(Fr. pique, bâton; Ger. Stachel, Pflock, Fuss; It. puntale).
A wooden or metal attachment to the bottom of a cello or double bass to assist in lifting the instrument off the floor and holding it securely. A standard playing position for the cello, unlike that for the bass, was not established until around 1900. Pictorial evidence from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries shows cellists standing and seated, with endpin (or other lifting-and-holding device) and without. Therefore the endpin has figured as an important variable in cello performance, with ramifications affecting tone, technique, style and gesture. Until the late 19th century, method books taught only one position for playing the cello, with the instrument held between the legs and supported mainly on the left calf. From the early 17th century onwards, however, numerous iconographic records (e.g. M. Praetorius, Theatrum instrumentorum, 1620, pl.xxi) show cellos being held up by a spike, stool, platform, box, barrel, the player's foot or even a combination of ways. J.S. Petri (Anleitung zur praktischen Musik, 2/1782, 415–16) reported that the use of the endpin was most prevalent among ripienists, especially those who prefer to play standing. This may explain why method books, directed primarily at soloists, ignored the endpin for so long.
In the 19th century there was more consistency between method books and iconography. The methods continued to ignore the endpin, and few players are depicted using one. One famous exception was A.F. Servais, who, owing to his girth or that of his large Stradivarius (accounts differ), found relief in an endpin, and for this reason was erroneously credited with its invention. When method books first began to advocate use of the endpin, around 1880, it was again considered to be a new invention. It did not meet with immediate, universal acceptance; many well-known cellists such as Grützmacher, Piatti and Hausmann continued to adhere to the old position. Women cellists appear to have been pioneers in the adoption of the endpin, because of widespread disapproval of their holding the cello between the legs, a prejudice that persisted until well into the 20th century. The endpin allowed the cello to be held away from the body in positions that, around 1900, were deemed more decorous, either with the legs turned to the left in side-saddle fashion, or with the right leg almost kneeling behind the cello, a position in which Beatrice Harrison was photographed.
The perceived benefits of the endpin were: a more relaxed position, especially for the legs; increased stability, especially for shifting and playing in high positions; better access of the bow (unimpeded by the knees) to the a and C strings; freer vibration of the body of the instrument; and transmission of sound into the floor (with some debate as to whether wood or metal is the better transmitter; metal is now always used). Disadvantages perceived when the endpin was reintroduced in the late 19th century were the lazy posture or extravagant motions it allowed the player.
The endpin was originally fixed in length, and short; the adjustable endpin was introduced in the late 1890s, and length began to increase significantly thereafter. The most recent modification, not widely used, is the bent ‘Tortelier’ endpin, which raises the cello from a nearly vertical to a more nearly horizontal position (see Britten, Benjamin, fig.9). Performers on period instruments tend to eschew the endpin, a practice consistent with method-book directions but at odds with much iconographic evidence, and therefore of questionable authenticity if applied uniformly, especially with regard to 18th-century music.
T. Russell: ‘The Development of the Cello Endpin’, Imago musicae, iv (1987), 335–56
T. Russell: ‘New Light on the Historical Manner of Holding the Cello’, Historical Performance, vi/2 (1993), 73–8
TILDEN A. RUSSELL