Go, Tell It on the Mountain
by Traditional
- Instrumentation
- Cello, Violin
- Publisher
- Hal Leonard ((c) 2006 Hal Leonard Corporation), cello part, single digital download
Purchase or download
About this piece
John Wesley Work Jr., the first African American collector of folk songs and spirituals, directed the Fisk Jubilee Singers and gathered slave songs and spirituals with his wife and his brother Frederick [1]. His name is the one attached to this spiritual, which he may have helped to compose [1], and Sheet Music Direct lists him as its writer [2]. Hal Leonard's part is the plain tune for cello alone in G major, with the refrain on either side of the verse and every note in a separate bow [2]. The Harvey String Duo recorded a different version for violin and cello on String Duo Christmas: Carol Duets for Violin and Cello [3].
Technical overview
G major, 4/4, moderate tempo, marked mf throughout. First position on the D and A strings, from open D to the C on the A string, with no slurs and no shifting. Eighth-quarter-eighth syncopations and dotted quarter and eighth figures are the rhythmic work, and the frequent crossings between the two strings need a quiet bow arm.
Technical focus
- Detaché
- Double Stops
- Ensemble Skills
- Marcato
- Staccato
- String Crossings