Recent Re-evaluations of the Baroque Cello

12

Click here to load reader

description

cello

Transcript of Recent Re-evaluations of the Baroque Cello

Page 1: Recent Re-evaluations of the Baroque Cello

Early Music, Vol. xxxviii, No. 2 © The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. doi:10.1093/em/caq030, available online at www.em.oxfordjournals.org

181

I n his definition of the violoncello, Johann Mattheson offers one of many descriptions of the instrument

which do not conform precisely to today’s historical construct of the ‘ Baroque ’ cello:

Der hervorragende Violoncello, die Bassa Viola und Viola di Spala, sind kleine Bass-Geigen in Vergleichung der grössern mit 5 auch wol 6. Sayten worauff man mit leichterer Arbeit als auff grossen Machinen allerhand geschwinde Sachen, Variationes und Manieren machen kan insonderheit hat die Viola di Spala, oder Schulter-Viole einen grossen Effect beym Accompagnement, weil sie starck durchschneiden und die Tohne rein exprimiren kan. Ein Bass kan nimmer dis-tincter und deutlicher herausgebracht werden als auff diesem Instrument. Es wird mit einem Bande an der Brust befestigt und gleichsam auff die rechte Schulter geworffen, hat also nichts dass seinem Resonantz im geringsten aufhält oder verhindert. fn1 1

The excellent Violoncello, the Bassa Viola, and the Viola di Spalla are small bass violins in comparison with the larger ones with five or also six strings, upon which one can play all manner of rapid things, variations, and ornaments with less effort than on the larger machines. Particularly, the Viola di Spalla, or Shoulder Viola produces a great effect when accompanying because it cuts through strongly and can express the notes clearly. A bass [line] cannot be brought out more distinctly and clearly than on this instru-ment. It is attached with a strap to the chest and at the same time it is thrown on the right shoulder, and that way there is nothing that can impede or prevent its resonance.

Not enough attention has been given to such descriptions in the past, because they were consid-ered to be too far removed from the general con-ception of what a cello was supposed to be: five or six strings did not represent the ‘ normal ’ cello, and the viola da spalla was understood to be a different instrument altogether. Recent research has finally

given such descriptions their proper value, particu-larly in light of iconographical evidence. In the past two decades, scholars have begun not only to revise entirely our understanding of what the ‘ violone ’ might have been, but also to re-evaluate our notions about the violoncello in the 17th and 18th centuries. fn2 2 At this point we can no longer assume that the term ‘ violoncello ’ was used everywhere in Europe exclu-sively to denote the four-string small bass violin (tuned C – G – d – a ) played in ‘ da gamba ’ position with overhand bow grip, as Michel Corrette shows and is the first to describe in his Methode, théorique et pratique: Pour Apprendre en peu de tems le Violon-celle dans sa Perfection of 1741. fn3 3

Before developing these ideas any further, I wish to point out that my work on this topic is part of a larger group effort that involves scholars, instru-ment-makers, connoisseurs and performers. fn4 4 With an in-depth critical re-reading of treatises and docu-ments, on a more nuanced and fresh (re-)evaluation of iconographical sources and by an open-minded questioning of the repertory itself, the scholarly and performing communities have come to realize that ‘ violoncello ’ means only a small bass violin, liter-ally a ‘ small violone ’ which, in itself, can be a variety of organological types with different sizes, shapes, number of strings, tunings and playing techniques.

In the first part of this article, I will consider the sit-uation of the violoncello before the publication of the first cello method by Corrette, from which modern ‘ Baroque ’ cellists have taken their cues. In the second part, I reflect on some issues in Bach’s music. I will not tackle here the other big problem regarding bass

Marc Vanscheeuwijck

Recent re-evaluations of the Baroque cello

and what they might mean for performing the

music of J. S. Bach

at University of M

acedonia on January 1, 2014http://em

.oxfordjournals.org/D

ownloaded from

Page 2: Recent Re-evaluations of the Baroque Cello

182 early music may 2010

violins, that is, the question of the ‘ violone ’ , which has recently been addressed in part, but is still far from being solved.

As a short parenthesis, I must emphasize the fol-lowing: the budding late 18th-century passion for standardization — which developed into 19th-century evolutionary and positivistic thinking and culmi-nated in more recent global theories and in our obses-sion with systematization — has resulted in some clear but highly artificial and anachronistic separations of issues and ideas that were not necessarily so separate in the 17th and early 18th centuries. For example, in looking at bowed bass instruments we recognize viole da gamba only if they correspond to our modern con-struct of what a viola da gamba should be. fn5 5 The same is true for viole da braccio, and whatever fits neither group is too often designated a ‘ hybrid ’ , which, in fact, appears to be the largest of the three categories. This is definitely a notion that current post-modern thought is no longer willing to accept, because it does not correspond to what is now considered to be the reality of the past.

Whether the instrument was held da gamba , da spalla , da braccio , across the player’s lap, or standing on the floor, on a stool, with some sort of endpin, fn6 6 or hung with a rope around the neck or shoulders; whether it had four, five or six strings; whether the bow was held overhand or underhand; whether the left-hand position was diatonic or chromatic; or whether the strings were tuned in 5ths or in a combi-nation of 4ths and 5ths (about this specific point, see below) — all these factors are to be ascertained on the basis of situational, regional and even local practices, through information gathered from the various types of sources and, very importantly, from the repertory as well. In short, scholars and performers have in recent years finally begun to address a number of these specific questions related to the traditionally mono-lithic approach to what the violoncello may have been before it became the later 18th-century instrument so long considered to be ‘ the ’ Baroque cello.

