The Cello

The cello is the tenor and bass instrument of the violin family. It is played seated, resting on the floor on a retractable endpin and held between the knees. No other bowed instrument combines such a wide range with such a broad palette of colour: low down it carries the harmonic foundation of the orchestra, high up it sings like a tenor or a soprano. For a long time mainly a bass instrument, the cello became a solo instrument in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and, in the twentieth – thanks not least to Pablo Casals and Mstislav Rostropovich – one of the most important concert instruments of all. Today it is equally at home in tango, jazz, film music, folk and even metal.

1Overview and classification

The cello is a bowed lute (Hornbostel-Sachs 321.322-71) and the third member of the violin family after the violin and the viola. It is tuned in fifths (C2–G2–D3–A3), an octave below the viola and a twelfth below the violin. Its construction follows that of the violin – an arched top and back, f-holes, a soundpost, a bass bar, a scroll – but with much deeper ribs in relation to the length of the body. That large volume of air makes possible the low resonances that give the cello its warm sound.

The cello is only distantly related to the viola da gamba, even though both are played between the knees: the gamba has frets, six or seven strings tuned in fourths and a third, a flat back, and is bowed underhand. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the two existed side by side; around 1750 the louder cello largely displaced the gamba.

The symphony orchestra uses 8 to 12 cellos depending on the line-up. They play the bass part (often in octaves with the double basses) but also take inner parts and many of the finest melodies. In chamber music the cello is the foundation of the string quartet and the piano trio, and a partner in the sonata with piano.

2Name and etymology

Violoncello is an Italian diminutive meaning “little violone”, violone (“large viola”) being the seventeenth-century term for large bass instruments of the string family. The name first appears in 1665 in a collection by Giulio Cesare Arresti in Venice; earlier and parallel names were basso di viola da braccio, bassetto, violoncino and, in French, basse de violon. The short form cello has only been usual since the nineteenth century. In other languages: French violoncelle, Spanish violonchelo, Russian виолончель (violonchel), Chinese 大提琴 (dàtíqín, “large held string instrument”), Japanese チェロ (chero).

3History

The early bass instruments

The violin family came into being around 1530 in northern Italy, in several sizes from the outset. The oldest surviving cello, “The King” by Andrea Amati (Cremona, about 1560), belonged to the set made for King Charles IX of France and is now in the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota. The early bass instruments were considerably larger than today’s cellos (bodies often 78–80 cm long), had plain gut strings and were frequently tuned a whole tone lower (B♭1–F2–C3–G3), especially in France and England. They served above all as bass instruments in dance ensembles, church music and opera.

The invention of wound strings

Around 1660, gut strings wound with metal wire appeared in Bologna. Because they sound lower than plain gut of the same length, bass instruments could be built smaller and more manageable. Bologna also produced the first solo literature: Domenico Gabrielli’s Ricercari per violoncello solo (1689) are the oldest surviving works for cello alone.

Stradivari and standardisation

Antonio Stradivari at first built larger cellos, but around 1707–1710 reduced the model to the so-called forma B with a body length of about 75.5–76 cm. These proportions became the standard that most makers still follow. Besides Stradivari, the cellos of Matteo Goffriller and Domenico Montagnana (Venice), Carlo Tononi (Bologna and Venice), David Tecchler (Rome), Giovanni Battista Guadagnini and the Gagliano family (Naples) are especially sought after.

• about 1560 Andrea Amati builds the oldest surviving cello (“The King”).
• 1660s Wound strings in Bologna; smaller designs become possible.
• 1665 The first documented use of the word “violoncello” (G. C. Arresti).
• 1689 Domenico Gabrielli: Ricercari for solo cello.
• about 1707–1710 Stradivari’s “forma B” sets the standard.
• about 1720 J. S. Bach composes the six suites for solo cello (BWV 1007–1012).
• 1783 Haydn: Cello Concerto in D major; Boccherini and Duport develop the thumb position.
• 1806 Jean-Louis Duport: Essai sur le doigté du violoncelle – the basis of modern fingering.
• mid-19th century The endpin becomes established, promoted by the Belgian virtuoso Adrien-François Servais.
• 1890 The thirteen-year-old Pablo Casals finds an edition of the Bach suites in Barcelona; from 1936 to 1939 he is the first to record them complete.
• 1950s Paul Tortelier develops the bent endpin.
• 1961 Haydn’s long-lost Cello Concerto in C major is discovered in Prague.
• 1960s–2007 Mstislav Rostropovich prompts more than 100 new works.
• since 1972 The 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic make the cello ensemble popular.

From bass instrument to solo instrument

In the Baroque the cello was part of the basso continuo, often with harpsichord or organ. Virtuosos such as Luigi Boccherini (1743–1805), Jean-Louis Duport (1749–1819) and Bernhard Romberg (1767–1841) extended the technique into the high positions. In the nineteenth century, Friedrich Dotzauer (Dresden), Friedrich Grützmacher, Karl Davydov (St Petersburg, the “tsar of cellists” according to Tchaikovsky), David Popper (Budapest) and Julius Klengel (Leipzig) shaped repertoire and teaching. With Pablo Casals (1876–1973) the modern era began: a freer left hand, a more natural bow arm and a new understanding of Bach.

