Steps in the Night
- Instrumentation
- Cello
- Composed
- 2020
- Duration
- 6'30''
- Publisher
- Composer (self-published)
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About this piece
A piece of six to seven minutes for unaccompanied cello (also available for double bass) whose title came from a naming contest run by the Cello Museum. In her note the composer likens it to someone moving through the dark, sometimes boldly and sometimes with careful steps. Plucked bass notes left to ring alternate with bowed phrases, and the middle section moves into a tender, high, sustained line played sul tasto with intense vibrato.
Technical overview
The cellist alternates rapidly between pizzicato and arco, plays jeté, portato and a fingered tremolo, sustains high bass-clef passages sul tasto with heavy vibrato, and handles tuplets, glissandi and frequent meter changes.
Technical focus
- Pizzicato
- Bow Control
- Vibrato
- Shifting
- Double Stops
- Meter Changes
- Rubato
- Rhythm
- Accidentals