First, to return briefly to the idea of variable num-bers of strings and tunings. In his treatise of 1752, Quantz advises that cellists should own two instru-ments: one of a larger size with thick strings (and a stronger, heavier bow with black horse hair) for ripi-eno parts in large ensembles, and a smaller cello (he does not mention how much smaller) for solo parts. fn7 7

Boccherini, too, in his inventory of personal belong-ings from 26 April 1787, refers to a Jacob Stainer cello and a violoncello piccolo. fn8 8 Iconographical sources and a variety of treatises (including Mattheson’s Das Neu-eröffnete Orchestre of 1713), as well as some sur-viving instruments, confirm the existence of various sizes of bass violins (or violoni ) of the smaller type with four or five strings, tuned an octave below the violin (four-string instruments), or in C – G – d – a – e � (often also C – G – d – a – d � ) and called violoncello (after 1665), violoncino , viola or bassetto (starting in 1641). fn9 9

In some other specific case studies I have recently investigated, such as the Ricercate of 1687 by the Bolognese organist Giovanni Battista Degl’Antonii fn10 10 or the two concertos by Giuseppe Tartini fn11 11 writ-ten for his ‘ cellist ’ Antonio Vandini in Padua, I have argued that if we are interested in historical performance practice, we are bound (as cellists) to accept that the Baroque cello as it is known today is not the instrument these composers had in mind. Degl’Antonii, I believe, was really thinking about a violoncello da spalla with five strings, whereas Tartini, in composing for Vandini, wrote for a small bass violin, with four or five strings tuned respec-tively as G – d – a – d � or e � or C – G – d – a – d � (or better yet, D – G – d – a – d � ), fn12 12 and played rigorously with underhand bow grip. This last sort of instrument was indeed quite common, particularly in Venetian, Neapolitan, Bolognese, German, and even in Vien-nese and British contexts, as can be seen in various concertos and/or sonatas by Antonio Vivaldi, Anto-nio Caldara, Leonardo Leo, Nicola Fiorenza, Nicola Sabatino, Nicola Antonio Porpora, fn13 13 Giacobbe Basevi (called il Cervetto ), Antonio Maria Bononcini and Carlo Graziani (see illus.1). fn14 14 In many German regions as well, such small-size cellos were often used: for example, the cantatas with solo violoncello piccolo and the Suite no.6 for violoncello ( bwv 1012) by J. S. Bach, and the 1789 Sonata per il Cembalo o Pianoforte et Violoncello obligato in A major by Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach. fn15 15 Furthermore, in European iconographical sources of the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries for bass violins, large or small, with four, five or six strings, played da gamba , I have found hardly a single image in which the player holds the bow in overhand grip. fn16 16

The tendency towards holding the bow in the modern, overhand grip is first described by Corrette

at University of M

acedonia on January 1, 2014http://em

.oxfordjournals.org/D

ownloaded from

Page 3: Recent Re-evaluations of the Baroque Cello

early music may 2010 183

in his 1741 treatise and appears increasingly from the second quarter of the 18th century. In recalling the cello concertos Antonio Vivaldi wrote in the 1720s, when Vandini was teaching at the Pietà, cer-tain tendencies similar to Tartini’s concertos can be observed: there is not much virtuosity in the Boc-cherinian sense of the term (high positions or wide leaps up and down the fingerboard), but rather a general extension that barely exceeds the middle of the upper string, with virtually no use of the lowest string. In that sense, since Vandini was one of the players for whom Vivaldi wrote his technically most elaborate cello concertos, it may be assumed that the instrument was indeed a vertically held, small bass violin with four or five strings, and played with underhand bow grip (see illus.2(a) and (b) ). On the other hand, since we have ample iconographical evidence of violoncelli da spalla in the Veneto, an historically relevant performance on such an instru-ment is not unthinkable either. Thus, modern play-

ers are given a number of viable options, but none of them really includes what is currently used as a semi-standardized ‘ Baroque ’ cello, which I believe is an ideal compromise (championed by Corrette in 1741) between the violone, primarily used in continuo and larger ensembles, with a few exceptions, and the older violoncello, probably a smaller instrument, usually with five strings and mainly played da spalla . I propose that the small 17th-century violoncello only gradually began to impose itself as a vertically held instrument during the first third of the 18th century, while its size was also gradually increased to reach modern measurements. Finally, having exper-imented myself on several occasions with ‘ alterna-tive ’ tuning possibilities and smaller instruments, based on indications in treatises and in the repertory, I have come to believe that — just as with the variety of types of small bass violins called ‘ violoncello ’ — performers, particularly of the 18th century (when the repertory evolved in terms of technical chal-lenges), were not as reluctant as today’s cellists to retune their instruments (and use the appropriate string gauges) in a way that optimized the resonance and especially the ease with which a particular composition could be performed. fn17 17

In sum, in order to explore the 18th-century reper-tory for ‘ violoncello ’ in a more historically informed way, today’s Baroque cellists need to increase their flexibility not only in dealing with various numbers of strings (four, five or even six; with or without frets), bow grip (over- and underhand) and tuning options (5ths, and mixed 4ths and 5ths), but perhaps also with learning to play the violoncello in da spalla position. fn18 18 The question of when the violoncello and its tech-nique actually became something akin to the stand-ardized instrument used in historical performance practice today should be the object of another study. However, I believe that it is only with an increasing number of primarily French cellists/composers/peda-gogues of the generation of the brothers Jean-Pierre Duport l’aîné (1741 – 1818) and Jean-Louis Duport le jeune (1749 – 1819) fn19 19 and their contemporaries fn20 20 — in short, cellists active from the 1760s, who determined what the new Conservatoire would eventually adopt as ‘ the ’ violoncello — that the cello was reduced to the one type we use today (see illus.3). Through their performances, methods and tutor books, these peda-gogues advocated a violoncello with four strings,

1 � Bernard Picart, Musician (print, 1701, detail)

at University of M

acedonia on January 1, 2014http://em

.oxfordjournals.org/D

ownloaded from

Page 4: Recent Re-evaluations of the Baroque Cello

184 early music may 2010

tuned in 5ths ( C – G – d – a ), played exclusively da gamba , with overhand bow grip and chromatic left-hand technique, and with the consistent adoption of thumb position for alto and treble registers. fn21 21