The endpin

Until the nineteenth century, cellists held the instrument between their calves; because of that posture, women long played the cello more rarely, or side-saddle. The retractable endpin became general around 1845–1860, above all through Adrien-François Servais, who adopted it because of the weight of his instrument. It steadies the instrument, allows an upright posture and improves the transmission of sound to the floor. Paul Tortelier’s bent endpin and modern variants (carbon, tungsten, or sprung designs) change the angle, the feel and the sound.

4Construction and dimensions

Main dimensions of a 4/4 cello (guide values, depending on the model)

Dimension	Value
Body length	about 750–760 mm
Width, upper / middle / lower bout	about 340 / 230 / 440 mm
Rib height	about 110–125 mm
String length (nut to bridge)	about 690–700 mm
Overall height without endpin	about 1,200–1,250 mm
Bridge height	about 85–90 mm
Weight	about 2.5–3.5 kg

Parts

Part	Material	Notes
Top	spruce	arched, with f-holes; the largest vibrating surface
Back, ribs	maple, more rarely poplar or willow	poplar backs in some Italian masters (a softer sound)
Bass bar, soundpost	spruce	the soundpost about 11 mm in diameter
Fingerboard	ebony, about 580 mm long	flattened beneath the C string (the “Romberg bevel”) so that it can vibrate freely
Bridge	maple	taller and more substantial than on a violin; the feet are fitted to the arching of the top
Endpin	steel, carbon, titanium, tungsten	with a rubber cap or a point; an endpin board or strap stops it slipping
Tailpiece	ebony, carbon, titanium	usually with four fine tuners

5The bow

The cello bow is shorter (about 71–73 cm) and heavier (about 78–85 g) than a violin bow. The frog is taller and often rounded at the lower end, and the ribbon of hair is wider. The stick is made of pernambuco (protected under CITES), brazilwood or carbon fibre. Cellists generally use a slightly softer, darker rosin than violinists. The great bow makers of the French school (Tourte, Peccatte, Vuillaume, Sartory) are as important for cello bows as for violin bows; a good bow often matters as much to the sound as the instrument.

6Strings

String	Note	Frequency	Typical material
A string	A3	220 Hz	steel, often wound with chrome steel or aluminium; also synthetic or gut
D string	D3	146.8 Hz	steel or synthetic, wound
G string	G2	98 Hz	a steel or rope core wound with tungsten or silver
C string	C2	65.4 Hz	as the G; tungsten gives a strong, focused sound

Mixing strings from different makers is very common, for instance bright steel A and D strings with tungsten-wound G and C strings. The total tension is about 550–650 N (55–65 kg). In historically informed performance, gut strings are used (plain for A and D, wound for G and C).

7Tuning, range and notation

The range runs from C2 (65.4 Hz) up into the region of A5. In solo playing, notes up to E6 and beyond are usual, and harmonics reach higher still. Because the range is so wide, cello music is written in three clefs:

Clef	Used for	Note
Bass clef (F clef)	the low and middle registers	the basic clef
Tenor clef (C clef on the fourth line)	the middle to high register (about D3 to A4)	avoids ledger lines; usually learnt in the third to fifth year of lessons
Treble clef	the high register	in some eighteenth- and nineteenth-century editions (Boccherini, the first edition of the Dvořák) written an octave above sounding pitch – modern editions point this out

8Acoustics and sound

As on the violin, the bow produces Helmholtz motion in the string, with a sawtooth force at the bridge. The body filters this into the cello sound; because of its size the main resonances lie about a twelfth below those of the violin:

Resonance	Frequency (approx.)	Significance
A0 (air resonance)	95–105 Hz	reinforces the low notes of the G and C strings
Body modes (B1−, B1+)	about 150–220 Hz	carry power and warmth; they lie in the range of male speaking voices
The “bridge hill”	about 1–2 kHz	presence and carrying power

There is thus a physical reason why the cello is compared with the human voice: its range and its main resonances largely coincide with the range of the tenor and baritone voice and their formants.

The wolf note

The wolf note is far more common on the cello than on the violin. It occurs when a played note coincides exactly with a strong body resonance (usually around E3 to F♯3, about 165–185 Hz, on the G or C string, occasionally in the octave above). The resonance “fights” the vibration of the string, and the note stutters, flutters or breaks. Good, resonant instruments often have a pronounced wolf. Remedies: a wolf eliminator (an adjustable brass or rubber weight on the string between bridge and tailpiece), changes to the soundpost or the strings, and technically a little more or less bow pressure or a slightly altered vibrato.

Radiation and the floor

Through the endpin the cello transmits vibration to the floor; a wooden platform can audibly reinforce the sound while a carpet damps it. The instrument radiates low frequencies almost spherically and high frequencies strongly forwards, which is why the way a soloist faces the audience matters.

