Solos for Young Cellists, Volume 1
by Carey Cheney
- Instrumentation
- Cello, Piano
- Composed
- 2003
- Publisher
- Summy-Birchard, 2003; now distributed by Alfred Music (00-20810X). Cello part and piano accompaniment; companion CD sold separately.
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About this piece
The first book in Solos for Young Cellists, a graded series of collections compiled, edited, arranged and partly composed by the Canadian-born cellist and Suzuki teacher trainer Carey Cheney. It opens with eight simple folk songs and melodies (Frère Jacques in two versions, Brahms' Lullaby, The Little Fiddle, a Swedish folk song, Entre le Bœuf et l'Âne Gris, The Nut-Tree and Kremser's Song of Thanksgiving), then moves on to three pieces by Hugo Schlemüller (Scherzo Op. 12 No. 3, Forward, March! Op. 14 No. 6 and Gondola Song), W. H. Squire's Fairytales (L'Innocence), Livi's Blues by Elliott W. Cheney, two of Carey Cheney's own pieces, Clock Tower Bells and Budapesto, and ends with a three-movement Vivaldi concerto in C major (F. III No. 6), with piano realisations by David Dunford. A companion CD has Cheney's performances and piano-only tracks for practice.
Technical overview
The opening folk songs stay in first position on the D and A strings, with short two-note slurs, hooked up-bows and gentle crescendo-diminuendo shading. The later pieces add more positions, faster bow strokes and longer forms, and the closing Vivaldi concerto is the most demanding item in the book.
Technical focus
- 2 Note Slurs
- A String Notes
- Collaboration with Piano
- D String Notes
- Hairpin Dynamics
- Hooked Bowings