One 18th century virtuoso of this instrument was Friedrich Pischelberger, for whom Mozart wrote his Per questa bella mano.
One 18th century virtuoso of this instrument was Friedrich Pischelberger, for whom Mozart wrote his Per questa bella mano. The "Romance" section of Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kije Suite sees it play the main melody, and in 1874 Franz Simandl published his New Method of this instrument. Giovanni Bottesini is often called the "Paganini of" this instrument, which is either played with a "French" or "German" hand position, the latter of which was popularized by the 19th century virtuoso Domenico Dragonetti. The subject of several concertos by conductor and player Sergei Koussevitzky, it is the only instrument in its orchestral family tuned in fourths rather than fifths. It also unusually appears as the fifth instrument in Schubert's Trout Quintet and it accompanies the piano in The Carnival of the Animal's fifth movement, "The Elephant." Usually played sitting on a stool or standing up, this is, for 10 points, what largest and lowest-pitched string instrument?
One 18th century virtuoso of this instrument was Friedrich Pischelberger, for whom Mozart wrote his Per questa bella mano.
{double bass} [or {upright bass} or {contrabass} or string {bass} or {bass violin}]