The finest Stradivari was owned by Duport and passed into the possession of August Franchomme, who paid 25,000 francs ($5,000) for it.
Carlo Bergonzi made superb violoncellos and so did Maggini, who made his on the viola pattern, placing the sound-holes rather high. Andreas Amati and Nicolò Amati both made beautiful instruments, which are characterized by a sweet, mellow tone.
No violoncellos of Joseph Guarneri are known.
The violoncello in the illustration facing page [56] was made by Januarius Galiano of Naples (born about 1740), one of the famous Galiano family of makers, descendants of Alessandro Galiano (1695-1730), a pupil of Stradivari.
The strings of the violoncello are C, G, D and A, an octave lower than those of the viola. The D string is very rich and is considered the most beautiful of all.
The compass of the violoncello is nearly four octaves; and because of this long range composers write for the violoncello in three clefs: the Bass Clef, for the lower and middle registers; the Tenor Clef, for the next highest; and the Treble, or Soprano, Clef, for the top notes.
The beginner on the violoncello has a great deal of hard work to do to learn to play at sight in all three clefs.
GENTLEMAN OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY PLAYING THE VIOLA DA GAMBA
In the main, the violoncello is played like the violin and viola, that is to say the player has to make all his notes on the fingerboard; and he can also produce harmonics on the open strings and artificial harmonics by stopping the string at certain places. He sometimes stops these by placing his thumb on the string,—something the violinist never does.