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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