Bach’s cello

In what follows, I will focus on a few issues in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, and more particu-larly on the question of what he might have meant when prescribing either ‘ violoncello ’ or ‘ violoncello piccolo ’ in his six suites and in the cantatas in which a violoncello piccolo is specified or implied. Vari-ous scholars and performers have tried to tackle this thorny problem, but no one has come up with what I would call a satisfactory solution, and I am afraid I am not going to do any better. fn22 22 If we want to per-form these compositions, however, we need to create a viable practical solution. Along the same lines as Tharald Borgir in 1976, Laurence Dreyfus convinc-ingly demonstrated in 1987 that the violoncello in Bach’s music was not necessarily used everywhere as the default continuo instrument to double chordal

instruments, so I will not revisit the issue here. fn23 23 Instead, I will try to summarize some of the issues as I see them. As far as Bach’s music is concerned, only two terms are encountered that need to be accounted for, at least within the realm of so-called small bass violins: those terms are ‘ violoncello ’ and ‘ violoncello piccolo ’ . The words Discordable (used in Anna Magdalena Bach’s manuscript of the Cello Suite no.5, bwv 1011) and à cinq cordes for the Suite no.6 ( bwv 1012, in the same manuscript) refer to tun-ing and number of strings respectively, not to orga-nological issues. The term ‘ viola pomposa ’ , used to indicate the instrument Bach supposedly invented and for which he wrote his sixth suite, did not appear before 1766, fn24 24 whereas the term ‘ viola de basso ’ appears on the title-page of the so-called ‘ B source ’ of the suites. This source is probably the earliest copy (dated around 1726) of Bach’s lost autograph, by his student and main copyist Johann Peter Kellner. The more often-used copy by Bach’s wife Anna Magdalena might be dated between 1727 and 1731. In contrast, a number of Bach’s cantatas (including

2a � Pier Leone Ghezzi, d. Antonio Vandini famoso sona-

tore di Violoncello al servizio della Capella di S. Antonio in

Padova fatto da me Caval. Ghezzi (Fossombrone, Biblio-

teca Civica Passionei)

2b � Pier Leone Ghezzi, S. Pietro Sterlichi sonator di Violon-

cello bravo, il quale è stato in Spagna per molto tempo fatto

da mè Cav. Ghezzi il dì 10 Xbre 1742. Drawing, Rome, 1742

(Vatican City, Ottob. Lat.3118, f.162 r )

at University of M

acedonia on January 1, 2014http://em

.oxfordjournals.org/D

ownloaded from

Page 5: Recent Re-evaluations of the Baroque Cello

early music may 2010 185

bwv 6, 41, 49, 68, 85, 115, 175, 180 and 183) explicitly ask for a ‘ violoncello piccolo ’ and use a higher tessitura on the instrument, almost comparable to the range of the sixth suite à cinq cordes . fn25 25 Only cantatas bwv 6, 49, 85, 180 and 183 can be played on a four-string instrument tuned an octave below the violin ( G – d – a – e � ), whereas others, such as bwv 41, 68, 115, 175 and 199, work best on a five-string instrument tuned C – G – d – a – e � . fn26 26 Yet others, such as the Mühlhausen Ratwechselkantate bwv 71 (1708), have a demanding ‘ violoncello obbligato ’ part (extension G – e � ) fn27 27 writ-ten in c 3 alto and g 2 treble clef (and also c 4 tenor and f 4 bass clef in the score), and the cantata bwv 163

calls for two obbligato violoncello parts. In some of these cantatas (for example, bwv 6, 41 and 49) the violoncello piccolo part appears in the first violinist’s part and is mostly notated in g 2 treble clef. In oth-ers, the part is written in c 3 alto clef ( bwv 6, 115 and 180) or in c 4 tenor clef ( bwv 68, 175 and 183), in most cases including more or less extended passages in f 4 bass clef. Incidentally, in its two early manuscripts, the sixth cello suite is also notated with a combina-tion of alto and bass clef, as in cantatas bwv 115 and 180. The key questions here are the following: first, is there a relevant organological difference between the instruments Bach used for performance of these

3 � Cornelis Troost (1697 – 1750), portrait of a music lover of the Van der Mersch family, 1736 (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum)

at University of M

acedonia on January 1, 2014http://em

.oxfordjournals.org/D

ownloaded from

Page 6: Recent Re-evaluations of the Baroque Cello

186 early music may 2010

compositions? Second, what precisely is Bach’s vio-loncello, and how does the ‘ piccolo ’ modifier relate to it? Finally, are the specific ranges of, and the uses of, particular clefs in a composition a sufficient indi-cator for one or the other instrument when no speci-fications appear in the score? I have no definitive answers to any of these questions, but I will try to suggest how we might at least narrow down the pos-sibilities by exclusion. In doing so, I will organize my reflections and questions in ten short points, though without any pretensions to completeness.

First, as mentioned above, I am convinced that in central Germany (i.e. Thuringia and Saxony) or in Bach’s circle it was a rarity for players of bass violins, large or small (in vertical position), to use overhand grip at the time the suites and cantatas with violon-cello piccolo were composed, except of course when the instrumentalist played da spalla .

Second, since there is insufficient evidence to prove that the violoncello and the viola or violon-cello da spalla were one and the same instrument without exception, I believe it is absurd to claim that the violoncello (an organological category) in Bach’s time was either the vertical cello as we mostly play it today (but with underhand grip), or the viola/violoncello da spalla (a particular way of playing a violoncello, i.e. on the shoulder). Based on the often conflicting, or rather multifarious informa-tion and iconography available, this question cannot entirely be solved, so I continue to assume that both were viable possibilities. fn28 28 Returning to Mattheson’s description quoted at the opening of this article, the question arises as to how much smaller the violon-cello was with its five or six strings as compared with the grossen Machinen . However, we must consider Walther’s 1708 definition:

Violoncello ist ein Italiänisches, einer Violadigamba nicht ungleiches Bass-Instrument, wird fast tractiret wie eine Violine, neml. es wird mit der lincken Hand theils gehalten, und die Griffe formiret, theils aber wird es wegen der Schwere an des Rockes Knopff gehänget und durch die rechte Hand mit ein Bogen gestrichen. Wird gestimmet wie eine Viola. fn29 29

The violoncello is an Italian bass instrument, not unlike the viola da gamba, which is played almost like a violin, namely it is partly held — and played — with the left hand, and it is partly, because of its weight, hung from a but-ton on the jacket, and it is bowed with the right hand. It is tuned like a viola.