9Posture

The cellist sits on the front half of a firm chair without arms, feet planted and slightly forward. The cello leans against the breastbone, with the upper edge of the body at about the height of the sternum; the knees touch the lower ribs at the sides without gripping. The endpin is set so that the C peg is roughly beside the left ear and the left hand reaches the first position comfortably. The instrument is turned slightly to the right so that the bow can reach the C string unobstructed.

Modern cello teaching pays particular attention to ergonomics: chair height (thighs horizontal or sloping slightly down), the angle of the endpin, a relaxed back and free shoulders. Common strains affect the left hand (the thumb), the right shoulder and the lower back.

10Left-hand technique

Hand frame and positions

Unlike on the violin, the hand in its basic position on the cello spans only a minor third: the first to fourth fingers lie a semitone apart. In the extended position either the first finger (backward extension) or the second to fourth fingers (forward extension) stretch by a whole tone, so that the hand spans a major third.

Area	Positions	Features
Neck positions	half, first to fourth	the thumb behind the neck, roughly opposite the second finger
Intermediate positions	fifth to seventh	the thumb at the heel of the neck, the hand rotating
Thumb position	from about the midpoint of the string	the thumb lies across two strings and acts as a movable nut; the first to third fingers stop the notes, the fourth rarely

The thumb position (capotasto) was systematised in the eighteenth century by Boccherini, Duport and Romberg among others. It makes scales and passages in the high register possible, along with octaves, double stops and virtuoso arpeggios. In the score the thumb is marked with a circle crossed by a vertical stroke (⌽).

Vibrato

Cello vibrato comes mainly from the forearm, which rolls the hand around the finger; it is generally a little wider and slower than on the violin. Casals, Fournier, Rostropovich and du Pré stand for very different aesthetics of vibrato – from a sparing, speaking tone to a continuously intense one.

Other techniques

Double stops (thirds, sixths, octaves), natural and artificial harmonics, pizzicato (often with the thumb in the orchestra), left-hand pizzicato, glissando and portamento, chords across three or four strings, trills, quarter tones and the whole palette of new music (overpressure, playing behind the bridge, percussion on the body).

11Bowing technique

In principle the same bow strokes apply as on the violin (see violin): détaché, legato, portato, martelé, spiccato, sautillé, staccato, ricochet, tremolo, sul ponticello, sul tasto, col legno. Because the strings are thicker and longer, the cello needs more arm weight and a calmer bow speed; bouncing strokes lie lower down the bow. Characteristic is the use of arm weight from the shoulder – the bow “rests” in the string instead of being pressed into it. For low notes the bow works closer to the fingerboard so that the tone can ring freely, and closer to the bridge for power and brilliance.

12Cello teaching and methods

Teacher / school	Period, place	Contribution
Jean-Louis Duport	Paris, Berlin, about 1800	Essai sur le doigté (1806): systematic fingering with semitone spacing, 21 studies
Friedrich Dotzauer, Bernhard Romberg	Dresden, Berlin	cello methods and studies; Romberg introduced the bevel in the fingerboard
Auguste Franchomme, Alfredo Piatti	Paris, London	caprices (Piatti: 12 Capricci op. 25)
Karl Davydov	St Petersburg	the founder of the Russian cello school; his School for Cello
David Popper	Budapest	Hohe Schule des Violoncellospiels op. 73 (40 studies)
Julius Klengel, Hugo Becker	Leipzig, Berlin	their pupils included Feuermann, Piatigorsky and Suggia; Becker wrote on the physiology of cello playing
Pablo Casals, Diran Alexanian	Barcelona, Paris	freedom of movement, an extended hand; Alexanian: Traité théorique et pratique du violoncelle (1922)
The Russian school in the 20th century	Moscow	Svyatoslav Knushevitsky and Rostropovich at the Moscow Conservatory
Leonard Rose, János Starker	New York, Bloomington (USA)	Starker: An Organized Method of String Playing
Suzuki Cello School	Japan, worldwide	an early start by ear, with parents involved

Studies by level

Level	Works
Beginners	cello methods (Gabriel Koeppen’s Celloschule, Rick Mooney’s Position Pieces, Cello spielen mit Spaß, the Suzuki Cello School), Sebastian Lee op. 101
Lower level	Sebastian Lee op. 31 and op. 70, Werner, Dotzauer’s 113 Studies (vol. 1)
Intermediate	Dotzauer (vols 2–3), Duport’s 21 Studies, Franchomme’s 12 Studies op. 35, Grützmacher op. 38
Advanced	Popper op. 73, Piatti’s Capricci op. 25, Servais’s caprices
Scales and technique	Feuillard’s Daily Exercises, Cossmann’s Studien, Ševčík op. 8, Starker’s Organized Method

13Repertoire

Baroque

• Domenico Gabrielli: Ricercari (1689) – the oldest solo works.
• Johann Sebastian Bach: six suites for solo cello BWV 1007–1012 (about 1720); the sixth is written for a five-string instrument (violoncello piccolo). The suites are regarded as the cellist’s bible.
• Antonio Vivaldi: 27 cello concertos and 9 sonatas.
• Luigi Boccherini: 12 cello concertos (the best known in B♭ major G 482, usually in Grützmacher’s Romantic arrangement), numerous sonatas and quintets with two cellos.
• Also: Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Jean-Baptiste Barrière, Antonio Caldara, Leonardo Leo, Giuseppe Tartini.

