Dear jancello, thank you for your (not very) nice comment. You're right, the C string wasn't a good one. Just less terrible of all...One month after this recording Thomastik-Infeld developed a new string especially for this instrument, and it really doesn't sound terrible any more! I'm looking forward to convince you soon! Sergey Malov
It is amazing with what ease the complexity of Bach's contrapuntal solo-writing-this Gigue of "Cello" Suite No. 6-is produced so ably on this Viola da Spalla (aka: Violoncello/Cello da Spalla) in contrast to how much work it is for someone on a modern, Romantic-Era cello and bow: there are few of the gaps/arpeggios required on that later instrument! BTW, Mr. Malov has tuned his instrument to the now-standard-but-not-supported "Baroque" tuning of A4 = G4# (lowered by a half-step), so this sounds to those afflicted with A-440 "perfect pitch" as being played in D-flat instead of D. There was, in fact, no such "Baroque" standard, as tuning varied widely across Europe: Johann Gottfried Walther (JS Bach's cousin) asserted the tuning pitch should be 392 Hz, the G below A-440 (not the G# turning heard here), and the great mathematician, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz concurred, somehow, through computations.
Well that was awesome! Even more awesome because I'm sitting here in Canada waiting to pick someone up from the airport in the middle of the night, and I thought the stage looked familiar. Waiting for a shot of the ceiling, and Ah yes, it's the St. Petersburg Conservatory! I had the ridiculous good fortune to play on that stage when I was 14 on a school music trip. Very cool music in a very cool room with great memories.
This and the violoncello piccolo were actually the instruments that Bach composed his suites for, which people mostly played at home for enjoyment, not in the concert hall. It was Pablo Casals who discovered them and popularized them as solo works for violoncello in the concert hall.
This is the Gigue (final movement) from the sixth cello suite of J.S. Bach in D major, BWV 1012. I'm amazed - 68 comments and nobody bothered to identify the piece! They're all talking about the rather unusual instrument he's performing it on, a "viola da spalla."
Malov's sense of gesture and timbre, and the instrument's quick speech [Ansprache] are simply magical. It would have been intriguing to see the recording venue credited in the video... beauty shouldn't be anonymous.
Nooooo, play them both! Playing multiple instruments of the same family helps greatly with each one individually, as you learn and develop techniques for one that you would have thought of on the other, that may turn out to be useful for the others. I'd absolutely love to play the Violoncello da Spalla and the Viola da Gamba (and will do when I have the money to buy one), but I wouldn't dream of giving up the Violin!
I am so glad that researchers have discovered this and other instruments that make so much natural sense for performing Bach's music. I love that Malov can move!
@madaraszi Viola Pomposa is pitched an octave higher than the violoncello da spalla. The strings of the pomposa are C, G, D, A (just like the normal viola) with an added E string above those. The da spalla has the same strings C, G, D, A (tuned the same octave as the modern cello) with an added E string. Telemann wrote quite a few works for the viola pomposa.
Sergey, bravo Ihnen und bravo dem Geigenbauer Alexander Sergeevich Rabinovich fuer diese allemal grossartige Erfahrung! My congratulations to you and to viola maker Alexander S. Rabinovich! Con grandi complimenti, Wladimir Kossjanenko
Wow all these comments on the appearance of the instrument. I think people forget music is for the ears more than the eyes. No wonder Kanye and his ilk are so popular. All about the image. It sounds great and the only image I care about here is the amazing movement of his left hand...
Nah - a live performance is both. The play of the fingers across the finger-board are mesmerizing. I am a player as well and I gotta say - please do not take away a part of the performance like that :(
@@bloubear2557 A simple typo. Yea, that's what I meant. Since I write violin so much my muscle memory kicked in and automatically ended up typing violin
The Viola da Gamba or "Leg Viol" is actually not related to the Viola da Braccia or "Arm Viol" family (which would include the Violin, Viola, Violone, Violoncello, and the Viola da Spalla or "Shoulder Viol") except through an accident of naming: the Gamba is descended from the Vihuela di Kabus--pronounced very similar to the Italian word Gambus. A comparison of the Gamba and Cello will show many differences, including a pear-shaped body for the Gamba, rather than the figure-8 body of the cello.
