, also used this compositional technique. Recognized as one of the leading cello virtuosi of the 20th Century, Gaspar Cassado also followed this tradition.
This scholarly paper is a comperative analysis of Cassado's Concerto in A MInor and Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata ; the first research and analysis on Cassado's Concerto.

La prima parte del libro, «Intorno a Vivaldi», costituisce un'ampia indagine sul contesto in cui Vivaldi componeva per violoncello, contrabbasso e viola da gamba. Dopo un chiarimento terminologico che prende in esame i molteplici usi localmente diversificati, riunisce dati biografici sugli strumentisti che potrebbero essere entrati in contatto con Vivaldi e aver influenzato la sua immagine degli strumenti bassi ad arco. In particolare vengono rese pubbliche per la prima volta le biografie delle figlie della Pietà; ma anche su altri violoncellisti, contrabbassisti e violisti la ricerca ha portato alla luce molte informazioni biografiche finora sconosciute.
Segue una panoramica sul repertorio italiano per violoncello e per viola da gamba, utile a contestualizzare – talvolta relativizzare, talaltra esaltare – il contributo vivaldiano, e a portare alla luce non poche scoperte e novità su attribuzioni e destinazioni. Vengono poi discussi gli aspetti tecnico-strumentali di ognuno dei tre strumenti (posizione esecutiva, tecnica della mano sinistra e dell'arco etc), verranno offerte risposte ai molti dubbi sulle possibili accordature e infine raccolte informazioni sulla costruzione degli strumenti e i liutai che operavano in Italia.
Va evidenziato che questa ricerca è sempre circoscritta al contesto vivaldiano, evitando di appesantire la trattazione con excursus in campi cronologicamente e geograficamente distanti e cercando le risposte anche alle domande più difficili perché meno documentate quanto più possibile nelle testimonianze appartenenti ai luoghi e ai tempi di Vivaldi.

La seconda parte del libro è dedicata alle opere di Vivaldi: si esamina tutto il corpus della musica strumentale e vocale che preveda una parte solistica per violoncello o per viola da gamba. Ogni composizione e ogni fonte vien analizzata minutamente estraendo informazioni sulla genesi della partitura, la datazione, i possibili destinatari, le parentele con altre opere e mettendone in luce le particolarità tecnico-strumentali e altre caratteristiche salienti. Per attenersi anche in questa parte strettamente al tema preposto, l'indagine rinuncia a generiche analisi formali, armoniche e contrappuntistiche (e tanto più a una coloristica descrizione dei sentimenti che la musica suscita nella scrivente), nella convinzione che questi elementi siano non già specifici del repertorio per i bassi d'arco, ma anzi comuni a quello di altri strumenti solisti e quindi da affidare a una ricerca trasversale.

La terza parte è concepita in particolare per chi esegue la musica di Vivaldi perché dedicata ad alcune questioni di prassi esecutiva del registro grave. Un minuzioso spoglio di tutte le indicazioni di strumentazione con cui Vivaldi circostanzia le sue parti per i bassi, ha dato vita a un regesto che impone conclusioni in parte sorprendentemente difformi dalle esecuzioni pur storicamente informate dei nostri tempi. Nel secondo capitolo vengono invece riunite e contestualizzate tutte le indicazioni originali sugli organici e le formazioni orchestrali al tempo di Vivaldi per indagarne l'incidenza di violoncelli e contrabbassi: ne risulta un quadro sfaccettato e anch'esso talvolta ben diverso dalle nostre abitudini d'ascolto odierne.

Conclude il lavoro un inventario delle composizioni con parti solistiche per violoncello e per viola da gamba, seguito da un elenco dell composizioni che prevedono un accompagnamento a contrabbasso solo.

This research presents an overview of performance practices related to the cello
in the city of Naples in around 1700, with special focus on its training in the Neapolitan
conservatori. The Neapolitan cello school, neglected in modern studies till very
recently, is a turning point in the development of this instrument. This research sheds
some light on this fascinating aspect of the Mid-Baroque period. The paper examines
the historical, cultural and musical context of the time, the teaching methods employed in the Neapolitan conservatori, the skills the pupils were expected to acquire (with special attention to the cellists), and the main roles and duties of professional cellists in the Neapolitan musical scene. Moreover, it presents some biographical information on the main Neapolitan cellists of the period, e.g. F. Alborea, R. Greco, G. Ruvo, F.P. Supriano, and offer a catalogue of Neapolitan Baroque cello repertoire, comprising more than 120 compositions.

After completing this research I have realized that we, as modern-day performers, should get more inspired by the approach to music learning that the Neapolitan conservatori had. Specifically as historically informed musicians, we should try to get as close as possible to these practices, since this would bring us a better insight about how this music was thought, composed, learnt, experienced and performed. As Neapolitan music became so influential throughout the 18th century, and as the pedagogical tools used at the conservatories spread through Europe, this approach might in fact be expanded to an even broader context.