The Classical period

• Joseph Haydn: the cello concertos in C major Hob. VIIb:1 (about 1761–65, rediscovered in 1961) and D major Hob. VIIb:2 (1783).
• Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: three cello concertos (A minor, B♭ major, A major).
• Ludwig van Beethoven: five sonatas – op. 5 nos 1 and 2 (1796, the first duo sonatas in which cello and piano are equal partners), op. 69 (1808), op. 102 nos 1 and 2 (1815); three sets of variations; the Triple Concerto op. 56.
• Franz Schubert: the Sonata in A minor D 821 for arpeggione (1824), today usually played on the cello; the String Quintet in C major D 956 with two cellos.

The Romantic period

Composer	Work
Robert Schumann	Cello Concerto in A minor op. 129 (1850); Five Pieces in Folk Style op. 102; Fantasiestücke op. 73
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy	the sonatas in B♭ major op. 45 and D major op. 58; Song without Words op. 109
Frédéric Chopin	Sonata in G minor op. 65; Polonaise brillante op. 3
Johannes Brahms	the sonatas in E minor op. 38 and F major op. 99; the Double Concerto in A minor op. 102
Camille Saint-Saëns	Cello Concerto no. 1 in A minor op. 33; “Le Cygne” (The Swan) from The Carnival of the Animals
Édouard Lalo	Cello Concerto in D minor
Pyotr Tchaikovsky	Variations on a Rococo Theme op. 33 (1876/77, usually in Fitzenhagen’s version); Pezzo capriccioso
Antonín Dvořák	Cello Concerto in B minor op. 104 (1894/95) – one of the most played concertos of all; Silent Woods; Rondo
Max Bruch	Kol Nidrei op. 47
Gabriel Fauré	Élégie op. 24; two sonatas
Richard Strauss	Sonata in F major op. 6; Don Quixote op. 35 with solo cello
Edvard Grieg	Sonata in A minor op. 36
Sergei Rachmaninoff	Sonata in G minor op. 19 (1901)
Karl Davydov, David Popper	virtuoso concertos and pieces (Popper: Hungarian Rhapsody, Elfentanz)

The twentieth and twenty-first centuries

Composer	Work
Claude Debussy	Sonata in D minor (1915)
Ernest Bloch	Schelomo, a Hebrew rhapsody (1916)
Zoltán Kodály	Sonata for solo cello op. 8 (1915), with scordatura (B and F♯)
Edward Elgar	Cello Concerto in E minor op. 85 (1919)
Paul Hindemith	Sonata for solo cello op. 25/3; Concerto (1940)
Heitor Villa-Lobos	Bachianas Brasileiras nos 1 and 5 for cello orchestra (eight cellos)
Samuel Barber	Sonata op. 6; Cello Concerto op. 22
Sergei Prokofiev	Sonata in C major op. 119; Sinfonia concertante op. 125 (for Rostropovich)
Dmitri Shostakovich	Sonata in D minor op. 40 (1934); Cello Concertos no. 1 in E♭ major op. 107 (1959) and no. 2 op. 126
Benjamin Britten	Sonata op. 65; three suites for solo cello; Cello Symphony op. 68
Witold Lutosławski	Cello Concerto (1970)
Henri Dutilleux	Tout un monde lointain… (1970); Trois strophes sur le nom de Sacher
Bernd Alois Zimmermann	Sonata for solo cello (1960); Canto di speranza
György Ligeti	Sonata for solo cello (1948/53); Cello Concerto (1966)
Krzysztof Penderecki, Alfred Schnittke	concertos and sonatas
George Crumb	Sonata for solo cello (1955)
Iannis Xenakis	Nomos alpha (1966), Kottos
Sofia Gubaidulina	Ten Preludes (studies), Canticle of the Sun
Kaija Saariaho	Notes on Light (2006), Sept Papillons
Osvaldo Golijov	Azul (2006, for Yo-Yo Ma)
Giovanni Sollima, Pēteris Vasks, Jörg Widmann, Thomas Larcher	solo works and concertos of the present day

Orchestral and operatic solos

Rossini, the overture to William Tell (five solo cellos); Brahms, Piano Concerto no. 2 (third movement); Verdi, Don Carlos (Philip’s aria) and Otello (the love duet with four cellos); Puccini, Tosca (four cellos in Act 3); Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake (violin and cello); Strauss, Don Quixote. Frequent audition excerpts: Beethoven, Symphony no. 5 (second movement); Brahms, Symphony no. 2 (first movement); Mendelssohn, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Scherzo); Mozart, the overture to Figaro; Strauss, Don Juan and Ein Heldenleben; Verdi, Requiem (Offertorio).

The cello ensemble

The cello suits an ensemble of its own kind better than almost any other instrument, because it can cover bass, inner parts and melody. Julius Klengel’s Hymnus for 12 cellos (1920), Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas Brasileiras and the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic, founded in 1972, made the combination popular. Today there are cello ensembles at many conservatoires and music schools.

