INSTRUMENTAL ROLE IN CELLO PERFORMANCE FROM BAROQUE TO CLASSICISM

Abstract

The process of development of cello performance in the 16th – 17th centuries is highlighted, which due to the late formation of the instrument’s design (the end of the 16th – the beginning of the 17th century) was for a long time in the shade and under the influence of the art of the violoncello and violin. It has been found that for almost a century, the cello’s primary functional purpose was to provide the basso continuo accompaniment. In the process of identifying the specifics and developing the original cello playing technology, the instrument is entrusted with performing obligato parts, that is, although mandatory, but subordinate. The individual instrumental specificity of the cello is developed in solo works – chaconnes, ricercar, toccatas, suites (G. Abaco, J. S. Bach, D. Gabrieli, G. Colombi, F. Supriani, etc.), as well as sonatas with bass (A. Vivaldi, Fr. Geminiani, Fr. M. Zuccari, B. Marcello, A. Scarlatti, etc.). The transition from Baroque to Classicism was accompanied by the cello’s departure from the role of basso continuo and the obligatory type of its use in the ensemble to the instrument’s acquisition of independent solo functions, which affected the expansion of the melodic range and technical capabilities of the instrument. The final stage of the formation of classical technology was the second half of the 16th century (the work of L. Boccherini, J.-L. Duport, J.-B. Breval, etc.). At this time, cello technique reaches its peaks. At the same time, the bow technique also became established: in the works of the second half of the 18th century, the most complex combinations of legato and detachment, sharp, staccato, flying and jumping strokes are used (it became possible thanks to the bow of F. Turt’s design). Along with technical ones, artistic problems were also solved, such as gradation of dynamics, acceleration and deceleration of the tempo, improvisational performance, etc. The development of classical genres of cello music, the desire to expand the arsenal of its technical techniques, as well as the sophistication of dynamic, agogic, timbral, and other means of expression brought the cello to the level of a full-fledged solo instrument in the second half of the 18th century.