La notevole estensione del violoncello-di oltre quattro ottave-lo ha reso uno degli strumenti più versatili esistenti. Sin dalle sue origini, questo strumento è stato utilizzato tanto come basso quanto come voce principale in sonate, concerti e soli sinfonici. Alle sue indiscusse potenzialità si legano, tuttavia, talune questioni relative alla notazione musicale. I convenzionali cinque righi e quattro spazi, infatti, non basterebbero minimamente a contenere tutte le note di cui sono capaci le corde del violoncello.

La siguiente investigación plantea una propuesta de interpretación del vibrato que puede
usarse en extractos seleccionados de dos obras de estilos y compositores diferentes: la sonata
en la menor para arpeggione y piano transcrita para violonchelo de Franz Schubert, y la
sonata en re menor para violoncello y piano de Claude Debussy. Con dicha propuesta se
podrán precisar diversas características técnicas y estilísticas del vibrato en las obras
mencionadas. La investigación se desarrolla utilizando un enfoque cualitativo, a través de un

diseño de tipo bibliográfico o documental y un nivel de investigación de tipo exploratorio-
interpretativo hermenéutico, buscando con ello un acercamiento teórico-práctico a la técnica

del vibrato y una propuesta interpretativa que se encuentre sustentada en el análisis de
grabaciones dos extraordinarios cellistas de reconocimiento mundial: Mstislav Rostropovich
y Maurice Gendron, estudiando en ellos como el vibrato puede verse influenciado por dos
estilos musicales diferentes, que en este caso son el Clasicismo-Romanticismo y el
Impresionismo.

This is a scholarly article, but at the same time a plea for an urgent rewrite of the early history of the violin, this time unhampered by prejudice and entrenched ideas. To me, this is symbolic of the world we are now fighting for: a world where truth is sought in freedom, especially when it is threatened by arguments of authority and ingrained norms.

Here I endeavoured to make as complete as I could two lists: one containing all methods, tutors, treatises for cello that appeared until WWI (in chronological order by publish date); and another list with all etudes, caprices, exercises et al. for cello that were published until 1900 (in alphabetical order by the composer).
These lists could be used by performers and teachers of the violoncello as a reference .
Wherever I have found discrepancies in the information about the published/composed date regarding one item in different sources, but I do not have it or I could not access it to verify, I provide both dates.
It is difficult to list here all the sources I have used to compile these lists. These are similar lists in some books or websites (each of them more or less incomplete, I found) and some that I have encountered myself.
It is always possible to discover errors I have made or to find new items I've missed. In such cases I will make corrections and additions in these lists and will upload a newer version again. If any of the colleagues, who refer to this list, finds a mistake or knows an item that I have missed - please, notify me about that.
This is the 6th issue with corrections and additions from November 2018.

This paper presents a history of the cello as a soloist instrument. Since the first piece written with this in- tention, Domenico Gabrielli`s Ricercare up to Antonio Vivaldi`s Sonatas there is a gap of only fifty years, but huge improvements have changed the ways the cello was used in music. Through the knowledge of this development the cello player will be able to search for a better comprehension of technical demands of these pieces of music and mu- sicians in general will be able to learn about the paths taken by the instrument to build it up as a canonic character of music history.

The instrumental output of Nicola Porpora has not aroused great interest among researchers.
For this reason, even the lists of his works in the most important musical
dictionaries are incomplete. However, his instrumental works enjoyed considerable
interest during the composer’s lifetime and even after his death. The purpose of this
article is to draw attention to Porpora’s cello concertos. A closer analysis of previously
known sources allows us to increase the number of such concertos by five pieces. Four
of them have so far been considered to be trio sonatas, one has been preserved incompletely
as an anonymous piece in the Library of Conservatorio di San Pietro a Majella
(I-Nc, M.S. 84/5–8). These seven cello concertos, also known in sources as sonatas
or sinfonias, were written when very similar pieces were created in Naples by Nicola
Fiorenza, Leonardo Leo, Giuseppe de Majo and Nicola Sabatino. Although Porpora
was already active in Venice and London at that time, he most likely wrote these works
with the courts of Neapolitan aristocrats in mind — the Viceroy Aloys Thomas von
Harrach, the Duke of Maddaloni and the Marquis De Simone.

A study on performers and performing organizations active in Naples from 1701 to 1736, with specific attention to the presence of string instruments (violin and cello) and winds, and to the repertory of sonatas for three violins. Includes new information on the careers of Giovanni Antonio Piani, Angelo Ragazzi, and Francesco Paolo Supriani.

