This lecture recital is about the rivalry between the viola da hamba and the violoncello in the eighteenth century. The story begins at the end of the century when the gamba was already in decline, though not completely obsolete as may have been traditionally viewed. The audience is then taken through the century to its beginning when the 'cello was primarily a bass instrument with hardly any solo repertory. The lecture looks at the hierarchical position of the instruments and examines the reasons why the table was turned in favour of the 'cello around the 1750s. The recital aspect complements the lecture. The music will include pieces that were specifically designed for the gamba, pieces that could be played on either, and pieces that clearly favours the cello. The lecture will also look at how composers viewed the instruments in previous centuries, and how they wrote for and orchestrated them in solo and chamber works. Lecture recital length 55 mins, concert version of similar length or extended also available; projector and screen needed for lecture, plus harpsichord. Three performers including speaker.

Example of lecture/concert venue. Harpsichord centre stage, gamba on left, cello on right in the well of harpsichord. Two fold up music stands, plus additional (tall) stand for speaker, on the floor, on the left.
Projector screen on right of stage at the tail end of harpsichord. Images projected from front row. Two small tables for projector (raised) and computer. Powerpoint. Assistant to move images along, cues given on a script.

BIBLIOGRAPHY (in preparation)

Holman, P. 'Life After Death'

Wissick, B. 'The cello music of Antonio Bononcini..', Journal of Seventeenth Century Music, http://www.sscm-jscm.org/v12/no1/wissick.html

Jackson, B. G., Commentary on Le Blanc's Defense de la Viole, Journal of VdGSA, Vol. 12, December 1975.

Vanscheeuwijck, M. 'In search of the eighteenth century "Violoncello": Antonio Vandini and the concertos for viola by Tartini', 2008, Claremont Graduate University.

Medlam, C. ' Approaches to the Bach Cello Suites'. 2013

Aziz, I. 'Johannes Schenck'. The Viol 26

Simpson, C. 'The Division Viol'. London, 1665.

Le Blanc, H. 'Defense de la Basse de Viole', Amsterdam, 1740. Translated in VdGSA vol _ by

Images:

Wikimedia

Wikipedia

Others

Cello and large festooned gamba (very likely violone) together, both played with the underhand bow hold:

Detail:

The player is the Prince Bishop of Liège , John Theodore, in a concert in 1755.

A shocking depiction of Abel: Thomas Rowlandson, 'Concerto Spirituale, Messrs BOCH and ABEL'. Note the frets and bow grip.

The Concert Spirituel venue at the Palais de Tuileries, which was destroyed in 1871 in the upheaval of the Paris Commune. The concerts took place on the second floor of the centre pavilion, in a lavishly decorated hall called the Salle de Cent Suisses (Hall of the Hundred Swiss Guards). It heralded the demise of the gamba.

Peter Holman's view is that viols and violins were used as alternatives - at least when referring to dance music in the early seventeenth century. This reminded me of another example, a hundred years later,  of gamba and cello being used as alternatives (which, of course, didn't help matters for the gamba): Telemann's Paris Quartets.  It seems that the two instruments were more or less on equal terms at this period, and Telemann took the trouble of producing a separate part, with appropriate clefs and adjustments to suit each instrument.

I then wondered whether the instrument he (Telemann) meant might have been a da spalla and have come to the following conclusions (conjectural). It seems to me - from the quotations I have read so far (see earlier post) that most of the descriptions of the da spalla came from Germany, and from pictorial evidence (such as the girls in Vivaldi's Pieta), from Italy; but in France, the violoncelle that Corrette, Boismortier and Telemann referred to was more likely a 'little Basse de Violon with five or six strings' (Brossard, 1703), played da gamba with overhand bow hold