Café Barock at Forum Box
Monday 16 March at 7:00 PM
In this concert we will focus on an alternative tuning for the cello. It is different from the fifth tuning (aDGC) that we are used to in the violin family. Since the 16th century, the cello has evolved and has been played in various tunings. In Bologna, Italy, in the 1660s, gDGC became the established tuning for cellos. Today, cellists call this tuning “scordatura,” meaning “wrongly” or “differently” tuned. The cello inherited the role of the basse de violon, which has one tuning of gcF-Bb, with the top G string remaining.
Scordatura tuning is not a version of fifth tuning, where the A string is counted as a G, but a tuning in which the three lowest strings are raised one note.
Scordatura is an important part of the evolution of the cello. For those like Domenico Gabrielli (1651?-1690) and Giuseppe Maria Jacchini (1667-1727) it was no exception. They composed numerous works for scordatura cello until scordatura went out of fashion at the end of the 17th century and the cello became established in the quintvire. Luigi Taglietti (1668-1715) was the first composer to consider the gDGC tuning as scordatura, an exception, as it is today. One of the last composers to write for the cello tuned in this way was J.S. Bach (1685-1750) in his 5th solo cello suite.
Scordatura brings new technical possibilities to the cellist and deepens the resonance of the instrument. The characteristics of the cello change and different colors are heard. We get to explore and hear forgotten (scordate), rarely heard sounds.
Gabrielli – Frescobaldi – Bach – Jacchini – Vitali – Taglietti – Picchi – Merula
Ester Nurminen, baroque cello
Lili Talimaa, harpsichord
Tickets: €10 / €15 in advance from Tiketti and at the door half an hour before the concert.
Address: Forum Box, Ruoholahdenranta 3 A, Helsinki
The Café Barock concert series is organized by the Cultural Association Ensemble Nylandia ry with the support of the Music Promotion Foundation and the City of Helsinki.