Cello:  The Immortal Beloved

by Shari Childers

It has been called everything from "that big violin" to "the most evocative and expressive instrument of all." It is beloved by people around the world, both musicians and music-lovers alike. And sadly, it is often misunderstood as an instrument so limited to the bass line that according to Classical Music for Dummies it "rarely gets the tune." It is the cello. It is one of the most beautiful and, contrary to misconception, one of the most important elements in classical music.

A few years ago, I was asked to write a short summary of my experiences playing the cello. Essentially I needed to write about why I chose the cello and stuck with it all these years. Certainly I had been asked this question before, but now I needed a more substantial answer than simply "because I liked it." Admittedly, the often cumbersome cello is an unlikely candidate for a child’s first instrument, but it has become so much a part of my person that I have no concrete way to explain my deep love of playing it. There is something captivating about the cello that is often unexplainable.

In an interview with the magazine Classic CD, the words of the great cellist Pablo Casals capture this inexplicable nature, "The moment I heard the first notes I was overwhelmed. I felt as if I could not breathe. There was something so tender, beautiful and human - yes, so very human - about the sound. That is the instrument I want to play." It is the cello’s enchanting sound that first attracted me to the instrument. Of course, in one sense, the cello is the largest member of the violin family—a wooden box with steel strings stretched across its four foot by two foot body. It rests between the cellist’s knees and is played with a bow composed of wood and horsehair. However, the cellist breathes life into the wood and steel to create tonal variety and vitality. The music is rich, full, and deep, yet lyric, sensual, and powerful. It touches the hearts of music lovers with differing tastes and unites them in agreement that the cello is indeed one of the most expressive instruments.

Since the appearance of the cello in the mid-15th century, composers have recognized the cello’s ability to convey a vast range of tones and evoke a variety emotional responses. The cello is an extremely versatile instrument with notes ranging from the highest tenor to bass. The cello can play the high notes of the violin with a softer tone as well as the low notes of the string bass more clearly. It can easily play any piece a composer writes: the booming underlying bass, the harmonious countermelody, the robust cadenza, or the romantic theme. It is because of such versatility in voice and tone that the cello plays a vital role in orchestral melodies and takes center stage in various ensemble and solo works.

The cello’s melodic abilities are best displayed in solo, small group play, and the concerto setting where the cellist is featured as an individual player. Of the earliest cello sonatas, concertos, and solos, Vivaldi’s and Boccherini’s are the best known. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the cello gained popularity as its sound became more ideal than the softer and less vibrant tone of the viola da gamba. Renaissance music gave way to more lyrical melodies where the cello’s vibrant, clear tone was preferred. It is during this time that composers began to write more pieces featuring the cello.

Though there are arguably fewer works written exclusively for the cello in this period (as opposed to the 19th century), many scholars agree that this absence is due to the fact that composers wrote works intended for violin or viola da gamba that the musician easily adapted for play on the cello. Composers, therefore, did not need to write a separate version exclusively for the cello. The six unaccompanied suites by Bach are today perhaps the most loved and played cello solos from this period even though they were originally composed for the viola da gamba. Other instances where major composers seem to have left the cello out of their feature repertoire are due to the work being lost or destroyed over time. In The Cambridge Companion To The Cello, Stowell and Jones write that there is evidence that composers such as Mozart wrote cello concertos even though, sadly, none have survived.

The bulk of the writing for the cello and certainly the most celebrated works for solo cello appeared in the 19th and 20th centuries. Composers such as Beethoven, Saint-Saens, Schumann, Shostakovich, and Schoenberg particularly favored this instrument. However, even composers noted for their work in other areas wrote pieces for the cello. Aside from his immense repertoire of piano works, cellists fondly remember Chopin for his single cello sonata which is truly a masterpiece.

While today there is certainly a large repertoire for the cello in solo or small group settings, what about the cello in the orchestra? With more instruments involved, it would seem likely that the cello would be overshadowed. This seems to be true in some cases as the symphonies of such composers as Mozart who largely give the melody to violins, clarinets, and flutes (with the exception of my favorite work—the opening of the Overture to the Marriage of Figaro which requires deft fingering in a cadenza-like phrase). This is by no means a universal truth. There are many notable lines of melody in orchestral pieces that showcase the cello’s amazing ability to carry melody. In his Carnival of the Animals, Saint-Saens included a cello solo entitled "The Swan" which today remains one of the most celebrated cello solos. Incidentally, it is also one of the most difficult to play both with beautiful vibrato and with perfect intonation.

Other prominent cello melodies include the melody in the opening of the second movement of Beethoven’s infamous Fifth Symphony, the melody of Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, and (my favorite example) the entire opening of Rossini’s William Tell Overture which is played by five cellos while the rest of the orchestra rests.

Today, cellists are continually forging ahead in establishing the cello as a prominent instrument in the classical music community. During the late 19th and throughout the 20th centuries, the world has seen such cellist soloists as Casals, Jacqueline du Pré (recently remembered in the film Hillary and Jackie), Mstislav Rostropovich, and Yo Yo Ma.

The advent of the Internet has also fostered interest in cello playing with the formation of cello societies for both professionals and amateurs, the Internet Cello Society being the largest. Professional cellists in major orchestras also currently have websites featuring their collaborative efforts in the cello community. My personal favorite is the webpage for the Bad Boys of Cello from the Houston Symphony.

Now when people ask why I play the cello, I can honestly answer because it is one of the most expressive instruments. Its versatility in tone allows me to express and evoke a variety of emotions when playing any number of pieces from its vast repertoire. The misconception that the cello is simply a background instrument that plays only the bass line is slowly disappearing as such cellists as Yo Yo Ma gain prominence in mainstream culture. Ma’s musical tours and the celebration of cello playing in the movie Hillary and Jackie help establish the cello as a prominent and vital element in the classical music community.

The cello is a unique and "human" instrument. As composer Jonathan Harvey says in another interview with the magazine Classic CD, "The cello is very anthropomorphic. It has the size and shape of a human being; more than any other instrument, and matches the male and female voice range almost exactly. So it is a very direct form of communication, like someone expressing themselves. It's not just 'singing'; that's the great nineteenth-century cliché of cello music. The cello can do much more than that. It can be a rough, rhythmical thing, or a folkloric peasant instrument, or a gourmet of acoustical curiosities."

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