Interview with violist and da spalla cellist Andrew Gonzalez
Pursuing a chamber music career with two different instruments and a high standard goal
Andrew Gonzalez is not a superstar presence on socials, but when you get to one of his video, it’s always a gem. His oldest video playing Violoncello da Spalla it’s from about 3 years ago, so he’s not a newby, and he seems to be careful not to miss an occasion to introduce and perform on this instrument, always with genuine enthusiasm.
Could you describe in a few phrases your current musical activity?
I’m currently the Violist of the Jasper String Quartet and this is my second season with them. They are wonderful colleagues who I love exploring the vast amount of quartet repertoire with.
I also play in a New York based ensemble called Twelth Night where I play baroque viola and violoncello da spalla
Tell us the story of your first meeting with a Violoncello da Spalla.
I first heard a recording about ten years ago of the sixth Bach cello suite performed on the spalla by Sergey Malov on YouTube. I remember watching it five times a day the first week I found it and made an effort to show as many people as I could this amazing recording.
I think the idea of learning a whole new technique was pretty overwhelming for me but I learned that a lot of my technique on the viola translated pretty naturally. The string length on my Spalla, which was made by Donald Rickert in Georgia USA, is pretty close to the string length on my viola so terms of my left hand there wasn’t a huge adjustment. The right hand definitely takes some work. At first, I was pretty surprised with how much more right hand weight you needed to get a decent sound. I was reminded of how violinists often feel switching to viola when they comment on how much slower bow and weight is needed to produce a good viola sound.
The first week I got my instrument I practiced open strings really slowly to get a really solid sound. It was like relearning an instrument. It was frustrating at first but it has been so rewarding in the end because I have always desired to play the Bach cello suites in the register they were written it. Not to mention it is a real treat to be able to play the sixth cello suite with the five strings Bach wrote it for!
Do you play with modern or historical strings? Which bow do you use?
I have experimented with both gut, wound, and modern strings. Right now I’m using modern spalla strings made by Thomastik. I use a Louis Bègin cello bow
Which is your favorite repertoire?
Right now I’m gravitating toward the quartet repertoire and the Bach suites. But I love listening to opera and symphonies!
After a few years with it, could you tell what did you get back from playing the Violoncello da Spalla?
I have found that my sound has gotten much deeper on the viola after learning the spalla. I think having my ears constantly engaged in a deeper register on the spalla has allowed me to tune into the depths of my viola playing.
How do you plan your practice to maintain yourself at a high level with more than one instrument? Do you have special tricks, like a practice you predilige on the cello that helps on the viola, or viceversa?
I think having concerts really helps motivate me to play the spalla at the highest level. I truly believe it’s an instrument worth listening to. What I try to do is when I have a viola recital, I also try and play solo Bach on the spalla. This allows me to keep my chops up while getting better at switching between the two instruments.
Plans for the future?
This season I have a concert in Pittsburgh with Twelth Night where I will be playing Spalla and a recital in February at Washington Bach Consort where I will be playing the 1st and 6th Bach suite. I’m so excited!
One last question:
In the baroque ensemble you are playing do you play always Spalla taking constantly part in the continuo group, or do you switch from viola to spalla only for some obbligato or solo parts?
When I play spalla in groups like Twelth Night and New Amsterdam consort, I generally switch between playing viola and spalla where the spalla is a featured solo instrument but my concert with Twelth Night in January will be entirely Spalla playing where I will be switching between continuo and solo playing!
News from da Spalla world
If you understand Spanish, at this link an interview with Diana Roche, Spanish cellist and spallist currently writing a doctorate defense on Violoncello da Spalla.
Updates from our workshop
This week Alessandro, despite working a full week in his orchestra, completed archings a purflings of the top of his Violoncello da Spalla. I glued today the purflings on the back of mine, and will hopefully complete the back tomorrow. In this pic it could seem it’s one instrument, but we currently have two on the bench, each of us is working on his own project.
Featured video of the week
You already got part of the 6th suite last week, here the prelude of the first! For more music, follow Andrew on his Instagram!