Nicolas Chédeville, 1737, sonata IV da “Il Pastor Fido, sonate del sig. Antonio Vivaldi op. 13” 😉
Yesterday, we played it in Bolzano, and the above recording, taken with a bare iPad, is live and unedited. We plan to record the whole sonata better this summer because we really like it—the continuo part is sparkly!
Two weeks ago, we had the enormous pleasure of receiving the visit of Ton Fabres from Catalonia, who came to pick up his new Violoncello da Spalla made by Alessandro.
Ton is such a nice and kind soul. He presented us with old books on early music and art, and his friends cooked for us Fideuá, a typical meal from Catalonia. It's a paella made with seafood and pasta instead of rice. It was delicious, and we had a great time together!
But this happened at the end of the weekend we spent in his company! This story is more than that!
When he arrived, he introduced to us his two da spallas and told us about his musical path. He has been a recorder teacher all his life and is now retired. During the pandemic, he heard his neighbour playing the cello, fell in love with this instrument, bought himself a Chinese cello da spalla, and started practising. A few months ago, he felt ready for an upgrade and decided to make himself this beautiful present of a top-quality Violoncello da Spalla.
To make the most of it, he rented a campervan with some friends and came to pick it up personally, enjoying a holiday in northern Italy. By coincidence, they came on the weekend of the Verschneider Ritt: this is a big medieval game with horses that is organised in our village every year. Many teams from all over Tyrol come to take the challenge, and good food is served all day on-site. We were happy we could also offer him this special experience, it was a weekend of real sharing of culture, passions and traditions.
The games take place very close to the small church of St. George, where there is a wooden altar from 1609 on which are painted two angels, one of them playing a very big viola, resembling a Violoncello da Spalla 😬. St. George is also the patron of Barcelona, so Ton’s small cello is now named Jorge.
Ton is passionate about early music. In 1978, he attended the famous early music courses in Urbino! He researched the Violoncello da Spalla and is enthusiastic about its use in Catalonia in the 18th century.
He plays it da gamba, like a normal cello. He mainly plays songs from his land, accompanying his wife Carmen, who has a beautiful voice. He is an amateur player on the cello and quite a novice on it. He immediately sensed how easier it was to play on our instrument compared to his previous two. Before going away, he told us he was so happy because he felt he had left behind some technical problems that were preventing him from fully enjoying his playing.
He practised hard to solve them in these years, and finally he thought of buying a professionally made instrument with a good setup. So he got in touch, and meeting his new cello piccolo, he had the confirmation that he can enjoy a beautiful sound and playing is easier and more joyful! When the instrument is made with care and attention to playability the hours of practising are far more effective, and maybe one could discover that it’s not even necessary to practice for hours!
Now Alessandro’s Violoncello da Spalla has found his home between the mountains and the wonderful sea of Catalonia, and we’re grateful to have met such a nice man as Ton and having spent a weekend with him and his friends!
With this instrument I left behind many little technical problems and now I really enjoy playing!
Now our end-of-school-year things are over and we’re finally committed to making full time. So in the next issue expect more making instructions for the paying subscribers, maybe even on a tighter schedule than usual. Thanks for your patience and thanks for being here and following our work!
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