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Las Tarantulas

by Dolores White

Instrumentation
Cello, Piano
Composed
1992
Duration
3'30''
Publisher
Hildegard Publishing Company (distributed by Theodore Presser / Carl Fischer)

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About this piece

A short piece for cello and piano that lasts about three and a half minutes in recorded performances. It is published in Hildegard's anthology Black Women Composers: Twentieth Century Music for Piano and Strings (2003, edited by Gregory Walker and Helen Walker-Hill), alongside Mary Watkins's Bus Stop and Jeraldine Saunders Herbison's Saltarello. Cellist Raphaela Gromes and pianist Julian Riem recorded it on their 2023 Sony Classical album Femmes.

Technical overview

No technical overview is available yet.

Level rubric

Advanced

Left Hand

  • Unrestricted fingerboard operation.
  • Effortless high‑register passages with thumb position.
  • Execute large leaps, rapid shifts & fast runs with precise intonation.
  • Render double stops with clarity and even vibrato.
  • Crisp, stylistically appropriate ornamentation (trills, turns, mordents).
  • Instinctive micro‑adjustments in intonation for expressiveness.
  • False harmonics in low positions

Right Hand

  • Complete command of all bow strokes at any tempo/dynamic.
  • Comfortable execution of virtuoso passages (sautillé, intricate ricochet).
  • Tone projection from whisper‑quiet to fortissimo.
  • Integrate advanced bow patterns with expressive phrasing.
  • Demonstrate technical precision with a broad dynamic range.

Rhythm & Musicality

  • Interpret large‑scale structures with nuanced pacing and rhythmic freedom.
  • Highly refined phrasing with subtle note grouping & expressive rubato.
  • Convey emotional depth and stylistic authenticity.
  • Incorporate personal interpretive choices while meeting stylistic demands.

Levels are approximate guides, not strict requirements.