In reading his description, it seems that the ‘ vio-loncello ’ was, indeed, tuned like a viola (i.e. four strings: c – g – d � – a � ), but given its weight and thus its need to be attached to a button (where on the jacket?), we might be dealing with a fairly large-sized instrument played in some horizontal fashion (see illus.4(a) and (b)). Just a few years after Bach’s death, Leopold Mozart’s description of 1756 reads as follows:

Die siebente Art heißt das Bassell oder Bassette, welches man, nach dem italiänischen Violoncello, das Violoncell nennet. Vor Zeiten hatte es 5. Seyten; itzt geigt man es nur mit vieren. Es ist das gemeinste Instrument den Baß damit zu spielen: und obwohl es einige etwas grössere, andere etwas kleinere giebt ... fn30 30

The seventh type is called Bassell or Bassette , which we call Violoncell , according to the Italian Violoncello . In the past it had five strings; today people play with only four. It is the most common instrument to play the bass part on, and although there are some larger and some smaller [cellos] . . .

Even more striking than the fact that the cello used to have five strings and now has four, is what Mozart writes in his description of the viol on the same page:

Die neunte Art ist die Gamba. Sie wird zwischen die Beine gehalten; daher es auch den Name hat: denn die Italiäner nen-nen es Viola di Gamba, das ist: Beingeige. Heut zu Tage wird auch das Violoncell zwischen die Beine genommen , und man kann es mit allem Rechte auch eine Beingeige nennen . fn31 31

The ninth type is the Gamba. It is held between the legs; whence its name: since the Italians call it viola da gamba, that is: leg viol. Nowadays the Violoncello is also held between the legs, so we could with also call it a leg viol as of right. (emphasis mine)

In order for Mozart to indicate that the cello is ‘ nowadays also held between the legs ’ it must have been noteworthy, which triggers an obvious ques-tion. How was the violoncello held before: on the floor, on a stool or da spalla with a strap around the neck? Probably any of these options were possible.

Third, etymologically it would make sense to claim that the ‘ violoncello piccolo ’ is indeed an even smaller bass violin than the already small bass vio-lin that is referred to by the term ‘ violoncello. ’ Fur-thermore, in modern terminology we have generally come to use the term ‘ violoncello piccolo ’ to indi-cate a slightly smaller cello with five strings, but I would emphasize that the term ‘ violoncello piccolo ’ is found only in Bach’s music, and exclusively in the

at University of M

acedonia on January 1, 2014http://em

.oxfordjournals.org/D

ownloaded from

Page 7: Recent Re-evaluations of the Baroque Cello

early music may 2010 187

period between October 1724 and May 1725, i.e. in his second annual cantata cycle, and never before. fn32 32 Later, the term is encountered in a 1762 catalogue by J. G. I. Breitkopf in which 41 compositions for ‘ vio-loncello piccolo, ô violoncello da braccia ’ are listed with their incipits. A third source is a Concerto in C major for violoncello piccolo by Giovanni Battista Sammartini, and the last source is a Cöthen musi-cal instrument inventory of 1773 which lists ‘ (20) Ein Violon Cello Piculo mit 5 Seiten von J. C. Hoffmann 1731 ’ and ‘ (21) Ein Violon Cello Pic. Mit 4 Seiten von J. H. Ruppert. 1724 ’ . fn33 33 Violoncelli piccoli thus seem to have existed in four- and in five-string versions; moreover, Breitkopf considers the terms ‘ violoncello piccolo ’ and ‘ violoncello da braccia ’ to be equiva-lent. Does this mean that the violoncello piccolo was played da braccio (or da spalla )? Undoubtedly. On the other hand, whether the violoncello piccolo was with certainty an instrument of a (larger) viola size, as Ulrich Drüner and Mark Smith have claimed, fn34 34 is also a fascinating question. fn35 35

Fourth, since the term ‘ viola pomposa ’ was appar-ently first coined 16 years after Bach’s death, I do not think that further consideration of what 19th- and 20th-century authors have made of it is even rel-evant to our questions, and can thus be discarded. fn36 36

Consequently, and fifth, I am somewhat sus-picious when scholars try to build arguments on specific instruments according to size, vibrating string length and so on, when what I see in surviv-ing instruments is a continuum of various sizes, types and models from about 72cm to 125cm (total length), that have been (sometimes) arbitrarily named by connoisseurs (or not) tenor viola , viola pomposa , viola di fagotto , violoncello piccolo , violon-cello , violone and so on. I have yet to find anyone who can tell me at what point a violoncello piccolo stops being piccolo and becomes a ‘ normal ’ -sized cello. Our modern obsession with finding the perfect correlation between a term and the concept it repre-sents is largely irrelevant for the period under con-sideration, because our perspective is too global for a time-period that concerned itself only with local or, at best, regional matters. A violoncello in Leip-zig might be the exact same thing as a viola da spalla elsewhere, whereas a violoncello in Hamburg might be a very different instrument from the violoncello in Cöthen. The fact is that we do not and cannot

4a � Stefano Ghirardini (attr.), Concertino c .1730 (private

collection; photo: Stefano Martelli).

always know, and we have a difficult time dealing with that uncertainty. How are we to know whether the viola di fagotto was actually strung with double-wound strings, when none of the mid-18th-century instruments have come down to us with their origi-nal strings? fn37 37 The controversies about whether, for example, the viola pomposa is only smaller or is also flatter than the violoncello piccolo or Bach’s own Bassettgen , or whether Bach’s violoncello à cinq cordes would be slightly larger, do not contribute significantly to our understanding.

Sixth, it would make sense to accept that since some violoncello piccolo parts are notated in treble clef and appear in the first violinist’s part, these are meant for instruments played da spalla , but I cannot prove whether the total length of such an instrument would be 70cm or 95cm or somewhere in between. It probably depended on what instrument the player had and was able to play. Some of the pieces require five strings, others only four.

