Skip to content
Cello Repertoire Initiative

The Solitary Cello

by Elaine Fine

Instrumentation
Cello, Piano
Composed
2001
Duration
3'25''
Publisher
Seesaw Music (a division of Subito Music Corporation)
More by this composer

Purchase or download

About this piece

The Solitary Cello is a short piece for cello and piano by Elaine Fine. Her thematic catalogue dates it 2001, and Seesaw Music, a division of Subito Music, published it with a 2003 copyright. Fine based it on a passage in Charles Dickens's novel Dombey and Son about a confirmed bachelor whose cello is his best company at the end of the day. Marked Moderately and in 4/4, it opens with a slow, slurred cello line over chromatic piano harmony. A recording linked from the composer's catalogue lasts about three and a half minutes.

Technical overview

The first page (bars 1–12) has long slurred half and whole notes in bass clef with frequent chromatic accidentals, then accented detached notes from bar 11. Only that page was seen, so the range and demands of the rest are unverified.

Technical focus

  • Legato
  • Accidentals
  • Dynamics
  • Hairpin Dynamics
  • Articulation
  • Collaboration with Piano

Level rubric

Early Intermediate

Left Hand

  • Regular shifting among 1st–4th positions.
  • Frequent shifts with target notes & prepared approaches.
  • Introduce ornamentation (grace notes, slow trills, turns).
  • Begin basic double stops (often with one open note).
  • Combine extensions with shifting.
  • Consistent vibrato on sustained notes with speed variations.

Right Hand

  • Bow arm gains finesse and speed.
  • Introduce controlled spiccato.
  • Sautillé appears in rapid passages.
  • Expand legato into longer, sustained lines.
  • Practice advanced articulations (martelé, refined string crossings).
  • Add complex strokes for double stops/chords.

Bow Strokes

  • Use context‑appropriate strokes: legato, spiccato, martelé.
  • Subtle bow changes during string crossings.

Rhythm & Musicality

  • Increased challenges: sixteenths, dotted rhythms, syncopation, contrasting subdivisions.
  • Emphasize expression with crescendos/decrescendos & vibrato.
  • Balance technical precision with emotional delivery.

Levels are approximate guides, not strict requirements.

Music

Recently AddedThe newest additions

About

Our MissionResource CatalogContributeContact Us