[Leica] Senior Solo

[don.dory at gmail.com (Don Dory)]

Barney,Posts like this are why the LUG is so special.  Great bits of info
out of the ether.

On Wed, May 7, 2008 at 10:12 PM, Bernard Quinn <bjq1@mac.com> wrote:

>
> Sonny,
>
> Nice shot! He's a handsome lad, indeed. I'm sure he'll break some hearts
> before all is said and done, if you don't mind my saying so. To comment on
> some of the other posts in this thread.....
>
> Cellos were larger in Bach's day. Most of them have had the musical
> equivalent of breast reduction surgery. My cello is three hundred years 
> old.
> It proudly bears the scars from when it was cut down to a more manageable
> size. Today the length of the strings is standardized, but the size of the
> body isn't. When people think of a standard cello the mental picture they
> usually have in is of the Stradaveri Model B. Even the master himself
> experimented with various cello sizes until he hit on dimensions he really
> liked. Guarneri models are a quarter of an inch bigger across than a Strad,
> and Montagnana models are much wider across the bottom than Strads, giving
> them marvelous bass tones.
>
> Up until the nineteenth century cellos were indeed played by holding them
> between the calf's of your legs. Cello folk lore has it that the end pin 
> was
> invented by a famous cellist who, to but it delicately, was too portly to
> hold a cello in the traditional manner. What fascinates me is the fact that
> when my cello was made cellos were used in marching bands. I have trouble
> imagining doing this. If you look at the back of a cello if this vintage 
> you
> will usually see a the remains of a small hole located on the center seam. 
> A
> strap was attached to a wooden peg, and then it was then put through the
> hole in the back of the cello. This was how they attached a strap so that
> you could march around with it. Almost all antique string instruments have
> been modified in one way or another. Cellos, Violas, and Violins have also
> had the angle the fingerboard makes with the body increased and the curve 
> of
> the bridge increased. This was done to increase the volume of the
> instruments as musicians moved from making their livings playing in small
> chambers to playing the concert halls.
>
> Cellists owe Bach a major debt of gratitude. Before his day the upper and
> refined classes played Viols of various sizes. To this day Double Basses
> still have a family resembelance to their anscestors the Viols. They have
> concave shoulders, unlike the shoulders of Violins, Violas, and Cellos 
> which
> are rounded. Before Bach members of the Violin family were held in low
> repute and tended to be associated with unsavory things like the country
> dancing master, sex, and alcohol! :-) In those days we ranked right up 
> there
> with the court jester! It was Bach's Suites for Solo cello which really
> helped the Cello gain respectability.
>
> People still play on gut strings. I often use them. This is a subject of
> great controversy among cellists. Many people think that their sound is
> superior to metal core strings. I certainly do. In olden times cello 
> strings
> were just plain raw uncovered gut gut. The C string, the lowest in pitch on
> the cello, could run a quarter of an inch in diameter. I can't imagine what
> that sounded like, but it must have been pretty tubby. In Baroque days they
> started to wind the gut strings with round silver wire to cover them. Today
> they are would with flat wire. An unwrapped gut A string is a holy horror 
> to
> play on. Other than that gut strings are lots of fun, although they don't
> stay in tune at all well.
>
> This is probably more than anyone wants to know about the subject.
>
> Barney
>
>
> On May 7, 2008, at 4:32 PM, Sonny Carter wrote:
>
>  Last night, Eric played his Senior solo at the Fall Concert of the
> > Natchitoches Central High School Orchestra.
> >
> > He  played the 1st movement of Eccles Sonata in g minor, and it was
> > moving
> > to hear and see how he has developed as a bassist.  His Mom wept, it was
> > so
> > beautiful.   Here's a shot of him just as he finished, and just before
> > the
> > standing ovation.
> >
> > http://www.sonc.com/sonata.htm
> >
> > Now, he'll probably kill me for this, and many of you  remember these
> > shots,
> > so I thought it appropriate to share them at this time.
> >
> > http://www.sonc.com/same_guy.htm
> >
> > --
> > Regards,
> >
> > Sonny
> > http://www.sonc.com
> > Natchitoches, Louisiana
> > USA
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Leica Users Group.
> > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> >
>
>
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>



-- 
Don
don.dory@gmail.com