Three Scenes for Cello Duo
- Instrumentation
- Cello Ensemble
- Composed
- 2022
- Duration
- 11'15''
- Publisher
- Composer (self-published)
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About this piece
A three-movement suite for two cellos, about 11 minutes long, finished in Hong Kong in September 2022 and recorded that October by Wayne Cheung and the composer. In 'La Guitarrista' both players pluck chords throughout; a footnote in the score asks them to sound like one guitar being strummed and plucked. 'From a Hopeful Breath' is bowed, with rising lines over a driving rhythm and a darker ending. 'Jean Short Jamboree' sets a jazzy melody over a pizzicato walking bass, which the composer links to 1950s cool jazz. The two parts are of similar difficulty and share the melodic material.
Technical overview
Both cellists play pizzicato chords, bowed melodies that climb into tenor and treble clef with natural harmonics, and a saltando passage of repeated double stops; the last movement adds a pizzicato walking bass, glissandi and changes between 2/4, 4/4 and 5/4.
Technical focus
- Pizzicato
- Double Stops
- Harmonics
- Shifting
- String Crossings
- Meter Changes
- Ensemble Skills
- Hairpin Dynamics
- Rhythm
- Accidentals