Shoulder rest or None……just do it…:-)))

December 21, 2008 at 6:12 AM

Nothing to add: Musician(s) Wells Cunningham

OMG, he is playing both instruments, the same person. Picking my jaw up off the floor. Who is this? Wait, you say. Where is he from?

Absolutly brilliant ,what a way to start a Sunday.

He obviously has a split personality.

OH MY GOD!  Well, I can we can put this issue to rest, huh...

Cheers! 

More and more videos like this are going up on YouTube.

And I've only seen this piece with violin/viola, never violin/cello. Interesting.

Laurie,

I read in some of the comments somewhere that he's French-Canadian.

I would like to see him play the cello under the chin... lol

 Drew - very much enjoyed this. Thanks for posting!

Now that is cool!

That was great!  Thanks for posting it.

@Jodi

"I would like to see him play the cello under the chin... lol"

how about this guy ...

jp.youtube.com/watch

Thanks Drew,

His intonation is so accurate on both instruments. I tried the opening today holding my violin like a cello and could tell it really helped improve my vibrato and made my arm feel more relaxed.

Craig

He sounds good.  And so The Great Shoulder Rest Debate has now been resolved.  Now what...end pin debates?

I have read that the great cellist, Emanuel Feuermann, could hold a violin like that and play the Mendelsohn violin concerto as well as any violinist of his day.

Anne - no need to deal with the end pin debate.  Wells is clearly playing a baroque cello on the right.

 

 Benjamin,

That is great and here is how he holds the instrument at about 4'30" into the video. In Suite #2, Dimitry Badiarov prepares to play and shows the strap he uses to hold the instrument—maybe we should velcro ours:-)

He is a wonderful musician!

My link isn't going through…

Wow--What a talent! Great video. Thanks Drew for posting it.

He must be playing in front of one of those magic mirrors that reflect back a similar image, but not the same image to the original.

I find it interesting that he uses the same bow (a cello bow), even on the violin. It must be that he is used to the weight, balance and responsiveness of the cello bow, and in this playing position, the extra length of a violin bow is not necessary.

Josh Henry, Bow Maker & Restorer
www.FineViolinBows.com

Drew,

yes, the instrument is held with a strap. It is called a violoncello da spalla ("cello of the shoulder").

Yes, Dmitry is a fine musician, he studied under Sigiswald Kuijken in Brussels. He is also a fine luthier and he made this instrument himself after Kuijken had asked him if he thought it was possible to resurrect it. Since then he's made several other such instruments. I visited his atelier a few months ago to try one of his violins, but unfortunately I forgot to ask him to show me the violoncello da spalla, that would have been interesting.

You can see him show and explain the instrument in this video ...

jp.youtube.com/watch

 Benjamin,

Thanks for the extra info which makes it even more impressive.

That is the link I was trying to put in the response, but it wasn't going through. I have to go teach, but how did you do that?

Thanks…d

Drew,

when you edit a post, you should see a small toolbar above the editing area. One of the icons in that toolbar is a little globe with a piece of chain. Click on that and it will open a dialog box with the title "Link". Paste your URL into the URL field and click OK. That will then insert the link into your post.

If you are interested in the violoncello da spalla's history, here is a slideshow video in which Dmitry talks about its resurrection and history ...

jp.youtube.com/watch 

I've known Wells for ten years and yes, he can definitely be called a genius!

Wow.  He isn't just a violinist...he is one with the instrument.  You really have to know your way around a fingerboard to achieve that level of genius.

Cool.

Incredible!

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