Three Short Studies for Solo Cello
- Instrumentation
- Cello
- Composed
- 1989
- Publisher
- Composer (self-published)
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About this piece
Three brief contemporary studies for unaccompanied cello, dated 1989, by Maryland cellist and composer Elizabeth Skola Davis. The first (Espressivo) alternates pizzicato and arco with glissandi and harmonics; the second (Allegro agitato) drives through constantly changing meters such as 7/8 and 5/8 with double stops, left-hand pizzicato and touched harmonics; the slow third study asks the player to retune the C string down to G partway through. The set has been played on university cello-studio recitals, and the composer has posted a recording of the first study on SoundCloud.
Technical overview
The player alternates pizzicato and arco, plays double and triple stops, natural and touched harmonics, glissandi and left-hand pizzicato in shifting irregular meters, reads bass, tenor and treble clef, and retunes the C string to G in the last study.
Technical focus
- Pizzicato
- Harmonics
- Double Stops
- Meter Changes
- Shifting
- Rhythm
- Dynamics
- Accidentals