# Questions about orchestral scores



## neofite (Feb 19, 2017)

I have recently begun studying full scores to deepen my understanding and appreciation of music, and it is already becoming quite rewarding. I expect to have occasional questions, and I hope that this is the correct place in which to post them. I am currently looking carefully at the first page of Mendelssohn's violin concerto and I have two questions so far.

The first is that the final instrument in the strings section is 'Bassi.' Does this mean double bass/contrabass? If so, there is no cello section. Is it common to have large orchestral works without a cello section?

The second is that the dynamic markings for all instruments on this first page, including the solo violin, are _p_. How can the single violin be heard above this multitude of other instruments? Is it only because the violin is playing much higher pitched notes, or is there some additional reason?

Thank you (and please forgive my ignorance of what are probably very elementary things).


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## perdido34 (Mar 11, 2015)

There is a cello section in this piece, as you'll see later in the score. You will see both "Vcl" and "Bassi" markings as you go along. The cellos and the basses share the same staff in music of this period, and the composer will notate which instruments should be playing. It's NOT common for large orchestral works to have basses without cellos.

In answer to your second question, it's true that the violin's pitch at the beginning of the concerto is higher than the other instruments that are playing. But the conductor is responsible for balancing the performance so that the soloist is audible. Also, note that the soloist in a live performance stands front and center, which means that many of the higher pitched instruments are behind the soloist. 

In a recording, microphones can be adjusted to make sure the soloist is always audible, in addition to what the musicians are doing with their dynamic levels.


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## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

The celli and double basses sharing the same staff is a relic from the baroque/classical period, where the bass (one or more) just doubled the cello part, sounding an octave below. Independent double bass parts only started with Beethoven (with some incidental occurrences with Haydn and Mozart), and a relatively conservative composer like Mendelssohn often felt inhibited to the old tradition.
There's an interesting passage though at the end of the first movement, directly after the solo cadenza, where the celli play the main theme (together with first flute and oboe in a three-octave spread), independently from the bass section, which doubles the timpani.


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