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In the opening paragraph of his article,1 Ulrich Drüner noted that the discussion of the violoncello piccolo, viola pomposa and their relationship to the music of J.S.Bach has continued for half a century. Many authors have proposed hypotheses about these instruments. What could be left to add? The present writer is a performer on the violoncello piccolo da spalla as well as a maker of those instruments which were called violoncello, viola da spalla, viola pomposa etc. It is likely that only a few of the earlier writers had access to practical experimentation with the instruments, but this article combines the work of researchers with a testing of theories in real concert situations.
PREVIOUS RESEARCH AND PRIMARY SOURCES
There has been little agreement regarding the precise meanings of the following terms: viola pomposa, viola da spalla and violoncello piccolo. The viola pomposa is referred to in several late-eighteenth century sources in connection with J.S.Bach. Unfortunately, no source from Bach's immediate circle or time is known to survive, nor is there any music from Bach's hand containing such a designation. Eighteenth century sources are listed below:
* Ernst Ludwig Gerber, Historisch-Biographisches Lexikon der Tonkünstler, 1790-92, col. 90.
* Bach Dokumente III, pp. 186-87. Hiller's report on Pisendel's visit to Leopold Weiß, during which he accompanied the violinist Benda with his Viola Pomposa. He gives a description of an instrument sized like a large viola, but tuned in the cello range C-G-d-a-e'.
* Bach Dokumente III, pp. 349-50. Forkel's text (Göttingen, 1782) on Bach's invention of the Viola Pomposa. The tuning is that of the common violoncello with an extra e'-string, the same as given by Miller.
* Hiller, in 1784, cites Forkel's text literally (p. 45, 'Lebensbeschreibungen berühmter Musikgelehrten und Tonkünstler'), thus they agree regarding the tuning of the instrument.
* Bach Dokumente III, pp.312-22. Köhler's reference to the instrument.
* Johann Nicolaus Forkel, Musikalischer Almanack für Deutschland (Leipzig, 1781-8); partially reprinted and trans. in Hans T. David and Arthur Mendel, eds., The Bach Reader, rev. ed. (New York, NY: Norton, 1966), 261-2.
Since these sources have been widely quoted I omit doing so here. According to these documents the viola pomposa was tuned in the range of a cello C-G-d-a-e'. However, many later researchers reject...