14The Bach suites in detail

The six suites BWV 1007–1012 were probably written around 1720 in Köthen. No autograph survives; the most important source is a copy by Anna Magdalena Bach, alongside copies by Johann Peter Kellner and anonymous scribes. Because the sources differ in slurs and details, there is no “definitive” text – every interpretation rests on decisions. All the suites follow the same plan: prélude – allemande – courante – sarabande – galanteries (in pairs, inserted) – gigue.

Suite	Key	Galanteries	Character and particular features
No. 1 BWV 1007	G major	Minuets I/II	the best-known prélude (broken chords); the most approachable suite, playable from intermediate level
No. 2 BWV 1008	D minor	Minuets I/II	serious and inward; an expressive sarabande
No. 3 BWV 1009	C major	Bourrées I/II	festive and sonorous thanks to the open strings; the bourrée is one of the most played of all cello pieces
No. 4 BWV 1010	E♭ major	Bourrées I/II	an awkward key with no help from open strings; a prélude in broken chords
No. 5 BWV 1011	C minor	Gavottes I/II	scordatura (the A string down to G); a prélude in the form of a French overture with a fugue; a single-line, radically pared-down sarabande
No. 6 BWV 1012	D major	Gavottes I/II	for a five-string instrument with an E string; on a four-string cello only with a great deal of thumb position – one of the hardest works in the repertoire

Pablo Casals was the first to record the suites complete, between 1936 and 1939, and made them part of the concert repertoire. Since then there have been well over a hundred complete recordings, from broad Romantic readings to historically informed ones on gut strings; Pierre Fournier, János Starker, Anner Bylsma, Mischa Maisky, Yo-Yo Ma (who has recorded them three times), Steven Isserlis and Jean-Guihen Queyras represent very different approaches.

15The great cello concertos at a glance

Work	Composed	Dedicatee / première	Significance
Haydn in C major	about 1761–65	Joseph Weigl (the Esterházy orchestra)	rediscovered in Prague in 1961, today standard repertoire
Haydn in D major	1783	Anton Kraft	long doubted as genuine, settled by the autograph found in 1951
Schumann in A minor op. 129	1850	first performed only in 1860 (posthumously)	composed without a break between movements, chamber-musical in character
Saint-Saëns no. 1 in A minor op. 33	1872	Auguste Tolbecque	in one movement with three sections, a very popular competition piece
Tchaikovsky, Rococo Variations op. 33	1876/77	Wilhelm Fitzenhagen	Fitzenhagen reordered the variations on his own initiative; the original version has been played again since the 1950s
Dvořák in B minor op. 104	1894/95 (New York)	Hanuš Wihan; première London 1896 (Leo Stern)	symphonic in scale; Brahms: “Why on earth didn’t I know that one could write a cello concerto like this?”
Elgar in E minor op. 85	1919	première in London (Felix Salmond)	made world famous by Jacqueline du Pré’s recording (1965)
Prokofiev, Sinfonia concertante op. 125	1950–52	Rostropovich	a reworking of the First Concerto op. 58
Shostakovich no. 1 op. 107	1959	Rostropovich	the horn as a second soloist, the cadenza as a movement in its own right
Britten, Cello Symphony op. 68	1963	Rostropovich	cello and orchestra as equals
Lutosławski	1970	Rostropovich	a conflict between soloist and orchestra, with aleatoric sections
Dutilleux, Tout un monde lointain…	1970	Rostropovich	after poems by Baudelaire
Ligeti	1966	Siegfried Palm	begins out of nothing (ppppppppp)

16Repertoire by level of difficulty

The following overview follows the levels commonly used in music schools and competitions (such as the curricula of the German association of music schools and the requirements of “Jugend musiziert”) and is meant as a guide; the actual order is for the teacher to decide.

Level	Typical works
Elementary (years 1–2)	folk songs and duets from cello methods; Bréval’s easy sonatas (a selection); Suzuki vols 1–2 (Bach’s minuets, Gossec’s gavotte); simple pieces by Squire and Webster
Lower level (years 3–4)	Bréval Sonata in C major op. 40/1; Romberg Sonata in E minor op. 38/1; Goltermann Concerto no. 4 in G major (first movement); Squire’s “Tarantella”; Saint-Saëns’s “Le Cygne” (simplified, or the original towards the end of this stage); Vivaldi Sonata in E minor RV 40
Intermediate (years 5–7)	Bach Suites nos 1 and 2; Vivaldi sonatas; Marcello sonatas; Goltermann Concerto in A minor op. 14; Klengel Concertino; Fauré’s Élégie; Bréval Concerto in D major; Popper’s “Gavotte”; parts of Beethoven’s Sonata op. 5 no. 2
Advanced	Haydn Concerto in C major; Saint-Saëns Concerto no. 1; Boccherini Concerto in B♭ major; Bach Suites nos 3–4; Beethoven Sonata op. 69; Brahms Sonata in E minor; Bruch’s Kol Nidrei; Tchaikovsky’s Pezzo capriccioso
Degree level	Dvořák; Schumann; Haydn in D major; Elgar; Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations; Bach Suites nos 5–6; Shostakovich’s sonata and First Concerto; Kodály op. 8; Popper’s Hungarian Rhapsody; Britten’s suites

