1950-Present Solo Cello (Non Sacher)

Question 1

Name 6 works for solo cello ca.1950-present. (Non Sacher)

Answer 1

1. György Ligeti: Sonata for solo cello (1948–1953)
2. George Crumb: Cello Sonata for solo cello (1955)
3. Benjamin Britten: Solo Cello Suite No.1 (1964)
4. Krzysztof Penderecki: Capriccio per Siegfried Palm, for solo cello (1968)
5. Benjamin Britten: Solo Cello Suite No.3 (1972)
6. Elliott Carter: Figment No.2 for solo cello “Remembering Mr. Ives” (2001)

Question 2

Piece: solo cello work by Ligeti.

Answer 2

György Ligeti: Sonata for solo cello (1948–1953)
- The piece was initially received poorly by the Soviet-run Composer’s Union and was not allowed to be published or performed.
- The Sonata comprises two disjunct movements
- Ligeti freely admitted that his pre-1956 compositions were heavily influenced by Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály.
- Of the first movement of the Sonata, he described:
“It’s a dialogue. Because it’s like two people, a man and a woman, conversing. I used the C string, the G string and the A string separately… I attempted in this piece to write a beautiful melody, with a typical Hungarian profile, but not a folksong… or only half, like in Bartók or in Kodály.” The movement is marked “Adagio, rubato, cantabile,” and comprises a total of 16 measures, each consisting a varied number of beats ranging from three to twenty, with barlines marking only phrase divisions. It begins with two pairs of pizzicato chords separated by a glissando, an extended technique which was championed by Bartók. It features a melody in D phrygian which may have been inspired by ancient modal tunes preserved through the Eastern European folk music tradition. The modal melody is presented throughout the movement with distinct alterations: it is stated with rhythmic augmentation and then in polyphony. The important tones of both melodies outline descending tetrachords, evidence of the influence of Bartók, who often used fourths as a structural element in melodies.
- Because the second movement had the ‘ambition’ to become a sonata movement I wrote it in sonata form. It is a virtuoso piece in my later style that is closer to Bartók. I was 30 years old when I wrote it. I loved virtuosity and took the playing to the edge of virtuosity much like [Paganini]. The Capriccio is written almost entirely in an unrelenting 3/8 pattern, breaking only once, abruptly in the middle for a truncated reminiscence of the Dialogo. The modal melody is once again reiterated, this time “tremolo sul tasto”, and harmonized with a perfect fifth above, a chord planing technique which also reflects Bartók’s influence. The Dialogo returns briefly, and is followed by a full recapitulation and coda.

Question 3

Piece: solo cello work by Britten, Suite 1.

Answer 3

Benjamin Britten: Solo Cello Suite No.1 (1964)

• The first suite is composed in nine movements, played without pause. Approximately 21 minutes in length.
• It was dedicated to Rostropovich.
• Time signatures are ambiguous; they have parentheses around them (often additional beats) or occasionally there is no time signature.
• 1. Canto Primo: Sustained double stops throughout make for an organ-like texture with concentration on counterpoint.
• 2. Fuga: Fugue theme stated at the beginning is combined into multiple voices by use of double stops very early in the piece. The middle section contains a long passage of 16th notes with many consecutive string crossings. Return to fugue material. Use of natural harmonics at the end.
• 3. Lamento: More focus on the melodic line than contrapuntal figures. Phrases are indicated by the varying length of bars (ranging from 4 to 12 beats long).
• 4. Canto Secondo: Short and soft reoccurrence of the opening Canto material.
• 5. Serenata: Entirely pizzicato, of many varieties: rolled chords, double stops plucked by both one or both hands simultaneously, left hand pizz.
• 6. Marcia: Natural harmonics on every string, ricochet col legno, double stops which alternate open string and fingered notes between two strings. Middle section contains fast runs that make quick descends and ascents covering all four strings which embellish a sustained melody on the A string with some double stops.
• 7. Canto terzo: Longer statement of the Canto material that ends on a sustained open D which serves to transition directly to the Bordone.
• 8. Bordone: Sustained open D throughout (though sometimes the same pitch is fingered to access the C string). The first of the two sections of the movement uses in alternation 8th note left hand pizz (starts in a low register and ascends) and 16th note arco (starts in a high register and ascends). The second section uses a mute which the player must put on while sustaining the open D. It also alternates high and low registers initially, then combines both. This section is characterized by a lilting quarter + eighth rhythm. The player removes the mute at the end of the movement in the same way it was initially put on.
• 9. Moto pertpetuo e Canto quarto: Virtuosic relentless 16th notes with constant changes of meter (rannging from 2/8 to 5/8). The Canto quarto is introduced as a surprise in the middle of the movement and is combined in conflict with the moto perpetuo material until the end of the piece.

