Violoncello

violoncello: see violin.

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cello

 or violoncello

Bowed, stringed instrument, the bass member of the violin family. Its full name means “little violone”—i.e., “little big viol.” Its proportions resemble those of the violin. Players hold its body between the legs, its weight supported by a metal spike that touches the floor. It has four strings, tuned an octave below those of the viola. The cello was developed in the early 16th century along with the violin and viola; later innovations increased its power. It gradually displaced the bass viola da gamba in the 18th century, especially as a continuo instrument. It has been essential to chamber music ensembles for 250 years. The modern orchestra includes 6 to 12 cellos. In the 19th and 20th centuries it was increasingly used as a solo instrument.

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Violoncello 

(Italian, diminutive of violone, contrabass), a bowed musical instrument of the violin family, made in the bass-tenor register. The four strings are tuned in fifths (C two octaves below middle C, G a fifth above that, D below middle C, and A above middle C).

The cello is used as a solo, ensemble, and orchestral instrument. It originated around the turn of the 16th century as a result of the development of folk string instruments. The classic examples of the violoncello were created by the Italian masters of the 17th and 18th centuries, A. and N. Amati, G. Guarnieri, and A. Stradivari. The Russian master I. A. Batov and the Soviet masters E. F. Vitachek and T. F. Podgornyi also created highly successful violoncellos.

In the 17th and 18th centuries the violoncello replaced the viola da gamba in aristocratic circles, largely because of its rich expressive and technical possibilities and its fuller and brighter sound, similar in timbre to the human voice. Com-posers who wrote concertos, sonatas, and suites for the violoncello include J. S. Bach, J. Haydn, L. Boccherini, L. Beethoven, F. Mendelssohn, F. Chopin, E. Grieg, J. Brahms, R. Schumann, C. Saint-Saens, E. Lalo, and A. Dvorak. Composers for the cello include P. I. Tchaikovsky, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, A. K. Glazunov, S. V. Rachmaninoff, S. S. Prokofiev, D. D. Shostakovich, A. I. Khachaturian, D. B. Kabalevsky, and T. N. Khrennikov. Some of the greatest foreign cellists were L. Boccherini, J. L. Dupourt, B. Romberg, F. Servé, and P. Casals; great Russian cellists include K. lu. Davydov, A. V. Verzhbilovich, and A. A. Brandukov; great Soviet cellists include M. L. Rostropovich, S. N. Knushevitskii, and D. B. Shafran.

REFERENCES

Ginzburg, L. Istoriia violonchel’nogo iskusstva. Books 1-2. Moscow-Leningrad, 1950-57.
Ginzburg, L. Istoriia violonchel’nogo iskusstva. Russkaia klassi-cheskaia violonchel’naia shkola. Moscow, 1965.
Wasielewski, W. J. Das Violoncello und seine Geschichte, 3rd ed. Leipzig, 1925.
Forino, L. Il violoncello, il violoncellist a ed i violoncellisti. 2nd ed. Milan, 1930.

L. S. GINZBURG