Byzantine Chants, Sacred Concerto for Solo Cello
- Instrumentation
- Cello
- Composed
- 2008
- Duration
- 26'40''
- Publisher
- Hal Leonard (digital, via MakeMusic); also from the composer
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About this piece
An eight-movement concerto for unaccompanied cello, about 26 minutes long, based on Byzantine chant; the composer relates its movements to the eight modes of Byzantine church music. Written for and dedicated to cellist Andrey Tchekmazov, who commissioned and premiered it, the work was supported by grants from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance. The movements include 'Great Litany', 'Psalmodia', 'The Cherubic Hymn/Angels Singing' and a closing 'Holiday Hymn', and the composer describes the piece as turning an a cappella vocal tradition into a meditative but virtuosic solo. The 'Psalmodia' movement also exists in a separate version for cello and piano (2012).
Technical overview
No technical overview is available yet.