What is the earliest known use or indication of "col legno"?

Question

_col_ **legno** or _col_ **legno** _battuto_ meaning : strike (the string) with the **wood** (of the bow) is commonly found in 20th century chamber music. But I have heard it might have been used earlier (at least 18th century).I am curious about which early composers used this technique in his works.Perhaps is there a first one?

Answer 1

One of the first notable uses of col legno was in Hector Berlioz's revolutionary piece: Symphonie Fantastique (1830) where it's used in the 5th movement in the violins to represent the dancing skeletons. I'm no expert on the exact origins of this technique but I'm sure some musicologists have done plenty of research and complied them into journals or dissertations on this exact subject.