Melted Mouse & Roasted Rat in Choc'late Sauce (from Wizard's Potion)
by Caroline Lumsden · arranged by Ben Attwood
- Instrumentation
- Cello, Piano
- Duration
- 0'41''
- Publisher
- Peters Edition, Wizard's Potion ((c) 2003 Peters Edition Limited, London); reproduced by ABRSM in Cello Exam Pieces from 2024, Grade 2, List C no. 3 (AB 4105); also sold as a single digital download
Purchase or download
About this piece
Caroline Lumsden trained as a violinist and singer at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and then as a primary school teacher, and ABRSM's note singles out the humour of her titles [1]. This one comes from Wizard's Potion, her collection with pianist Ben Attwood [1]. Marked "Jokingly", it opens with two bars of slaps on the side of the cello, then a dotted tune climbs out of the bottom of the instrument, and it ends on a low D, one more slap and a hissed "Tsss!" [1]. Both effects are optional in the exam, and for the slap ABRSM suggests a gentle tap on the cello or knee [1]. Katherine Jenkinson and Martin Cousin recorded it for ABRSM's Grade 2 album [2].
Technical overview
One flat, ending in D minor, common time at quarter note = 112, in first position from low D on the C string to the D on the A string. Dotted eighth and sixteenth pairs run through the piece, with printed x fingerings for the low first finger on A flat and B flat. Dynamics jump between f, mp and a sudden p, and the descent before the end is staccato at the point of the bow.
Technical focus
- A String Notes
- Accidentals
- C String Notes
- Dotted Rhythms
- Dynamics
- Extended Techniques
- Extensions
- G String Notes
- Rhythm
- Staccato
- Swing