Seventh, if some of these violoncello piccolo parts are indeed to be played da spalla , does that imply

at University of M

acedonia on January 1, 2014http://em

.oxfordjournals.org/D

ownloaded from

Page 8: Recent Re-evaluations of the Baroque Cello

188 early music may 2010

that either all other pieces (written in alto, tenor and/or bass clef) for violoncello piccolo, or with a similar range, are by definition all to be played on a da spalla -held instrument, when there is evidence (though not much) of quite small instruments played da gamba ?

Eighth, are we to assume that the violoncello piccolo, as a (possibly?) smaller version of the vio-loncello was the instrument Bach had in mind for the sixth cello suite? Or, should we surmise that because so many authors refer to bass violins (large and small) as possibly having four or five or even six strings, Bach only wanted to emphasize that this piece is really meant for a five-string instrument, and the others could be played on any other type? I believe so. By the same token, should we believe that

4b � Concertino (detail)

if we accept that the violoncello piccolo is indeed a possible candidate for the violoncello à cinq cordes and could thus be played da spalla , that the other five suites would also be meant for that type of prac-tice? I believe there is no better solution than to have players perform these pieces on one (or more) of the historically possible and acceptable choices they have and that best work for them.

Ninth, might we perhaps interpret the collec-tion of cello suites — as Bach often did in his need for perfection and comprehensiveness in some of his other collections, such as Das Wohltemperirte Clavier , the Orgel-Büchlein or the various sacred cantata annual cycles — as six pieces he intended to compose for the various types of instruments that belonged to the group of smallish bass violins

at University of M

acedonia on January 1, 2014http://em

.oxfordjournals.org/D

ownloaded from

Page 9: Recent Re-evaluations of the Baroque Cello

early music may 2010 189

5 � Giuseppe Torelli, Concertino per Camera a Violino, e

Violoncello , op. iv (Bologna, c .1687 – 92), violoncello part-

book, p.1 (Bologna, Civico Museo, cc 26)

he had in his immediate proximity? fn38 38 In that case, Suite no.5 would be a good candidate for the largest instrument in the group (and definitely with four strings), Suites nos.1 and 2 for a slightly smaller type, nos.3 and 4 for a yet smaller instrument given some large hand extensions (and our incomplete knowledge about the use of thumb position in Ger-many in the 1720s), fn39 39 and Suite no.6 for the small-est of all, but certainly with five strings. Also, Suites nos.1, 2 and 5 could be played da gamba , and pos-sibly, but not necessarily, nos.3, 4 and 6 could be performed da spalla . I would claim that whether the instrument was played da spalla or da gamba actually makes little difference, except that longer string-length improves the sound quality of low

pitches, but complicates certain technical issues, issues that on a smaller instrument held da spalla could be reversed. fn40 40

And finally, my tenth point, and my conclusion, is that I believe that trying to find the one and only ideal instrument to play all of Bach’s violoncello and violoncello piccolo pieces is a futile endeavour. It must be kept in mind that in Bach’s direct milieu the smaller bass violins could have had four or five strings; that they could have been tuned in 5ths or in a combination of 5ths and a 4th; and that profes-sional bass gamba players or bass violinists most probably played these various violoncelli vertically, whereas violinists and violists were possibly more comfortable playing even smaller instruments da spalla (see illus.5). fn41 41 The one thing that I now seri-ously question is whether it makes much sense for today’s Baroque cellists to keep playing their vio-loncellos and violoni exclusively with overhand bow grip in music before c .1730. fn42 42 This is because I believe that Corrette’s 1741 method is indeed a land-mark that indicates something fairly revolution-ary, and that includes the use of an overhand bow grip, thumb position and purely semi-chromatic left-hand technique. Although I would advocate for playing all Bach’s cello and violone parts underhand at least up to his move to Leipzig in 1723, I am also aware that things probably started to change at that point and that he may well have had people in his ensembles who played in different ways. As long as we observe one or more of these pieces of evidence, everything else is up to the choice, abilities and com-fort of individual players, and remains within what is acceptable in an historically informed performance.

Marc Vanscheeuwijck teaches musicology, historical performance practice and Baroque cello, and is chair of Musicology and Ethnomusicology at the School of Music and Dance of the University of Oregon. He has published a book on The Cappella Musicale of San Petronio in Bologna under G. P. Colonna (Brussels and Rome, 2003), and various articles on music in Bologna and on the Baroque cello, as well as critical facsimile editions of Bolognese cello music. [email protected]

1 Johann Mattheson, Das Neu-eröffnete Orchestre (Hamburg, 1713).

2 See S. Bonta, ‘ From violone to violoncello: a question of strings? ’ Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society , iii (1977), pp.64 – 99; S. Bonta, ‘ Terminology for the bass violin in seventeenth-century Italy ’ ,

Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society , iv (1978), pp.5 – 43; and S. Bonta, ‘ Corelli’s heritage: the early bass violin in Italy ’ , in Studi Corelliani IV. Atti del quarto congresso internazionale (Fusignano, 4 – 7 settembre 1986) , ed. P. Petrobelli and G. Staffieri (Florence, 1990), pp.217 – 31;

S. La Via, ‘ “ Violone ” e “ Violoncello ” a Roma al tempo di Corelli. Terminologia, Modelli organologici, techniche esecutive ’ , in Studi Corelliani IV , ed. Petrobelli and Staffieri, pp.65 – 191; A. Planyavsky, The Baroque double bass violone , trans. J. Barket (Lanham, MD, and London, 1998); T. Borgir,

