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We all know its rich, growling tone. But what is the history of the cello? Here is the story behind this majestic string instrument.<\/p>
Like the violin, the violoncello (cello for short) first emerged in northern Italy, sometime in the early 16th century.\u00a0<\/p>
Initially known as the bass violin, the cello was designed to reinforce the bass line in ensembles: hence its size and heft. In many ways it was similar to its ancestor, the viola da gamba, not least because both instruments are held between the legs (in fact \u2018viola da gamba\u2019 translates as \u2018viol for the leg\u2019). But the cello has fewer strings, amongst other differences.<\/p>
For one thing, it has shrunk! The original bass violins were quite a bit bigger than their descendants, and typically had five strings made of sheep and goat guts. \u00a0<\/p>
Around the late 17th century, Bolognese makers began to exploit the recently-invented wire-wound strings to create another kind of cello: a smaller beast capable of playing virtuosic passages. It was at this time that the cello – previously restricted to ensemble work – came to be regarded as a solo instrument.<\/p>
No. For a while there was cello chaos, with sizes, names, and tunings of the instrument varying by geography and time. Significantly, Bach<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s 6th suite for unaccompanied cello was written for a 5-string cello known as the violoncello piccolo, with the higher 5th string enabling the composer to extend the range of the music without forcing the cellist to play high up on the fingerboard.<\/p>