17Listening: reference recordings

Work	Performers (a selection, historic and current)
Bach, the suites	Pablo Casals (1936–39); Pierre Fournier (1960); Anner Bylsma (baroque cello, 1979); Steven Isserlis (2007); Jean-Guihen Queyras (2007)
Dvořák, Concerto	Rostropovich/Karajan (1968); Jacqueline du Pré/Barenboim; Alisa Weilerstein
Elgar, Concerto	Jacqueline du Pré/Barbirolli (1965); Sheku Kanneh-Mason (2020)
Haydn, the concertos	Rostropovich; Truls Mørk; Nicolas Altstaedt (historically informed)
Shostakovich no. 1	Rostropovich (who gave the première, 1959); Sol Gabetta
Beethoven, the sonatas	Rostropovich/Richter; Casals/Serkin; Isserlis/Levin (fortepiano)
Kodály, Solo Sonata	János Starker (the benchmark)

18The baroque cello and historically informed performance

The baroque cello differs from the modern instrument above all in its set-up and the way it is played: a shorter neck at a shallower angle, a lighter bass bar, gut strings, often no endpin (the instrument is held between the calves), and a shorter, lighter bow sometimes held underhand. The pitch is usually a′ = 415 Hz. Besides the four-string cello, five-string instruments with an additional E string (the violoncello piccolo) were in use in the eighteenth century – Bach wrote his sixth suite and several cantata movements for one. The rediscovery of this practice is associated with Anner Bylsma, Christophe Coin, Jaap ter Linden, Pieter Wispelwey and Kristin von der Goltz; today many cellists play both instruments.

19The cello worldwide and beyond classical music

Tango and Latin America

In Argentine tango the cello has reinforced the low strings since the orchestras of the 1940s; with Le Grand Tango (1982, for Rostropovich) Astor Piazzolla wrote a central work for it. In Brazil, Heitor Villa-Lobos – himself a cellist – made the instrument a vehicle for national colours; the influence of choro marks his cello ensembles.

The Arab world, Turkey and Asia

In the great Egyptian orchestras of the twentieth century, such as the one behind Umm Kulthum, the cello forms the bass foundation with the double bass; in Turkish music it has been used in both art and popular music since the early twentieth century. In the modern Chinese orchestra, organised along symphonic lines, cellos supplement or replace the bass instruments of the huqin family (the gehu and diyingehu). East Asia is now one of the largest markets for cello teaching.

Folk and world music

Since the 1990s the cello has had a firm place in folk and world music: in Scottish and Irish music as a bass and rhythm instrument (Natalie Haas with Alasdair Fraser, using the percussive “chopping” bow technique), in Americana (Ben Sollee, Rushad Eggleston) and in the Silk Road Ensemble, which Yo-Yo Ma founded in 1998 to connect musical traditions along the Silk Road.

Jazz

Oscar Pettiford played the cello as a second instrument in the 1950s and shaped the jazz cello style; Fred Katz (the Chico Hamilton Quintet), Abdul Wadud, David Darling, Erik Friedlander and Vincent Courtois developed the language further. Pizzicato walking bass and improvised solos are typical.

Rock, metal and pop

The Finnish band Apocalyptica (founded 1993) became known with arrangements of Metallica for four cellos; the duo 2Cellos (Luka Šulić and Stjepan Hauser, from 2011) reached an audience of millions with pop and rock arrangements. The cello appears in pop productions (the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby”, the Electric Light Orchestra, Coldplay) as well as in film music, where composers such as Hans Zimmer and Hildur Guðnadóttir (Joker, Oscar 2020, herself a cellist) have shaped its sound.

The electric cello

Electric cellos (Yamaha’s Silent Cello, NS Design and others) have a skeletal or solid body, pickups in the bridge and often five or six strings. They allow quiet practice with headphones and amplified performance with effects. For acoustic instruments there are pickups (piezo) and clip-on microphones.

20The cello in the orchestra and in chamber music

The orchestra

In the “American” seating the cellos sit on the outside right in front of the conductor, in the “German” arrangement usually in the middle to the right of the violas. The section is led by the principal cellist, who gives entries, decides bowings and fingerings and plays the orchestral solos. Up to Beethoven, cellos and double basses mostly played the same part an octave apart; from Beethoven onwards, and especially in the Romantic period, the cellos were given parts of their own, divided passages (divisi) and great melodies – in the second movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, at the start of Brahms’s Second, or in Tchaikovsky’s Sixth.

The string quartet

In the string quartet the cello is the foundation and often the rhythmic engine. Since Mozart’s “Prussian” quartets (K. 575, 589 and 590, for the cello-playing King Friedrich Wilhelm II), and especially in Beethoven’s middle and late quartets, it has been given melodic tasks as an equal. Intonation follows the bass: because the cellist plays the roots of the chords, the upper parts frequently orient themselves to it.