at University of M

acedonia on January 1, 2014http://em

.oxfordjournals.org/D

ownloaded from

Page 10: Recent Re-evaluations of the Baroque Cello

190 early music may 2010

The performance of the basso continuo in Italian Baroque music (Ann Arbor, 1987); L. Lindgren, Antonio Bononcini: Complete sonatas for violoncello and basso continuo , Recent Researches in the Music of the Baroque Era lxxvii (Madison, WI, 1996), pp.vii – xxiii, for problems concerning the violone and violoncello. A bibliography is available on http :// www . greatbassviol . com / violone . html and on http :// www . greatbassviol . com / cello . html . The following deal more specifically with viola/violoncello da spalla: G. Barnett, ‘ The violoncello da spalla: shouldering the cello in the Baroque era ’ , Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society , xxiv (1998), pp.81 – 106; A. Kory, ‘ A wider role for the tenor violin? ’ Galpin Society Journal , xlvii (1994), pp.123 – 53; and A. Kory, ‘ The significance of the tenor violin ’ , The Consort , lxii (2006), pp.63 – 91; B. Wissick, ‘ The cello music of Antonio Bononcini: violone, violoncello da spalla, and the cello “ schools ” of Bologna and Rome ’ , Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music , xii/1 (2006), http :// sscm - jscm . press . uiuc . edu / v12 / no1 / wissick . html ; L. Smit, ‘ Towards a more consistent and more historical view of Bach’s violoncello ’ , Chelys , xxxii (2004), pp.49 – 56, revised version on http :// www . xs4all . nl / ~ lambsmit / flash / towardsnew . swf ; D. Badiarov, ‘ The violoncello, viola da spalla and viola pomposa in theory and practice ’ , Galpin Society Journal , lx (2007), pp.121 – 45 (available on http :// violadabraccio . com / pdf / GSJ60_121 – 145_Badiarov . pdf ).

3 See Michel Corrette, Methode, théorique et pratique. Pour Apprendre en peu de tems le Violoncelle dans sa Perfection (Paris, 1741), frontispiece and description on p.7; and M. Vanscheeuwijck, ‘ The baroque cello and its performance ’ , Performance Practice Review , ix/1 (1996), pp.78 – 96, esp. p.91.

4 While my former interest in cello and violone issues turned to different topics in the past two decades, it was Sigiswald Kuijken who reawakened my urge to question and understand the violoncello problem in Ghent in April 2004, when he first showed me his brand-new viola da spalla made by Dmitry Badiarov. Publications by Lambert Smit, Dmitry Badiarov, Mark Smith, and especially also by Brent Wissick and Gregory Barnett, brought me back to a complete

re-evaluation of an instrument I had too long taken for granted.

5 See also P. Holman, Four and twenty fiddlers (Oxford, 1993), ch.1: ‘ Quagmires of history and terminology: the origin of the violin ’ , p.2.

6 See also T. A. Russell, ‘ New light on the historical manner of holding the cello ’ , Historical Performance , ix/2 (1993), pp.73 – 6.

7 Johann Joachim Quantz, Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu spielen (Berlin, 1752), p.212: ‘ Wer auf dem Violoncell nicht nur accompagniret, sondern auch Solo spielet, thut sehr wohl, wenn er zwey besondere Instrumente hat; eines zu Solo, das andere zum Ripienspielen, bey großen Musiken. Das letztere muß größer, und mit dicken Saiten bezogen seyn, als das erstere. Wollte man mit einem kleinen und Schwach bezogenen Instrumente beydes verrichten; so würde das Accompagnement in einer zahlreichen Musik gar keine Wirkung thun. Der zum Ripienspielen bestimmte Bogen, muß auch starker, und mit schwarzen haaren, als von welchen die Saiten schärfer, als von den weißen, angegriffen werden, bezogen seyn ’ (ch. xvii , Section iv , §1). ( ‘ Those who not only accompany on the violoncello, but also play solos on it, would do well to have two special instruments, one for solos, the other for ripieno parts in large ensembles. The latter must be larger, and must be equipped with thicker strings than the former. If a small instrument with thin strings were employed for both types of parts, the accompaniment in a large ensemble would have no effect whatsoever. The bow intended for ripieno playing must also be stronger, and must be strung with black hairs, with which the strings may be struck more sharply than with white ones. ’ ) See Quantz, trans. and ed. E. R. Reilly, On Playing the Flute (London, 2/1985), p.241.

8 ‘ Ittem un Violon de Estayner con su Caja en mil y quinienttos Reales-/Ittem un Violon Chico con su Caja en doscientos Reales- ’ , see J. Tortella, Boccherini. Un músico Italiano en la España ilustrada (Madrid, 2002), pp.265 – 7; see also A. Kory, ‘ Boccherini and the cello ’ , Early Music , xxxiii/4 (2005), pp.749 – 51.

9 See S. Bonta, ‘ Terminology for the bass violin in seventeenth-century Italy ’ ,

pp.6 and 40 – 2; and Vanscheeuwijck, ‘ The Baroque cello ’ , pp.80 – 6.

10 M. Vanscheeuwijck, Giovanni Battista Degli Antonii: Ricercate sopra il violoncello o clavicembalo e Ricercate per il violino (Bologna, 2007).

11 See also M. Vanscheeuwijck, ‘ In search of the eighteenth-century “ violoncello ” : Antonio Vandini and the concertos for viola by Tartini ’ , Performance Practice Review , xiii (2008), pp.1 – 20, published online, http :// ccdl . libraries . claremont . edu / cdm4 / document . php ? CISOROOT =/ ppr &; CISOPTR = 2986 .

12 In his Compendio musicale (Ferrara, Mss.1677 and 1694), Bartolomeo Bismantova provides a Regola p[er] suonare il Violoncello da Spalla (facs. edn, Florence, 1983, p.[119]) in which he writes: ‘ Il Violoncello da Spalla alla moderna s’accorda in quinta, salvo che il Basso che in vece d’accordarlo in C sol fa ut, bisognerà accordarlo in D la sol re, e questo si fa p[er] la commodità del Suonatore, ma però si può ancora accordare in C sol fa ut ’ ( ‘ The modern violoncello da spalla is tuned in 5ths, except that the lowest string, instead of being tuned as C , should be tuned as D , and this is done for the ease of the player, but it could also be tuned as C ’ ). Bismantova further gives an entirely diatonic fingering chart for the strings ( D – G – d – a ), using 0 – 1 – 2 on the D -string, 0 – 1 – 2 – 3 on the G - and d -strings and 0 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 on the a -string (for the pitches a – b – c � – d � – e � ), which is only possible on a fairly small instrument played da spalla . Finally, on p.[120] he adds ‘ Le Regole et Arcade sono l’istesso di quelle del Violino ’ .

