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Chasing Balance

by Allison Loggins-Hull

Instrumentation
Cello
Composed
2022
Duration
8'
Publisher
AllieKat Productions (sold through Notation Central)

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About this piece

Chasing Balance is an eight-minute work for unaccompanied cello, commissioned by cellist Alisa Weilerstein. In her program note Loggins-Hull describes it as being about carrying many demands at once while staying oneself: overlapping gestures and contrasting textures pull against each other, and short quiet moments break up the forward motion, until the music finds its own uneven kind of balance.

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.