The Birth of Cello Virtuosity

Antonio Pellegrino

At the turn of the nineteenth century, cellists were trained to provide chordal continuo realisation for recitativi in various parts of Europe. In other words, when they accompanied an upper voice, players would create a harmonically rich texture to better support the line above them, filling in chords rather than playing single bass notes. My research aims to trace the origins of this practice, examining pedagogical materials from the Neapolitan conservatories at the end of the 1600s. First, we investigate sections of the Montecassino Manuscript MS 2-D-13 (1699), analysing cases when Neapolitan-trained cellists needed to conjure up music beyond the written bass line. Selected works by prominent cello virtuosi and pedagogues of the time (Rocco Greco, Gaetano Francone, and Francesco Supriani) help us grasp how the violoncello gained the possibility of playing sophisticated improvised lines upon a bass and even (dare we say) partimenti. The second part of my research takes us forward in time to the second half of the eighteenth century. We discover how Salvatore Lanzetti and Antonio Guida continued the pedagogical traditions established by the preceding generations of Maestri, crafting methods that trained cellists to employ the rule of the octave in order to get comfortable with chordal improvisation. Ultimately, these explorations aim to suggest how the ground may have been fertilized for the growth of the aforementioned recitativo practices in the late 1700s, treating chordal continuo realisation as a result of a dynamic process across generations rather than an isolated phenomenon.

Table of Contents

Introduction
-A closer look at chordal cello writing - pedagogical implications
-Neapolitan cello virtuosi - the role of the Maestro
-The ten-year study plan (an overview)

Part Two: Partimenti for the cello
-Case Study I: Rocco Greco's Sinfonie from the Montecassino Manuscript
-Analysis of Sinfonia Quinta and Sinfonia Sesta
-My realization for two voices
-Breaking the canon: my realization for cello solo

Part Three: The art of elaboration
-Case Study II: Gaetano Francone's Ten Passacagli
-Case Study III: Rocco Greco's Antiphons
-Case Study IV: Francesco Supriani's Toccate

Part Four: Promises of the Rule of the Octave
-Case Study V: Salvatore Lanzetti's Principes ou l'application du Violoncelle
-Case Study VI: Antonio Guida's Cello Method

Discussion
-Takeaways for historical cello pedagogy today
-Implications for my solo and continuo playing

Bibliography
Acknowledgements

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Antonio Pellegrino - The Birth of Cello Virtuosity - 2025