13 Probably written shortly before 1732 (see C. Vitali, ‘ Un concerto per violoncello attribuito a Porpora ’ , Studi musicali , viii (1979)), pp.291 – 301), Porpora’s concerto can be situated stylistically as an early representative of the new galant style. Technically, it is not particularly challenging, and it certainly does not display the dense ornamentation of Tartini’s concertos, but its extension is very similar to Tartini’s works: notated almost exclusively in tenor clef ( c 4), the solo part is mainly contained within the G – a � ambitus, with one short extension in a fast

at University of M

acedonia on January 1, 2014http://em

.oxfordjournals.org/D

ownloaded from

Page 11: Recent Re-evaluations of the Baroque Cello

early music may 2010 191

scalar passage down to C (Allegro, bar 32), and two brief ventures above a � (to b � in the same Allegro, bar 8) and even to c � (final Allegro, bars 67 – 70). In this case, too, I would strongly advocate performance on a five-string instrument tuned C – G – d – a – d � (or e � )), because in that case most passagework would occur in first position on the three upper strings. In fact, given the extension of the piece, the presence of a C -string is not absolutely indispensable: like so many works of Neapolitan composers, the piece dwells primarily in the tenor and alto registers of the instrument. The resonance of the instrument is excellent even on the highest pitches. These two examples make a convincing case, I believe, for the use of the most appropriate number of strings and type of tuning, based on the requirements of the repertory at hand.

14 Antonio Maria Bononcini’s sonatas tell a similar story. The extension of most compositions suggests a five-string instrument (or for several of them even a four-string violoncello, tuned G – d – a – e � ) as Lindgren explains (see Antonio Bononcini: Complete sonatas , pp.xv – xvi). However, I would point out that if the cellist uses an instrument smaller than the modern ‘ Baroque ’ cello — played da gamba or da braccio (see also Wissick, ‘ Cello music of Antonio Bononcini ’ ) — the use of thumb position for certain doubled stops ( b – c � or b – c � ) becomes superfluous, since a slight extension of the left hand will suffice. On the other hand, Carlo Graziani’s sonatas come technically closer to a Boccherinian treatment of the instrument, his works having been published roughly between 1760 and 1780 (see M. E. Parker, Carlo Graziani: Sonatas for violoncello and basso , Recent Researches in the Music of the Classical Era xlix (Madison, WI, 1997), pp.vii – xiv), but given the types of arpeggios and double stops, here, too, I would strongly advocate the use of a five-string instrument.

15 The composition used to belong to the Fürstliche Bibliothek in Bückeburg, and was transferred to Silesia during the Second World War. The autograph has been considered lost since April 1945, but there is a 1905 edition in the Collection Litolff (transposed into D major), which permitted a reconstruction to its original

key (see Stefan Fuchs’s edition (Mainz, 2007), Foreword). In its original key, the sonata works ideally on a four-string cello tuned G – d – a – d � .

16 The few exceptions include engravings of Crispijn de Passe (1612), Bernard Picart (1701) and Nicola Cosimi (1702) (see illus.1 ).

17 Let us not forget that all tunings that differ from the ‘ normal ’ C – G – d – a tuning are referred to as scordatura or discordato , literally meaning ‘ out of tune ’ , a description that began to be used as soon as a standard tuning was perceived as such, later in the century. See E. Segerman, ‘ The name “ tenor violin ” ’ , Galpin Society Journal , xlviii (1995), pp.181 – 7. Although the C – G – d – g tuning was certainly not uncommon in the 17th century, Luigi Taglietti (in Brescia), in his Suonate da camera A ’ Tre due Violini, e Violoncello, con alcune aggiunte à Violoncello solo op. 1 (Bologna, 1697), adds ‘ Discordatura ’ over the four notes of the tuning ( C – G – d – g ) he provides on a Capriccio à Violoncello solo , though this is only by comparison to all the other Capricci which are in the C – G – d – a tuning.

18 Although E. Cowling, The cello (New York, 1975), pp.60 – 1, already suggested some of this, it is only recently that such cellists as Bruno Cocset, Roel Dieltiens, Christophe Coin, Gaetano Nasillo and violinists/viola da spalla players Sigiswald Kuijken, Ryo Terakado, Makoto Akatsu, Giulio d’Alessio, Dmitry Badiarov, Lambert Smit and others have started to turn theory into practice.

19 Naturally their approach to the violoncello and its technique has its most famous predecessors in the methods of Michel Corrette (1741) and François Cupis le jeune (1772).

20 These include Pierre-Hyacinthe Azaïs (1741 – c .1795), Joseph Bonaventure Tillière ( c .1750 – c .1790), Jean-Baptiste-Aimé-Joseph Janson ( c .1742 – 1803), Jean-Baptiste-Sébastien Bréval (1753 – 1823), Pierre-François-Olivier Aubert (1763 – c .1830), Jean-Henri Levasseur (1764 – c .1826) and Jean-Marie-Raoul (1766 – 1837). See also M. Campbell, ‘ Masters of the Baroque and Classical eras ’ , in The Cambridge Companion to the Cello , ed. R. Stowell (Cambridge, 1999), pp.52 – 60; V. Walden, ‘ Technique, style and performing practice to c. 1900 ’ ,

in The Cambridge Companion to the Cello , ed. Stowell, pp.178 – 94; V. Walden, One hundred years of violoncello: a history of technique and performance practice, 1740 – 1840 (Cambridge, 1998); and S. Milliot, ‘ Le violoncelle en France au XVIIIème siècle ’ (diss. Université de Paris iv , 1975).

21 Many players and scholars have claimed that there is ample proof that the thumb position was used before Corrette (by, for example, Scipriani, Lanzetti and others), but if one plays these sonatas with an additional d � -string or in some cases with a four-string instrument tuned G – d – a – d � , there is absolutely no need for thumb position. This element of cello technique, first described in 1741, only became necessary when the semi-standardized four-string instrument tuned C – G – d – a became accepted as ‘ the ’ cello.

