Inspiration Cello! Book 2
- Instrumentation
- Cello, Cello
- Publisher
- United Music Publishers (UMP), ISMN M 2244 1736 4 (979-0-2244-1736-4); score and two cello parts; £25.99
Purchase or download
About this piece
Inspiration Cello! Book 2 is a set of four original duets for two cellos by the British composer and cellist Joanna Borrett: Sleazy, Panache, Lilliburlero goes Scots and Lament. It is the middle book of a three-book series of cello duets for beginner, intermediate and advanced players. The publisher grades the duets from Grade 3 to Grade 6. Both parts are equally demanding, and the players take turns with the tune and the accompaniment, which makes the book a good first step into chamber music. The pieces use effects such as tapping the cello, stamping, glissandi and sul ponticello.
Technical overview
Both parts stay in bass clef, rising to B above the harmonic A on the A string. Sleazy is a slow swing piece with long tied notes over a walking pizzicato bass, snap pizzicato, a glissando and a sul ponticello passage. Panache has staccato quaver runs, accented double stops and snap-pizzicato chords in the second part, and a bar where the player stamps loudly. Lilliburlero goes Scots opens with the first cellist tapping the rhythm on the instrument, then moves between 12/8, 9/8 and 6/8 with Scotch-snap dotted figures, natural harmonics and string-crossing accompaniment. Lament is a slow D minor melody over double-stop accompaniment that climbs into the upper positions on the A string.
Technical focus
- Chords
- Dotted Rhythms
- Double Stops
- Ensemble Skills
- Extended Techniques
- Glissando
- Hairpin Dynamics
- Harmonics
- Meter Changes
- Pizzicato
- Shifting
- Staccato
- String Crossings
- Sul Ponticello
- Syncopation