Double Bass
As the 'bass' of the
strings, the cello needed yet lower support, so a bigger
instrument was conscripted from the viols to double it an octave
lower. Hence 'double bass', the only instrument to have retained
the sloping shoulder of its viol cousins. Its deep voice is ideal
as a foundation for the string sections but unsuitable for long
solos. Haydn compsed a concerto for it (now lost) in 1761 and
Vanhal's of c.1765 is the earliest to survive.
Midi: Saint-Saen's The
Elephant
A
dangerous rogue-elephant. -- Charles Villiers Stanford
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