It may be seen from Bach’s Suites for Violoncello Solo, which were originally written for the viola pomposa, the compass of this instrument extended from the great octave C [Illustration] to the thrice-accented G [Illustration] However, the “Viola pomposa” did not attain to general use. It scarcely survived its inventor, and disappeared, as it seems, even before the gamba, out of the musical sphere. Bach’s eldest son, Philipp Emmanuel, also wrote for the gamba. Amongst other things a sonata in three movements, with the clavier, in G minor,[34] which was apparently composed about 1759. The three-part movement in this is solid, though somewhat meagre and dry. Amongst the gamba compositions of the previous century, which have lasted up to our time, there is also to be noted an unpublished Concerto by Joseph Tartini, the famous founder of the old Paduan violin school, with accompaniment for four stringed instruments and two horns.[35] Possibly Tartini wrote it during his three years’ residence in Prague (1723-1726) for a German gambist, as about that time the gamba was still cultivated in Germany with great enthusiasm, though it had been, in Italy, thrust into the background of music by the violoncello. The Concerto bears all the marks of the author’s manner of expression, but it is in the main quite as antiquated as all his violin concertos. The introduction and _Finale_ are in G; the “Grave” between the two movements is in D minor. The single part theme of the solo, with the exception of a few double-stoppings and chords, is throughout written in tenor and bass clef. It is worthy of remark that all the pieces are provided before the full close with cadences, written at full length, for the solo instrument, after Tartini’s usual manner in all his violin concertos.