Cello History

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Today, the cello is a very important part of the musical world. The cello is very popular today because there are many pieces of music that have cello parts, even cello solos. But, the cello wasn’t always this way. The history of the cello is full of change because it has drastically changed in size, sound, and significance.

One example that shows that the history of the cello is full of change is because it has drastically changed in size and shape. According to Andrew Dunn, if you were to compare today’s cello to the viol da gamba family, which was one of the cello’s ancestors, you would see a lot of difference in just the shape of it. It was shaped a lot like that of today’s double-bass and had frets on the fingerboard (1). The frets added more texture to the cello, and bulged out a bit, causing a slight difference in shape. Another one of the cello’s ancestor’s, the viola da braccio family, was different in size and shape compared to the cello too. Jack Boeve says that these instruments had flatter necks, were held …show more content…

After and even before the cello had some changes in sound, around “the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, musicians came not only to accept, but to admire the sound of the instrument (Dunn).” This was a great milestone for the cello, as it seemed to have very little recognition in the past. According to Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, concertos and unaccompanied suites were written for the cello when the baroque period (one of the musical eras) came along in around the 1720s, allowing it to grow greatly as a solo instrument (1). This allowed the cello to grow significantly as a solo instrument because it gave it a chance to show off what could really be done with a cello, what sound it could really produce. And as previously stated, people thought it was a fabulous instrument, as people “broke out in rapturous applause” for it

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