Piano trio and duo

In the piano trio and the sonata, the cello has to hold its own against the piano, especially in the low register. Beethoven’s op. 5 (1796) was the first sonata in which cello and piano appear as equals; before that, the cello was often only an ad libitum participant in such works.

21Instrument making for the cello

Because of its size, wood for cellos is expensive and hard to obtain in consistent quality. Some Italian masters therefore used poplar or willow instead of maple for the back and ribs, which gives a softer, darker sound. Besides Italy, France (Nicolas Lupot, Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, Charles Bernardel), England (Banks, Forster) and Germany and Bohemia were important sources of good cellos in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The large dimensions make cellos prone to cracks in the top and ribs; modern makers aim for sufficient stability at low weight. Carbon-fibre cellos (Luis and Clark, Mezzo-Forte) are unaffected by climate and are used for travel, outdoors and on tour.

22Recording and amplification

In the studio the cello is usually recorded with one or two condenser microphones at a distance of about 0.5–1.5 m, aimed between the f-hole and the bridge or at the upper half of the top. Placing them too close emphasises bow noise and bass (the proximity effect). On stage, clip-on microphones (DPA, AMT) or piezo pickups in the bridge are used; a platform improves the transmission of low frequencies.

23Health and ergonomics

Cellists’ complaints commonly affect the left thumb (thumb position, counter-pressure in the neck positions), the right shoulder (the bow arm at the height of the C string) and the lower back. Prevention lies in the right chair height, the right endpin length and angle, playing from arm weight rather than pressure, regular breaks and compensating exercise. Special cello chairs, wedge cushions or a bent endpin can help. For persistent problems, clinics specialising in musicians’ medicine (in Germany in Berlin, Freiburg and Hanover among others) are the place to go.

24Leading cellists

Period	Names
18th century	Domenico Gabrielli, Giovanni Battista Cirri, Luigi Boccherini, Jean-Louis Duport, Anton Kraft (Haydn’s principal cellist)
19th century	Bernhard Romberg, Friedrich Dotzauer, Adrien-François Servais, Auguste Franchomme (Chopin’s partner), Alfredo Piatti, Karl Davydov, David Popper, Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, Julius Klengel, Hanuš Wihan
Early 20th century	Pablo Casals, Guilhermina Suggia, Emanuel Feuermann, Gregor Piatigorsky, Gaspar Cassadó, Enrico Mainardi, Maurice Maréchal
Mid-20th century	Pierre Fournier, Paul Tortelier, André Navarra, Maurice Gendron, Mstislav Rostropovich, Daniil Shafran, János Starker, Ludwig Hoelscher, Zara Nelsova, Siegfried Palm (new music)
Late 20th century	Jacqueline du Pré, Mischa Maisky, Natalia Gutman, Heinrich Schiff, Yo-Yo Ma, Lynn Harrell, Steven Isserlis, David Geringas, Anner Bylsma, Frans Helmerson
The present day	Truls Mørk, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Gautier Capuçon, Sol Gabetta, Alisa Weilerstein, Nicolas Altstaedt, Johannes Moser, Kian Soltani, Pablo Ferrández, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Julia Hagen, Anastasia Kobekina, Julian Steckel

Famous instruments

Instrument	Year	History
Stradivari “Davidov”	1712	played by Karl Davydov and Jacqueline du Pré, today by Yo-Yo Ma
Stradivari “Duport”	1711	Jean-Louis Duport, later Rostropovich; legend attributes a dent in it to Napoleon’s boot
Montagnana “Sleeping Beauty”	1739	played for decades by Heinrich Schiff
Goffriller “Casals”	about 1700	Pablo Casals’s main instrument
Stradivari “Piatti”	1720	named after Alfredo Piatti

25Training and competitions

The cello is taught at every conservatoire; Germany also has junior study programmes and state youth orchestras. Important competitions: the International Tchaikovsky Competition (Moscow), the Queen Elisabeth Competition (Brussels, with cello since 2017), the ARD International Music Competition (Munich), the Rostropovich Competition (Paris), the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann (Berlin), the Enescu Competition (Bucharest), the Isang Yun Competition (Tongyeong) and “Jugend musiziert” for young players.

26Sizes for children

Size	Body length (approx.)	Height of player* (approx.)	Age (guide)
1/16–1/10	44–48 cm	up to 110 cm	from 3–4 years
1/8	51–55 cm	110–120 cm	4–6
1/4	58–61 cm	120–135 cm	6–8
1/2	65 cm	135–145 cm	8–10
3/4	69 cm	145–155 cm	10–12
7/8	72–73 cm	from about 155 cm	12–14, or smaller adults
4/4	75–76 cm	from about 160 cm	teenagers and adults

*Besides height, the length of the arms and hands is decisive: in the first position the left hand must span a minor third with the first and fourth fingers without overstretching, and the knee must touch the lower rib. The teacher tries the size out with the child.

