Cello in the Baroque, part 2: Cello literature in the 17th century

Abstract

The present text is the second instalment of the cycle of articles based on its author’s doctoral dissertation entitled The birth of cello as a solo instrument – instruments, prac-tice, and selected literature examples (Academy of Music in Łódź, 2017). It is an at-tempt to systematise the knowledge about the first cello literature creators and their compositions. The text includes descriptions (characterisations) of the first pieces writ-ten for the cello as early as in the 17th century along with short biographical sketches of their composers. The article characterises the main centres of development of cello mu-sic, such as Bologna and Modena, the places of work of Giovanni Battista Vitali, Do-menico Gabrielli, Petronio Franceschini, Giuseppe Jacchini, Bononcini brothers, Gio-vanni Battista Degli Antoni, Domenico Galii, Giuseppe Colombi, and others. These composers mainly focused around Bologna’s Accademia Filarmonica and Basilica of San Petronio, as well as the court of Francesco II d'Este in Modena. The article also pays attention to the circumstances in which the first attempts to write cello pieces were made. Moreover, it mentions singular historical items of early cello literature written in such centres as Rome, Venice or Naples, where Carlo Fedeli, Giovanni Lorenzo Lulier, Nicola Francesco Haym or other composers worked.