Note 96 — The Art of Violoncello Playing In the Eighteenth Century. (continued 2)

Here is an example or two: Alexander in his cello school, which appeared in 1801, takes up quite arbitrarily an “ordinary,” a “half,” and a “whole,” as well as a “mixed” THEORY OF FINGERING, and Fr. Kummer divides the fingerboard into “whole” and “half” positions. Müntzberger says in his cello school, which appeared apparently in 1800, he wished that people could accustom themselves to say to the pupil as for the violin: “take this or that position.” Here is given a distinct indication of the application of the violin positions. In other cello schools, on the contrary, there is no reference to positions.

Duport, however, makes use of positions 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, &c., throughout his volume.—(Tr.)