Ten Preludes
- Instrumentation
- Cello
- Composed
- 1974
- Duration
- 22'
- Publisher
- Sikorski
Purchase or download
About this piece
Written in 1974 for the cellist Vladimir Tonkha, who premiered them in Moscow on 12 December 1977, these ten preludes began life as 'Ten Etudes' and were renamed at Tonkha's suggestion. Each is built on a single playing technique or on the contrast between two - staccato and legato, with and without mute, ricochet, ponticello to tasto, harmonics, frog to tip, arco and pizzicato - ending with a prelude played without the bow. The result is both a compendium of modern cello colour and a sequence of concentrated, dramatic character pieces that has become a staple of the solo repertoire.
Technical overview
Ten unaccompanied movements each titled by technique: 1. staccato - legato; 2. legato - staccato; 3. con sordino - senza sordino; 4. ricochet; 5. sul ponticello - ordinario - sul tasto; 6. flagioletti (harmonics); 7. al taco - da punta d'arco; 8. arco - pizzicato; 9. pizzicato - arco; 10. senza arco. Demands command of ricochet, natural harmonics, contact-point control and left-hand pizzicato.
Technical focus
- Harmonics
- Legato