Cello: history, video, interesting facts, listen

Musical Instrument: Cello

The cello is a string-stringed instrument, a mandatory participant in a symphony orchestra and string ensemble, possessing a rich technique of performance. Due to its juicy and melodious sound, it is often used as a solo instrument. The cello is widely used when it is necessary to express sadness, despair or deep lyrics in music and in this it has no equal.

Unlike the violin and viola, to which she looks very similar, the cello is not held in her hands, but placed vertically. It is interesting that at one time they played on it standing, placing it on a special chair, only then they invented a spire that rests on the floor, thereby supporting the instrument.

Surprisingly, before the work of L.V. Beethoven composers did not attach much importance to the melodiousness of this instrument. However, having received recognition in his works, the cello took an important place in the work of romantics and other composers.

Read the history of the cello and many interesting facts about this musical instrument on our page.

Cello sound

Having a thick, rich, melodious, heartfelt sound, the cello often resembles the timbre of a human voice. Sometimes it seems during solo performances that she is talking and chanting with you. About a man, we would say that he has a chest voice, that is, coming from the depths of the chest, and maybe the soul itself. The cello surprises with such a charming deep sound.

Her presence is necessary when it is necessary to emphasize the tragedy or lyricism of the moment. Each of the four strings of the cello has its own special sound, peculiar only to her. Thus, the low sounds resemble the bass male voice, the upper - more gentle and warm female alto. That is why it sometimes seems that it does not just sound, but “talks” with the audience. Sound range covers the interval of five octaves from the note "to" the big octave to the note "mi" of the third octave. However, often the skill of the performer allows you to take notes much higher. The tuning of the strings is made by quints.

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Interesting Cello Facts

• The most expensive instrument in the world is considered to be the Stradivarius cello, Dupor. It was made by the great master Antonio Stradivari in 1711. Duport - a brilliant cellist was its owner for many years until his death, so the cello got its name. She's a little scratched. There is a version that this is a trail of Napoleon's spurs. The emperor left this Metina when he tried to learn how to play this musical instrument and wrapped his legs around it. The cello visited several years with the famous collector Baron Johann Knop. She played for 33 years M. Rostropovich. It is rumored that after his death, the Japanese Music Association bought the instrument from its relatives for $ 20 million, although they stubbornly deny this fact. Perhaps the instrument is still in the family of the musician.
• Count Viljegorsky owned two beautiful Stradivarius cellos. One of them later possessed K. Yu. Davydov, then Jacqueline du Pré, now plays the famous cellist and composer Yo-Yo Ma.

• Once, an original competition was held in Paris. The great cellist Casals took part in it. We studied the sound of old instruments made by masters of Guarneri and Stradivari, as well as the sound of modern cellos made in the factory. In total, 12 instruments took part in the experiment. Light extinguished in order to purity of the experiment. What was the surprise of the jury and Casals himself, when, after listening to the sound, the judges gave the modern models 2 times more points for the beauty of sound than the old ones. Then Casals said: "I prefer to play on old instruments. Let them lose in the beauty of sound, but they have a soul, and the current ones have beauty without a soul."
• Cellist Pablo Casals loved and pampered his instruments. In the bow of one of the cellos, he inserted a sapphire, which gave him the Queen of Spain.
• The Finnish group Apocalyptika has become very popular. Her repertoire is hard rock. What is surprising is that the musicians play at the same time on 4 cellos and drums. This use of this stringed instrument, which has always been considered sincere, soft, soulful, lyrical, brought the group world-wide fame. In the name of the group the performers put together 2 words Apocalypse and Metallica.
• Renowned abstract artist Julia Borden paints her amazing paintings not on canvas or paper, but on violins and cellos. To do this, she removes the strings, smoothes the surface, primes it and then paints a picture. Why she chose such an unusual placement for the pictures, Julia cannot even explain to herself. She said that these tools seem to pull her to her, inspiring to perform the next masterpiece.
• The musician Roldugin bought the cello "Stuart", made by the master of Stradivarius in 1732 for $ 12 million. Its first owner was the King of Prussia Frederick the Great.
• The cost of the tools of Antonio Stradivarius is the highest. In total, the master made 80 cellos. To date, according to experts, 60 instruments have been preserved.
• In the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra plays 12 cellists. They became famous for introducing into the repertoire many arrangements of popular contemporary songs.
• The classic look of the instrument is made of wood. However, some modern masters decided to break stereotypes. For example, Louis and Clark produce cellos from carbon fiber, and Alcoa has been producing aluminum cellos since the 1930s. The same was fascinated by the German master Pfretzschner.

• The cello ensemble from St. Petersburg under the direction of Olga Rudneva has a rather rare composition. 8 cellos and a grand piano participate in the ensemble.
• In December 2014, South African Karel Henn set a record for the duration of the cello. He played continuously for 26 hours and got into the Guinness Book of Records.
• Mstislav Rostropovich, a cello virtuoso of the 20th century, made a significant contribution to the development and promotion of the cello repertoire. He first performed more than a hundred new works for cello.
• One of the most famous cellos is the “King”, which was made by Andre Amati between 1538 and 1560. This is one of the oldest cellos and it is located in the National Music Museum of South Dakota.
• 4 strings on the instrument were not always used, in the 17-18 centuries there were five-stringed cellos in Germany and the Netherlands.
• Originally, the strings were made from sheep giblets, later they were replaced by metal ones.

