The violoncello da spalla, known informally as the cello da spalla, is a small

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

played braced against the shoulder. The violoncello da spalla was designed to be played by violinists, who have limited experience playing instruments such as the viola da gamba or cello, which are held in a vertical position fixed between legs. The viola da spalla is held on the shoulder and chest, and is larger than the

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

.Badiarov, Dmitry. “The Violoncello, Viola da spalla and Viola pomposa in Theory and Practice.” The Galpin Society Journal, vol. 60, 2007, pp. 121–145. Online at JSTOR

Accessed 3 Sept. 2021. There are also numerous instances of suites, serenades, divertimenti, and cassations that begin and/or end with marches. If these marches were to get the players in or out, the bass lines could have been played on these instruments, as well as on procession cellos which are regular cellos with a tiny hole under the neck where the player can attach a hook and a strap.

Possible use by Bach

Because of the variety in terminology used in the eighteenth century, it can be difficult now to determine exactly what instrument was intended in specific instances. The terms "violoncello da spalla" and "viola da spalla" tend to appear in theoretical works rather than as instrument designations from composers. However, it is possible that

J. S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

, and perhaps other composers, might have intended the violoncello da spalla in cases where the "violoncello piccolo" is specified. This term, "violoncello piccolo", features in many of the

Bach cantatas This is a sortable list of Bach cantatas, the cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. His almost 200 extant cantatas are among his important vocal compositions. Many are known to be lost. Bach composed both church cantatas, most of them for ...

, with the parts written in a variety of clefs (bass, tenor, alto and soprano). The variety of clefs has been taken as a representation of the instrument's relatively wide range. The five-string version of the instrument may have been what Bach had in mind for performing his Cello Suite No. 6 (which presents many technical problems on a four-string cello).

Musicians

François Fernandez François Fernandez (born 22 February 1960) is a French classical violinist who specializes in historically informed performance. Career Born in Rouen in a family of musicians, Fernandez began learning the classical violin at the age of twelve ...

* Sigiswald Kuijken *

Sergey Malov Sergey Efimovich Malov (russian: Серге́й Ефи́мович Ма́лов; 28 January 1880, Kazan - 6 September 1957, Leningrad) was a Russian Turkologist who made important contributions to the documentation of archaic and contemporary Tur ...

Ryo Terakado is a Japanese violinist and conductor who specializes in historically informed performance. He also plays the viola, viola d'amore and violoncello da spalla. He has been teaching at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and the Toho Gakuen School ...

* Dmitry Badiarov * Samuel Hengebaert * Olav Johansson * Andrew Gonzalez

References

Cellos {{cello-stub

Possible use by Bach

Musicians

See also

References