27Buying, renting and costs

Category	Guide price (with bow and bag)	Notes
Renting a child’s instrument	about €25–45 a month	changes of size, with rent often credited against a purchase
Student outfit	about €900–2,500	workshop instruments with a good set-up
Advanced players	about €4,000–15,000	master workshops, older German and French instruments
New master instruments	about €15,000–50,000	internationally recognised makers
Historic Italian instruments	into the tens of millions	foundations lend them to soloists
Transport	bag about €100–300, hard case (carbon, fibreglass) about €400–3,000	book a seat of its own for air travel

28Care and maintenance

• Wipe off rosin dust after every session and loosen the bow.
• Check that the bridge stands upright; tuning pulls it towards the fingerboard.
• Keep relative humidity at 40–60 %; in winter use a humidifier (such as a Dampit) or humidify the room. Large tops are prone to cracks.
• Never lean the instrument against a wall or lay it on the bridge – always on its side (bass bar side down) or in a stand.
• Retract the endpin for transport and protect the tip.
• Change strings one at a time, and reposition the wolf eliminator afterwards.
• An annual workshop check; rehair the bow as needed.

29Learning the cello

Stage	Content
The first weeks	seated posture, endpin length, holding the bow, open strings, pizzicato, rhythm
Year 1	the first position (closed hand), first scales (C, G and D major), the bass clef, détaché and legato, simple duets
Years 2–3	the extended position, the half and fourth positions, shifting, dynamics, ensemble and youth orchestra
Years 4–5	vibrato, the tenor clef, the intermediate positions, spiccato, sonatas by Vivaldi and Marcello, Bach’s Suite no. 1
Advanced	thumb position, double stops, scales over four octaves, Haydn in C major, Saint-Saëns, Popper’s studies, chamber music
Preparing for a degree course	Dvořák, Schumann, Haydn in D major, Bach Suites 3–6, orchestral excerpts

30The cello at Cuxhaven Music School

We teach the cello to children from pre-school age, to teenagers and to adults, and advise on instruments to borrow in the right size and on the wolf note, set-up and transport. In the string ensemble and the orchestra the cello takes the bass part and many of the melodies – an ideal role in which to learn to play with others. Cello in pop, folk and film music is also possible in lessons. Related pages: violin, double bass, ensembles.

31Frequently asked questions

Is the cello easier or harder than the violin?

The natural seated posture makes it easier for many people to start, and low notes soon sound beautiful. Wider spacings, shifting, thumb position and three clefs later make it just as demanding as the violin.

At what age can you start the cello?

With small instruments (1/10, 1/8) from about four to six. Adults can begin at any time; the relaxed posture makes the cello especially popular with returning players.

What is a wolf note, and should I worry about it?

A note that wobbles at one particular pitch, caused by a body resonance. It is not a fault – it is often a sign of a resonant instrument – and a wolf eliminator will reduce it.

Why three clefs?

To avoid ledger lines across such a wide range. You start with the bass clef; the tenor and treble clefs come later with the higher positions.

How do you transport a cello?

In a padded bag or a hard case. On a plane the cello needs a seat of its own; in a car, never leave it in great heat or cold.

Do you need a special chair?

A firm chair without arms, at the right height. Children and small adults benefit from a height-adjustable stool, and an endpin holder protects the floor.

Can you play the cello in a band?

Yes – with a pickup or an electric cello. The cello can take bass lines, riffs and melodies, as Apocalyptica and 2Cellos show.

32Glossary

Arpeggione

A short-lived bowed instrument with frets (about 1823), for which Schubert wrote his Sonata D 821.

Basso continuo

The figured bass of baroque music, often played by cello and a keyboard instrument.

Chopping

A percussive bow technique from folk and bluegrass.

Thumb position

The technique of the high positions, with the thumb laid on the strings.

Closed / extended position

A hand frame spanning a minor or a major third.

Romberg bevel

The flattened side of the fingerboard beneath the C string.

Endpin

The retractable support that rests on the floor.

Endpin holder

A board or strap that stops the endpin slipping.

Tenor clef

The C clef on the fourth line.

Violoncello piccolo

A smaller, often five-string baroque cello.

Wolf note

An unstable note caused by a body resonance.

Wolf eliminator

A small weight on the string behind the bridge, used against the wolf note.

Ribs

The sides of the body, particularly deep on the cello.

33Sources and further reading

• Robin Stowell (ed.): The Cambridge Companion to the Cello. Cambridge University Press 1999.
• Elizabeth Cowling: The Cello. Batsford, London 1975, new edn 1983.
• Margaret Campbell: The Great Cellists. Gollancz, London 1988.
• Jean-Louis Duport: Essai sur le doigté du violoncelle et sur la conduite de l’archet. Paris 1806.
• Diran Alexanian: Traité théorique et pratique du violoncelle. Paris 1922.
• János Starker: An Organized Method of String Playing. Peer Southern.
• Eric Siblin: The Cello Suites. Grove Press 2009 (on Bach, Casals and the suites).
• Lothar Cremer: Physik der Geige. Hirzel, Stuttgart 1981 (also on the cello and the wolf note).
• Article “Violoncello” in: MGG; “Violoncello” in: Grove Music Online.

← Back to the instrument overview

Last updated: September 2026 · Musikpedia editorial team, Cuxhaven Music School