Cello Repertoire

The cello has a very rich repertoire of concerts, sonatas and other works. Perhaps the most famous of them are the six suites of I.S. Bach for cello solo, variations on the theme of Rococo PI Tchaikovsky and the "Swan" Saint-Saens. Antonio Vivaldi wrote 25 concertos for cello, Boccherini 12, Haydn wrote at least three, Saint-Saens and Dvorak wrote two each. Cello concerts also include pieces written by Elgar and Bloch. The most famous sonatas for cello and piano were written by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Poulenc and Britten.

Popular Cello Works

JS Bach - Suite No. 1 in G Major (listen)

P.I. Tchaikovsky. - Variations on the Rococo theme for cello and orchestra (listen)

A. Dvořák - Concerto for cello and orchestra (listen)

C. Saint-Saens - "Swan" (listen)

I. Brahms - Double Concerto for Violin and Cello (listen)

Cello construction

The tool for a long time retains its original appearance. Its design is quite simple and it never occurred to anyone to redo and change something in it. The exception is the spire, which the cello rests against the floor. At first it was not at all. The instrument was placed on the floor and played, clasping the body with its feet, then it was placed on a platform, and it was played standing up. After the appearance of the spire, the only change was its bending, so that the body could be at a different angle. The cello looks like a large violin. It consists of 3 main parts:

• Body Contains the upper and lower deck, efu (hole for resonation), heading, shell, loop, button, bow (strut inside).
• Grif. There are threshold, neck and heel.
• Head. This is a detail with a hollow box, where there are pegs for stringing. It ends with a curl.

An important separate part of the tool is a bow. It comes in different sizes and also consists of 3 parts:

• Wooden cane (used Brazilian tree or fernambuk).
• Pad (made from durable ebony, has pearl inserts).
• Horsehair (taken natural or artificial). Its tension is regulated by an octagonal screw located on a cane.

The place where the hair touches the string has the name "play point". The sound is affected by the playing point, the force of pressure on the bow, the speed of its movement. In addition, the sound can be influenced by the bow tilt. For example, to apply flagelove technique, articulation effects, sound softening, piano.

Cello Sizes

The standard (full) size of the cello is 4/4. Such instruments can be found in symphonic, chamber and string ensembles. However, other tools are used. For children or people of short stature, smaller models are produced with sizes 7/8, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/10, 1/16.

These options are similar in structure and sound capabilities with ordinary cellos. Their small size creates convenience when playing young talents who are just starting their journey into a great musical life.

There are cellos that are larger than standard. Such models are designed for people of large stature with long arms. Such a tool is not available on a production scale, but is made to order.

Cello weight quite small. Despite the fact that it looks massive, weighs no more than 3-4 kg.

The history of the cello

Initially, all stringed instruments originated from the musical bow, which differed little from the hunting. Initially they spread in China, India, Persia, up to the Islamic lands. In European territory, representatives of the violin began to spread from the Balkans, where they were brought from Byzantium.

The cello officially begins its history from the beginning of the 16th century. This is what the modern history of the instrument teaches us, although some finds make it doubtful. For example, in the Iberian Peninsula already in the 9th century, iconography emerged, in which bowed instruments are present. So, if you dig deep, the history of the cello begins more than a thousand years ago.

The most popular of the string instruments was viola da gamba. It was her who later supplanted the cello from the orchestra, being its direct descendant, but with a more beautiful and diverse sound. All her famous relatives: violin, viola, double bass, also lead their history from the viola. In the 15th century, the division of the viola into various stringed instruments began.

After its appearance as a separate representative of bowed, the cello began to be used as a bass to accompany vocal performances and parts for violin, flute and other instruments that had a higher register. Later, the cello was often used to perform solos. To this day, not a single string quartet and symphony orchestra, which involves 8–12 instruments, can do without it.

Great Cello Creators

The first known cello makers are Paolo Magini and Gasparo Salo. They constructed the tool at the end of the XVI - beginning of the XVII century. The first cellos, created by these masters, only vaguely resembled the instrument that we can now see.

The cello acquired the classical form in the hands of such famous masters as Niccolo Amati and Antonio Stradivari. A distinctive feature of their work was the perfect combination of wood and varnish, thanks to which it was possible to give each instrument its own unique sound, its own manner of sounding. There is an opinion that each cello that came out of the workshop of Amati and Stradivari had its own character.

Cello Stradivari are considered the most expensive today. Their cost is estimated in millions of dollars. No less famous, and Cello Guarneri. This is the instrument most loved by the famous cellist Casals, preferring it to Stradivarius. The cost of these tools is somewhat lower (from $ 200 thousand).

Why are Stradivarius instruments ten times higher? According to the originality of sound, character, timbre, both models have exceptional features. The simple fact is that the name of Stradivari represented no more than three masters, whereas Guarneri was not less than ten. Glory to the house of Amati and Stradivari came during her lifetime, the name of Guarneri sounded much later than the death of their representatives.

Cello sheet music is written in the range of tenor, bass and treble clef in accordance with the pitch. In the orchestral score, her part is placed between altos and double basses. Before starting the game, the performer rubs the bow with rosin. This is done to grip the hair with the string and allows you to extract sound. After playing the rosin is removed from the instrument, because it spoils the lacquer coating and wood. If this is not done, the sound may later lose its quality. Interestingly, for each stringed instrument there is a different kind of rosin.