This newsletter is coming on the last day of 2021, so a brief resume of what happened in our niche last year seems due. However, when I sat to write this, I hardly realised that there was probably more to tell in 2021 than in the past ten years… it’s as the wheel of a revolution is accelerating it’s movement!
We started this newsletter last February with an answer to what seemed a big voice coming from the academic world: “Violoncello da Spalla cannot play without double wound strings because it is too short to be tuned so low. So, as double wound strings were invented in the late 18th century 🙄, either Violoncello da Spalla didn’t exist, or if it did, it was tuned somewhat higher”. I confess I thought that the C of the Violoncello da Spalla would be too big and clumsy if not double wound, so when Eliakim Boussoir offered to make me one, and for the Wagner model, which is even shorter than the standard used today, I didn’t show much enthusiasm. But it came in the mail, so, after having tried all those that I had ordered, I tried it. And wow, it does play!! Yes, it is not as easy and effective as the others, but it works! And it was not even silver wound, but copper!
If we add this to the fact that Bach used very seldom the C string, and often doubled by the basses, as clearly explained by Koji Otsuki, well, it doesn’t matter if the double wound strings were invented or not or if they were good or bad. Violoncello da Spalla can play decently well even without them, and anyway, it was not required to do so on the C string.
Sergey Malov’s recording of Bach’s Cello Suites has been awarded the Opus Klassik price in the solo instruments category. This is a fabulous recording. If you don’t have it yet, get in touch with Sergey directly and ask for it. Even if you already have a dozen of them, this is still worth having. I love listening to it while working, and every time I discover some little gem, like an ornamentation or a phrasing that I didn’t notice before. It is a fresh but deeply informed interpretation. I think Bach would have loved it too. For a niche instrument, something little more than a curiosity, winning an award side by side violins, pianos, voices, it’s quite a thing. It sounds like an official admission of the Violoncello da Spalla in the VIP’s hall!
One thing that is becoming clearer about the Violoncello da Spalla revival is that calling it “revival” is a naïve quirk, as it’s now looking more like a movement! New music is explicitly written for Violoncello da Spalla in many different styles. In the video above, Malov improvises on Bach’s suites taking advantage of his “powered bridge” and loop pedals. I think we can soon expect more also from Owen Pallett, who recently bought a Spalla himself and is working hard on it.
Väsen Duo, from Sweden, are arranging old tunes for nyckelharpa and da Spalla, and Mark Wickersham is regularly using his original 1761 Violoncello da Spalla playing baroque and folk music (this is a very superficial description, sorry! Go and check by yourself!) with Jambaroque.
New music in Bach’s style was composed and presented on YouTube by François and Yun Fernandez. Browse their YouTube channel to find several treasures played on Spalla!
Violoncello da Spalla has crossed the borders of early music and is thoroughly enjoying a 360* musical life! It’s been a musically sparkly year, and the wheel is turning for a great 2022!
News from da Spalla world
On the 5th of December 2021, something noticeable happened in Paris: a performance of five cellos da Spalla together for an aria of Bach’s Cantata BWV 62.
But what strikes me the most is that this was indeed and historically informed choice, not hype!
(assuming that the « world premiere » occurred in 1724, as we did):
François Fernandez, Yun Kim, Josèphe Cottet, Samuel Hengebaert, Christophe Mourault. Click here for a video!
There were also two da gamba cellos, nearer to the large organ, on the left of the picture (balcony of the « Foyer de l’Âme » temple, in Paris)... So in total: 8 x 8 foot sound... The idea so many spallas was Freddy Eichelberger’s, behind a cantata series going on for over 20 years.
A great and fresh experience for the insiders! If we believe the audience, it sounded « great ».
Bach did not specify exactly what he meant, but in the bass aria, suddenly, all upper strings have bass clefs in their (original, separate) parts...
We hope other spallists will ever have opportunities to experience such sound making. :))
Updates from our workshop
2021 for us was a year of growth, consciousness and enthusiasm.
We sold two Violoncello da Spalla: one a Badiarov model, the other a custom model following the customer’s desires. This was, for us, a great opportunity to gain confidence in the design process and in researching our style.
We made a Violoncello da Spalla based on the Johann Wagner preserved in Lübeck, with an original short neck. It was fun making an instrument with no mould, no corner blocks, and the top block inbuilt in the neck. It is 3 cm shorter than the other models, and despite that, it was not a challenge to have it sounding in the cello octave and with single wound strings!
We started our Instagram account which brought us connections we are so grateful for, we started this newsletter, and our website is now online, even if only in Italian and still missing some cartoons, this is my fault!
Our very next plans are completing our next two cellos, which will be done in a few weeks, and publishing a book on Violoncello da Spalla. We also have a short recording on sight!
Which are your da Spalla plans for 2022? Comment below and stay in touch!