22 See Smit and Badiarov in their works cited in n.2.

23 See Borgir, The performance of the basso continuo , and L. Dreyfus, Bach’s continuo group: players and practices in his vocal works (Cambridge, MA, and London, 1987), ch.5. See also M. M. Smith, ‘ Joh. Seb. Bachs Violoncello piccolo: Neue Aspekte — offene Fragen ’ , Bach Jahrbuch (1998), pp.63 – 81; and U. Prinz, Johann Sebastian Bachs Instrumentarium. Originalquellen — Besetzung — Verwendung , x, in Schriftenreihe der Internationalen Bachakademie Stuttgart (Kassel, Basel and London, 2005), sections on violoncello (pp.556 – 83), violoncello piccolo (pp.584 – 601) and violone (pp.602 – 27).

24 See Prinz, Johann Sebastian Bachs Instrumentarium , p.585.

25 The sixth suite has an extension of C – g � , whereas in the cantatas, the highest pitches generally remain within a 5th lower (see Prinz, Johann Sebastian Bachs Instrumentarium , p.601).

26 For more details, see Prinz, Johann Sebastian Bachs Instrumentarium , p.594.

27 Based on this extension, Mark Smith hypothesizes that the instrument used may have been a larger viola-sized instrument. See ‘ J. S. Bach’s violoncello piccolo ’ , pp.67 – 9.

28 See also my third point and n.34 below.

29 Johann Gottfried Walther, Praecepta der Musicalischen Composition (Weimar, 1708), p.161.

at University of M

acedonia on January 1, 2014http://em

.oxfordjournals.org/D

ownloaded from

Page 12: Recent Re-evaluations of the Baroque Cello

192 early music may 2010

30 Leopold Mozart, Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule (Augsburg, 1756), p.3.

31 Mozart, Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule , p.3.

32 See Smith, ‘ J. S. Bach’s violoncello piccolo ’ , p.65; Prinz, Johann Sebastian Bachs Instrumentarium , p.601; and C. Wolff, Johann Sebastian Bach: the learned musician (New York and London, 2000), pp.275 – 8. I concur with Mark Smith in ‘ daß das fünfsaitige Violoncello piccolo hauptsächlich ein sächsisch-thüringisches Instrument war, dessen Ursprung auf Johann Sebastian Bach und Johann Christian Hoffmann zurückzuführen ist ’ (Smith, ‘ J. S. Bach’s violoncello piccolo ’ , p.80). Whether the extant Hoffmann instruments are to be considered original and reliable sources is another matter.

33 R. Bunge, ‘ Johann Sebastian Bachs Kapelle zu Cöthen und deren nachgelassene Instrumente ’ , Bach Jahrbuch (1905), p.38; Smith, ‘ J. S. Bach’s violoncello piccolo ’ , pp.65, 76; Prinz, Johann Sebastian Bachs Instrumentarium , p.586.

34 U. Drüner, ‘ Violoncello piccolo und Viola pomposa bei Johann Sebastian Bach. Zu Fragen von Identität und Spielweise dieser Instrumente ’ , Bach Jahrbuch (1987), pp.85 – 112; and Smith, ‘ J. S. Bachs violoncello piccolo ’ , pp.66 – 71.

35 Given all these particulars, and given the fact that no specific mention is made of what we call a violoncello today, we could even hypothesize (along with the various theoretical sources) that the violoncello in the first third of the 18th century was indeed smaller than our cello and probably mostly played da spalla . Or that the ‘ modern ’ instrument either did not really exist (and appeared later), or that it was so ‘ normal ’ that it did not need to be referred to at all. Even descriptions of specific instruments in contemporary inventories are not sufficiently precise to yield any conclusions. Finally, existing instruments have all been so heavily transformed in the subsequent centuries that they have lost much of their documentary value.

36 See Drüner, ‘ Violoncello piccolo ’ , pp.86 – 92, and Badiarov, ‘ Viola da spalla ’ , pp.122 – 32, for a detailed account on the viola pomposa . See

also Prinz’s section on ‘ Alte und neue Hypothesen zum Violoncello piccolo ’ , in Johann Sebastian Bachs Instrumentarium , pp.596 – 600. Only Telemann’s two duets (from Der Getreue Music-Meister , 1728 – 9) for viola pomposa o violino (and later pieces by Lidarti, Janitsch and Graun) are an early reference to the instrument, but they could refer to a Quinton; see Drüner, ‘ Violoncello piccolo ’ , pp.93 – 5, and Badiarov, ‘ Viola da spalla ’ , p.125 and n.10.

37 Daniel Speer, in his Grundrichtiger Unterricht der musikalischen Kunst oder Vierfaches musikalisches Kleeblatt (Ulm, 1697), p.207, writes that ‘ Es werden auch Theils Brazen-Saiten mit silber-oder küpffernem zarten Drahton von den Violen/ um dieser schnurrenden Saiten halben/Viola di Fagotto titulirt ’ .

38 The question remains relevant, even if we accept Mark Smith’s convincing theory that the last of the six suites was composed not in Cöthen like the others, but in Leipzig around 1725, like the sixth sonata for violin and obbligato harpsichord. See Smith, ‘ J. S. Bach’s violoncello piccolo ’ , p.74. This hypothesis certainly needs further investigation, but that should be the object of another article specifically on the cello suites.

39 See also Badiarov, ‘ Viola da spalla ’ , p.132; and Smith, ‘ J. S. Bach’s violoncello piccolo ’ , p.66; Jean Barrière’s first and second book (1733), and Salvatore Lanzetti’s Sonatas op.1 (1736) are indeed virtually unplayable without the use of the thumb, unless they are played on a five-string instrument. See also n.20.

40 Although I have not yet found iconographical evidence of it in German-speaking areas, we have several images of large instruments played da spalla in Italy. I believe it is erroneous speculation to assume that the violoncello played da spalla was necessarily a smaller instrument ( illus.4 and 5 ).

41 Most town musicians were capable of playing a great variety of instruments. See Wolff, Bach , pp.21 – 4.

42 See also M. M. Smith, ‘ The cello bow held the viol-way; once common, but now almost forgotten ’ , Chelys , xxiv (1995), pp.47 – 61.

at University of M

acedonia on January 1, 2014http://em

.oxfordjournals.org/D

ownloaded from