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Cello Repertoire Initiative

Nocturne

by Lynne Plowman

Instrumentation
Cello, Piano
Composed
1998
Duration
8'
Publisher
Composers Edition
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About this piece

An eight-minute nocturne for cello and piano, commissioned by the Guild for the Promotion of Welsh Music with funds from the Arts Council of Wales and premiered by members of the Saskia Trio at the Lower Machen Festival in South Wales in June 1998. Marked Lento, it sets quiet, slurred triplet phrases in the cello's tenor register against a soft, rippling quintuplet accompaniment in the piano, with the metre changing almost every bar. The composer later arranged it for flute and piano.

Technical overview

The cellist plays long, quiet legato lines mostly in tenor clef and the upper register, fitting triplets against the piano's quintuplets through frequent changes of metre and counting long rests.

Technical focus

  • Meter Changes
  • Rhythm
  • Legato
  • Hairpin Dynamics
  • Dynamics
  • Shifting
  • Sustain
  • Collaboration with Piano

Level rubric

Early Advanced

Left Hand

  • Fully integrated thumb position; scales/arpeggios on A & D strings.
  • Smooth shifts into/out of thumb position for sustained high notes.
  • Frequent advanced double stops with rapid, coordinated shifts.
  • Accurate ornamentation (trills, turns, grace notes), even in double stops.
  • Expressively adjust intonation for chord balance.
  • Handle fast runs and large leaps precisely.
  • Introduction to false harmonics.

Right Hand

  • Virtuoso bow strokes: controlled up/down‑bow staccato, deliberate ricochet & well‑shaped sautillé.
  • Wide tone palette via precise bow adjustments.
  • Explore advanced effects (col legno, sul ponticello) as needed.
  • Capable of both powerful fortissimo and delicate soft notes.
  • Rapid switching among strokes in cadenzas/virtuosic passages.

Rhythm & Musicality

  • Apply rhythmic freedom & rubato to shape movements and cadenzas.
  • Personal interpretation with nuanced phrasing & subtle dynamics.
  • Mature tone and phrasing for solo and ensemble settings.
  • Demonstrate advanced ensemble leadership with visual cues.

Levels are approximate guides, not strict requirements.

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