Playing the Cello, 1780-1930This innovative study of nineteenth-century cellists and cello playing shows how simple concepts of posture, technique and expression changed over time, while acknowledging that many different practices co-existed. By placing an awareness of this diversity at the centre of an historical narrative, George Kennaway has produced a unique cultural history of performance practices. In addition to drawing upon an unusually wide range of source materials - from instructional methods to poetry, novels and film - Kennaway acknowledges the instability and ambiguity of the data that supports historically informed performance. By examining nineteenth-century assumptions about the very nature of the cello itself, he demonstrates new ways of thinking about historical performance today. Kennaway’s treatment of tone quality and projection, and of posture, bow-strokes and fingering, is informed by his practical insights as a professional cellist and teacher. Vibrato and portamento are examined in the context of an increasing divergence between theory and practice, as seen in printed sources and heard in early cello recordings. Kennaway also explores differing nineteenth-century views of the cello’s gendered identity and the relevance of these cultural tropes to contemporary performance. By accepting the diversity and ambiguity of nineteenth-century sources, and by resisting oversimplified solutions, Kennaway has produced a nuanced performing history that will challenge and engage musicologists and performers alike. |
Contents
The Left Arm and Hand and Scale Fingerings | |
The Bow in Motion | |
Playing with Expression Portamento | |
Playing with Expression Vibrato | |
Vibrato and Portamento in Early Cello Recordings | |
The Manly Cello? | |
Gender in Action Performing the Cello | |
Conclusions and Speculations | |
Select Bibliography | |
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Common terms and phrases
Alexanian Anon Baillot bars Baudiot Bernhard Romberg Bohrer bow-stroke Bréval C.F. Peters Carl Carl Fuchs Casals cellists Cello Concerto cello methods Chopin chromatic scale Conservatoire Corrette Crome David Popper Davidoff détaché doigt Dotzauer Duport edition Example exercises expression Fantaisie feminine Friedrich Friedrich Grützmacher gender Grützmacher Gunn harmonic Harmonicon historical historically informed performance Hugo Becker Ibid instrument Kronold Kummer l'archet le violoncelle left hand Leipzig Lindley Mainz masculine melody Méthode de violoncelle modern movement nineteenth century notation notes octave Orchestra passage passage-work performance practice piano Piatti player playing Popper portamento position posture Recorded Cello reissued scale fingerings Schott fils Schroeder Schumann Servais Servais's shifts slurred solo sonata spiccato Squire staccato Straeten style suggest Swert tail-pin technique theme thumb tone trans tutors un-named pianist University Press up-bow staccato variation Vaslin vibrato violin violinists violoncelle Paris Violoncello London Violoncellschule W.H. Squire wrist