The bass violin family instruments were called by myriad names, among them violoncino, violone, basso, viola, bassetto, etc.

This recording represents the excitement of musicians at this innovation and their music of exploration and discovery as performers began to write idiomatic solos for their instrument and the violoncello was finding its voice. While many of the most celebrated musicians working in Italian musical centers contributed to this development through increasingly active, virtuoso obbligato bass parts in concertos, arias, and chamber works, it is the “solo” role for the violoncello upon which this recording concentrates, sometimes including bass accompaniment.

The recording follows the genre over approximately 75 years, from the midseventeenth century to the death the Neapolitan virtuoso Francesco Supriani in 1757, by which time the violoncello had spread throughout Europe, producing star performers with international careers.