Name: Annabeth Shirley
Main Subject: Baroque Cello
Research Coach: Wouter Verschuren
Title of Research:
Holding the violoncello: Historical and contemporary perspectives on the postures and
physiological pitfalls of playing the baroque cello
Research Question:
How can baroque cellists today prevent occupational injury due to long hours of holding
the violoncello in playing position? Are there suggestions from current physiological
techniques that can inform and improve how we approach playing the baroque cello?
What can the treatises and iconography from the 18th - 20th centuries tell us about
holding and playing the cello without an endpin?
Summary of Results:
When Luigi Boccherini’s body was exhumed in the 1990s, expert analysis concluded that
this famous baroque cellist suffered numerous musculoskeletal injuries, many of which
were a direct result of his profession. Baroque cello playing had caused skeletal changes
in his spine and legs significant enough to still be evident in his mummified body nearly
200 years after his death. Musicians place huge strains on their bodies for the sake of
their art, made even more apparent by the condition of Boccherini’s remains. Fortunately,
awareness of the physical strain and injury suffered by many musicians is rapidly
increasing, and so too have scientific studies, health practitioners, and music teachers
augmented the focus on physical health for enabling a lifetime devoted to music. The aim
of this paper is to discover suggestions and methods for minimizing physiological harm
when playing the cello without an endpin. Of course, there is no one answer, one cure,
one ideal posture for baroque cellists. This paper will not present the one best way of
holding the cello that will ensure an injury-free, painless career. Rather, this paper will
present suggestions, thoughts, and ideas gleaned from an investigation of cello treatises,
physiological research, health practitioners, fellow cellists, and iconography. The
presentation of this research will include visual examples, written instructions, and
physical demonstrations as suggested by the historical sources and contemporary experts.
Comparison off the different recommendations will ideally assist fellow baroque cellists
in combating the postural tendencies and pitfalls of holding the violoncello.
Biography:
Originally from Salem, Oregon, USA, Annabeth obtained dual bachelors degrees in Cello
Performance and Neuroscience at the University of Michigan in 2012, and a bachelors
degree in Baroque Cello from the Koninklijk Conservatorium in 2013. In the past several
years she has performed with the Nederlands Kamerkoor, Ars Musica, Symphonie
Atlantique, and CaféHaydn. Also a devoted dancer, this summer she will perform a new
choreography in which she will both dance and play her cello. She plays an 1830s
instrument of most likely French origin.