Elegie, Op. 14
- Instrumentation
- Cello, Piano
- Duration
- 4'47''
- Publisher
- Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig (1879), Violoncell-Bibliothek, plate 15151; reprinted by Edition Kernel (2012); Public Domain
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About this piece
A short elegy in C major for cello and piano, dedicated to the cellist Bernhard Cossmann and published by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1879 in its Violoncell-Bibliothek, alongside Bronsart's Notturno, Op. 13 and Romanze, Op. 15. Its broad opening melody returns after a more animated, appassionato middle section, and the piece closes quietly. Ursula Erhart-Schwertmann recorded it on Lost & Found (Gramola, 2025). It is a good first Romantic recital piece for a student starting to play in tenor and treble clef.
Technical overview
A singing Andante in C major (75 bars), with a middle section in G major marked Poco più mosso, Più animato and Meno mosso. The cello part moves constantly between bass, tenor and treble clef and climbs to F5. Fingerings call for natural harmonics and, once, a thumb-position sign. The rhythms are simple (dotted quavers, a few triplets, one 2/4 bar), so the work is in long legato bows, high-register intonation, and hairpins with rit./a tempo shaping. It ends with a low C pizzicato.
Technical focus
- Tenor Clef
- Treble Clef
- Shifting
- Thumb Position
- Harmonics
- Dotted Rhythms
- Hairpin Dynamics
- Tempo Changes