Two Spirituals for Cello and Piano

About this piece

Dolores White's settings of two traditional spirituals, "Little David Play on Yo' Harp" and "Were You There", for cello and piano. The cello part was edited by her husband Donald E. White, a cellist and the first Black member of the Cleveland Orchestra. Their daughter, the pianist Dianna White-Gould, writes that Dolores White "performed them numerous times with husband Donald White." Timothy Holley's CelloBello list "Suggested Works by Black Composers for Students" puts the set in his easiest tier, Level A, music that stays mostly in first and second positions, and the publisher grades it Grade 1. Keiser Productions describes the pieces as "lyrical but easy arrangements." Each spiritual opens with an evocative piano introduction: harp-like flourishes in "Little David" ("Moderately slow – dreamily", then "Rhythmically very steady"), and a bell-like figure in "Were You There", where the cello enters sul tasto with a long legato melody. The score and cello part are published in the LudwigMasters String Series, now issued by Keiser Productions and distributed by Alfred.

Technical overview

Two spirituals, about 5 minutes in all: "Little David Play on Yo' Harp" (G major, 2/4, quarter = 100 after a free piano introduction) and "Were You There" (F major, 4/4, Andante, quarter = 76–82). The cello writing is lyrical and mainly in first position on the D and A strings, with long slurred phrases, portato-style tenuto up-bows, a sul tasto colour and hairpin dynamics. Holley expects some second-position playing.

Technical focus

• Legato
• Hairpin Dynamics
• D String Notes
• A String Notes