cello da spalla
Illustration — Violoncello da spalla The violoncello da spalla, known informally as the cello da spalla, is a small 5-string cello played braced against the shoulder. Its tuning is the same as the violoncello, with a fifth string added to the upper register, making the open string tuning from lowest to highest: C2, G2, D3, A3, E4 in scientific pitch notation. The violoncello da spalla was designed to be played by violinists, who have limited experience playing instruments such as the viola da gamba or cello, which are held in a vertical position fixed between legs.
Also recorded as violoncello da spalla · viola da spalla
cello da spalla
Frinck51 · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Field
- necked box lute played with a bow
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Illustration — Violoncello da spalla The violoncello da spalla, known informally as the cello da spalla, is a small 5-string cello played braced against the shoulder. Its tuning is the same as the violoncello, with a fifth string added to the upper register, making the open string tuning from lowest to highest: C2, G2, D3, A3, E4 in scientific pitch notation. The violoncello da spalla was designed to be played by violinists, who have limited experience playing instruments such as the viola da gamba or cello, which are held in a vertical position fixed between legs.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for cello da spalla. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
not yet certified
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
wikidata · Q15838637 · wikipedia · Cello da spalla
In this article
Possible use by Bach
Possible use by Bach
The violoncello da spalla is held on the shoulder and chest, and is larger than the viola. There are also numerous instances of suites, serenades, divertimenti, and cassations that begin and/or end with marches. If these marches were to get the players in or out, the bass lines could have been played on these instruments, as well as on procession cellos which are regular cellos with a tiny hole under the neck where the player can attach a hook and a strap.
Because of the variety in terminology used in the eighteenth century, it can be difficult now to determine exactly what instrument was intended in specific instances. The terms "violoncello da spalla" and "viola da spalla" tend to appear in theoretical works rather than as instrument designations from composers. However, it is possible that J. S. Bach, and perhaps other composers, might have intended the violoncello da spalla in cases where the "violoncello piccolo" is specified. This term, "violoncello piccolo", features in many of the Bach cantatas, with the parts written in a variety of clefs (bass, tenor, alto and soprano). The variety of clefs has been taken as a representation of the instrument's relatively wide range. The five-string version of the instrument may have been what Bach had in mind for performing his Cello Suite No. 6 (which was intended for an instrument with the tuning CGdae'). The high E string on the violoncello da spalla also allows for the possibility of playing violin music an octave lower than written (e.g. the Bach violin sonatas and partitas, Mozart Violin Sonatas and Concertos, etc.) without the need of a special arrangement.
Musicians
Musicians
• François Fernandez • Sigiswald Kuijken • Sergey Malov • Ryo Terakado • Dmitry Badiarov • Stephen Collins • Samuel Hengebaert • Olav Johansson • Mikael Marin • Andrew Gonzalez • Makoto Akatsu • Gregorio Ibáñez Gómez
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Barnett, Gregory. The Violoncello da Spalla: Shouldering the Cello in the Baroque Era. Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society. 24. 81–106. 1998.
- 2.Vittes, Laurence. (23 January 2024). 'Book review: Da Spalla: How violinists can find their unique voice and open new career opportunities in 14 days'. The Strad.
- 3.Badiarov, Dmitry. "The Violoncello, Viola da spalla and Viola pomposa in Theory and Practice." The Galpin Society Journal, vol. 60, 2007, pp. 121–145. Online at JSTOR. Accessed 3 Sept. 2021.
- 4.Violoncello piccolo. Bach Cantatas website.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Collectables
20,755 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- celestaTerminology
- CelesteWork
- Cell to SingularityWork
- celloTerminology
- celloneTerminology
- celtic harpTerminology
- Celtic LegendsWork
- CembaletTerminology
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with cello da spalla?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.