Can an instrument hold the biography of its player?
In short: A cello possesses a neck, ribs, and a belly, mirroring the human form. Dr. Kate Kennedy explores how these wooden bodies act as vessels for history, carrying stories of survival, from the Auschwitz orchestra to a musician fleeing across the Siberian wilderness.
In her lecture, Dr. Kate Kennedy explores the profound, almost biological connection between a cellist and their instrument. Because a cello is roughly the size of a person and shares anatomical terms like shoulders and ribs, the player and instrument often form a composite being. This relationship is so intimate that legendary musicians like Pablo Casals referred to their cellos as companions, while Stephen Isserlis described his as a spiritual alter ego.
Kennedy’s investigation, which involved traveling across Europe with her own cello, seeks to uncover what survives in an object after its player is gone. She examines whether an instrument can possess its own biography—marked by birth, voice, damage, and even death. Her research uncovers a spectrum of extraordinary accounts, ranging from the tragic silence of the Auschwitz orchestra to the eccentricity of a cello discovered full of bees.
The history of the instrument also reflects broader social struggles, such as the gendered scrutiny faced by Lise Cristiani. A nineteenth-century soloist who debuted in Paris in the 184 ands, Cristiani faced critics who obsessed over her posture and femininity. To escape the constraints of Western concert life, she undertook a monumental journey across Russia and Siberia, protecting her Stradivari cello in wolf fur as she traveled by sledge through bogs and rivers. While she and her instrument survived encounters with whales attacking her ship, Cristiani ultimately died of cholera in the Kamchatka region in 1853.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Cello - In Search of a Voice - Kate Kennedy
- Also: Cello - In Search of a Voice - Kate Kennedy - Gresham College Lectures
- Also: Cello - In Search of a Voice
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