Although Antonio Vivaldi’s Cello Sonata RV 44 is one of his greatest sonatas, this one in special is cutted off his traditional six sonatas cânon for the instrument, giving it the nickname “the seventh sonata”. Due the fact it has not been published at that time, the piece has no figured bass in any manuscript or first editions, letting open several important issues for performance. Among this issues, we discuss here the definitions of appoggiatura and acciaccatura, and after they are collected we will be able to compare concepts about their performance, namely after Leopold Mozart treatise.

En el año 2023 se cumplirá el 50 aniversario de la muerte de Pau Casals i Defilló, nacido en 1876 en El Vendrell, y fallecido en 1973 en San Juan de Puerto Rico. Su figura ha generado numerosas publicaciones de distinto ámbito: desde las biografías escritas en formato de “vidas ejemplares”, hasta los trabajos académicos de distinta índole. Aunque se han realizado estudios sobre Casals músico, estos trabajos no son tan numerosos como sería propio de una figura de su envergadura. Puede que la parte artística de Casals se haya visto eclipsada por su imagen más popular como figura del catalanismo, defensor de la Segunda República Española, luchador contra el fascismo a nivel internacional y contra Franco en particular. En este artículo de revisión, se repasan las biografías publicadas sobre Pau Casals, así como las tesis doctorales y trabajos científicos que han aportado nueva información a tener en cuenta. Se hace especial hincapié en los trabajos académicos que estudian aspectos musicales de Casals relacionados con la interpretación musical, dirección orquestal y/o composición musical, además de estudios científicos que tratan su influencia en otros músicos. Para finalizar, se apuntan ciertas cuestiones a considerar sobre las biografías publicadas y el estado actual de la necesaria revisión de la figura de Casals, además de plantear algunas reflexiones sobre el trabajo pendiente acerca del violonchelista catalán. The year 2023 will mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Pablo Casals i Defilló, born in 1876 in El Vendrell and died in 1973 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Several works have been published covering different fields on his figure, including biographies in the form of “exemplary lives”. Although some studies about Casals as musician have been undertaken, the number of this kind of works is not as large as on could possibly imagine taking into account his important social and musical roles. One hypothesis is that his artistic side has been historically overshadowed by his relevance as figure of the Catalanism, defender of the Spanish Second Republic, fighter against fascism at the international level and more specifically against Franco. This review article goes through the biographies devoted to Casals, as well as through the doctoral dissertations and scientific studies providing new information. The article specially highlights the academic papers that examine the musical aspects related to his performance, orchestral conducting and musical composition, as well as his influence on other musicians. Finally, several issues concerning the already published biographies and the need to review the figure of Casals are pointed out, along with some considerations about the existing gaps regarding the artistic life of the Catalan violoncellist.

Full text available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478570620000457
The analysis of a forgotten source sheds light on the early history of the cello in seventeenth-century Naples. The manuscript MS 2-D-13, held in the library of the Montecassino Abbey, dates from around 1699 and contains two unknown cello sonatas by Giovanni Bononcini, together with passacaglias, sonatas for two ‘violas’ and elaborations over antiphons by Gaetano Francone and Rocco Greco, two prominent string performers and teachers in Naples. A study of this remarkable source helps to clarify the nomenclature of the bass violins in use in the city and offers new evidence on the practice of continuo realization at the cello, as well as on the connections with partimento practice. This collection is thus of critical importance for a discussion of the technical achievements and developments of the cello repertory in Naples before the emergence of the celebrated generation of Neapolitan cello virtuosi in the early years of the eighteenth century.

Cover of the HH edition,
https://www.editionhh.co.uk/shop/item.aspx?itemid=820

Ten passagagli for cello from the Montecassino manuscript, Neaples 1699. The only collection of passacaglias expressly aimed for cello, showing an improvisation virtuosic school for cello at the end of the 18th century. Edited by Giovanna Barbati, Guido Olivieri and Chiara Tiboni.

Die Melodie des Schwans von Camille Saint-Saëns (aus der Suite « Le Carnaval des Animaux », 1886) wird von Kennern zu Recht als eine der schönsten Melodien angesehen, die jemals komponiert wurden. Was könnte die Inspiration für die anmutige Form dieser schönen Melodie gewesen sein? Als ich ein kleines Kind war, verwendeten unsere Lehrer Bilder aus der Tierwelt, um uns die Formen von Zahlen beizubringen. Ich erinnere mich lebhaft an eine Folge von Bildern, die mit dem Bild eines schönen Schwans begann und mit der abstrakten Form der Ziffer 2 endete.

In spite of being acclaimed as a valuable contribution to the arts, the arpeggione was in use for only about a decade before being forgotten. This article traces its origins and considers the editorial mistakes in the most important piece written for it, Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata.
Six-Stringed Virtuoso. The Strad, Harrow, Middlesex, UK, v. 109, n.1297, p. 500-507, 1998.
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