Viol with cello characteristics.

In 1659 Christopher Simspon writes that viols suitable for playing divisions - a form of variation on a ground usually improvised by a master player - should have a sound that is quick and sprightly, like a violin. Viols which are built with their 'Bellyes being digged out of the Plank', he says, will normally have such a sound. This is an obvious concern for Simpson, at least for the purpose of virtuoso solo playing, and he seems to prefer the sound of the viol on the left, which is violin/cello - shaped, than on the right . Perhaps the consort viols, whose fronts were built from strips rather than carved from a plank, did not offer the type of sonority that Simpson wanted.

Below is the Alqhai brothers performing on Amati viol copies, playing a Corelli transcription. Note the violin characteristics of the instruments, including the 'F' shaped sound holes.

Jacob Stainer was another maker who made viols with a violin outline. Below is an example of an original, played by José Vázquez .

Picture. A print of what looks a like large early viol or bass violin being bowed overhand. Frets are barely visible.




----

Cello with viol characteristics. The two instruments have never been very different from each other!

Underhand bow hold. Pictures.

Frets. Quantz? Bruno Cocset.