About Trains
- Instrumentation
- Cello Ensemble
- Composed
- 1998
- Duration
- 11'
- Publisher
- Lauren Keiser Music Publishing (HL 41999 / X539001)
Purchase or download
About this piece
About Trains is a three-movement suite for six cellos, commissioned by the University of Connecticut Cello Society for its Cello Day on January 25, 1998. 'On Track' passes driving wheels-on-the-rails rhythms between the parts under sustained whistle-like calls. 'Lonesome Whistle' is a blues ballad that alternates solo verses with barbershop-style refrains. 'Coming Round' is a theme and six variations on a familiar American train song; the composer leaves the audience to guess which one.
Technical overview
Parts vary in difficulty: the upper parts move into tenor and treble clef, while the lowest parts mostly play pizzicato and repeated-note ostinatos.
Technical focus
- Ensemble Skills
- Pizzicato
- Articulation
- Rhythm
- Dynamics
- Hairpin Dynamics