Stars, No Moon
by Traditional · arranged by Howard Harrison
- Instrumentation
- Cello, Piano
- Duration
- 1'22''
- Publisher
- Boosey & Hawkes, Amazing Solos for cello and piano, arranged by Howard Harrison ((c) 1994); reproduced by ABRSM in Cello Exam Pieces from 2024, Grade 3, List B no. 2 (AB 4106); also sold as a single digital download
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About this piece
Howard Harrison arranged this Peruvian folk song for cello and piano in his Amazing Solos collection, published by Boosey & Hawkes in 1994 [1][2], and ABRSM later chose it for Grade 3 of its cello syllabus [1]. The title refers to a moonless night, when the stars are clearest, and ABRSM's note suggests picturing such a night over Machu Picchu [1]. Each phrase of the G minor Andantino climbs through E natural and F sharp to a held note at its peak, then falls back in dotted figures and triplets, and the song ends on a long G after a poco rit [1].
Technical overview
G minor, 3/4, Andantino at quarter note = 84, mostly in first position with the fourth finger reaching the D on the A string. Long slurred phrases of up to six notes, dotted eighth-sixteenth figures, eighth-note triplets, chromatic E natural and F sharp, fermatas at phrase peaks, accents and tenuto marks, careful crescendo and diminuendo shaping and a closing poco rit.
Technical focus
- 4 Note Slurs
- Accidentals
- Collaboration with Piano
- Dotted Rhythms
- Dynamics
- Hairpin Dynamics
- Legato
- Tempo Changes
- Triplets