If composers later than J.S. had taken this into account, then there could be a fuller tone to, for example, Mozart's serenades. Mozart often had to leave cellos out of the scoring of his serenades because nobody could march while playing the cello. (Bass players would strap their instruments on themselves.) If the cello da spalla had caught on, it would have solved this problem, even if extra violinists rather than cellists use them.
Nathan Hunt it's actually pretty easy depending on the person. But if someone does have difficulty marching while playing it's usually because the person is marching too forcefully, you can't March too hard or it will get in the way of your bowing technique.
If you'd like to learn more about the viola da spalla, you shoul search for Dmitry Badiarov, who is a luthier and performer too. He has made the spalla used by Sigiswald Kuijken when recording the cello suites BWV 1007-1012 Si quereis saber algo más de este instrumento haced una búsqueda de Dmitri Badiarov, un lutier y músico. Hizo la spalla que utilizó S. Kuijken en la grabación de las suites para violoncello solo de Bach
Looking forward too ! I compared it with a big viola, also because I guess that like for viola, the fact of having a "too small" body can be overcomed with good strings and good playing, but it makes it much more difficult. BTW, one of the best rendition of the 2nd suite I've heard was played on viola !
A curious instrument which I knew nothing about until stumbling on this video. It has 5 strings?! Looks awkward to play, but has a tone similar to a cello being played frequently in the high register.
wtf....it's the first time in my life I've seen this....at first i thought that this video would be a joke...but no! Is that the missing link between violin/viola and viola da gamba??....in another hand, he plays incredible..what a wonderfull sound!...
You can get black/brown bow hair. It's not synthetic or anything. Just a different colored hair for a horse. It's more grittier and grabbier - course. And the bridge is probably made out of a ebony. The baroque instruments were a time for experimenting.
@Skyewolfy I agree. This gigue (and the entire suite) often lacks the necessary artful musical qualities. But Malov is playing with an appropriately joyful spirit. Not unlike the quality of mercy, music droppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven... A blessing to both those who play it and those who hear it.
There are some contemporary videos showing the viola pomposa, a copy of Guadagnini's La Parmigiana 1765 at the original (modern) setup on youtube channel zpaulinyi.
Question!! Are the Cello and VCello Da Spalla are the same in sounds/notes? or they have big difference in sounds? By the way Excellent performance my friend =D
Listened to Anner's. I liked it, but i will have to listen to both some more times to decide which i like the best. (and the other movements too) The low notes in anner do sound good, but higher passages in sergey's are better i think And i prefer this faster tempo in Sergey's gigue too. Most cellists play it so slow that it even sounds depressive... I wanted so badly to play this but i dont have a 5 stringed. :( Maybe i study on 4 just for didatic purpose.
It's a baroque bow used when playing instruments from or set up as they would be from the period. Quite interesting, actually, as they're made of different woods, and assist in the production of a sound that differs notably from modern instruments. Also, if I'm not mistaken, there is less tension on the hair.
***** I concur. My music teacher owns one of these bows for his viola, and you cannot apply any strength downwards as opposed to current bows because there's no support on the far end of the wood - it just collapses onto the string. The only way you can increase dynamics is moving the bow faster, which makes a strangely-satisfying sandy noise.
TimYocraft Sorry, but I felt the need to correct that assertion, one can indeed increase dynamics by increasing pressure on a baroque bow. I own one and do so myself when playing the violin, and Francesco Geminiani's treatise on playing the violin from 1750 actually says "One of the principal Beauties of the Violin is the swelling or encreasing and softening the Sound; which is done by pressing the Bow upon the strings with the Fore-finger more or less."