Question 4

Piece: solo cello work by Penderecki.

Answer 4

Krzysztof Penderecki: Capriccio per Siegfried Palm, for solo cello (1968)

• Capriccio is a concentrated survey of extended cello techniques that takes the form of a virtuosic and emotionally expressive solo. There is a heavy percussive element, not only the musician’s hands against the body of the instrument, but the fingers hammering pitches against the fingerboard, the opposite of pizzicato. Penderecki uses that technique, and others like it to serve a musical idea—like playing the strings just above the bridge and from behind them, which produces an uncanny sounding double-stop.
• In the case of the Capriccio, that idea is dramatic and relatively tonal, with some perfect cadences and a climactic central pitch.

Question 5

Piece: solo cello work by Britten, Suite 3.

Answer 5

Benjamin Britten: Solo Cello Suite No.3 (1972)

• The Third Suite is in nine movements, performed without pause.
• The work incorporates four Russian themes, including three arrangements of folksongs by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, reminiscent of Beethoven’s use of Russian themes in the Razumovsky quartets. The final Russian tune, stated simply at the end of the set, is the Kontakion, the Russian Orthodox Hymn for the Dead.

Question 6

Piece: solo cello work by Carter.

Answer 6

Elliott Carter: Figment No.2 for solo cello “Remembering Mr. Ives” (2001)
- Composed for Fred Sherry
- only a few minutes long
- Recalls fragmentary bits of the Thoreau movement of Ives’ Concord Sonata and Hallowe’en.
- Cellistically, it contains highly irregular hand positions, double stops, double stop false harmonics, enormous and plentiful leaps in register (almost every other note), lots of P5ths, glissandi, etc.
- Carter’s genius is apparent in his ability to take his highly contrapuntal language and the interrupted
conversations of many musical characters and make them work on a single instrument.
- No metric modulations.

Question 7

Name 2 Russian composers of works for solo cello ca.1950-present.

Answer 7

• György Ligeti: Sonata for solo cello (1948–1953)

- Sofia Gubaidulina: Ten Preludes for solo cello (1974)

Question 8

Name 2 English composers of works for solo cello ca.1950-present.

Answer 8

• Benjamin Britten: 3 Suites for solo cello (1964, 1967, 1972)
• William Walton: Passacaglia for solo cello (1980)

Question 9

Name 1 Polish composer of works for solo cello ca.1950-present.

Answer 9

Krzysztof Penderecki

• Capriccio per Siegfried Palm, for solo cello (1968)
• Per Slava for solo cello (1986)
• Divertimento for solo cello (1994)

Question 10

Name 9 American composers of works for solo cello ca.1950-present.

Answer 10

• George Crumb: Cello Sonata for solo cello (1955)
• Elliott Carter
  
  • Figment No.1 for solo cello (1994)
  • Figment No.2 for solo cello “Remembering Mr. Ives” (2001)
• John Cage
  
  • Variations I for solo cello (1958)
  • Atlas Eclipticallis for solo cello (1961)
  • Etudes Boreales for solo cello (1978)
  • One[to the 8th power] for solo cello (1991)
• Gunther Schuller: Fantasy for solo cello (1960)
• Roger Sessions: 6 Pieces for solo cello (1966)
• William Bolcom: Suite in c for solo cello (1994)
• John Harbison: Suite for solo cello (1994)
• Jennifer Higdon: Suite for solo cello (2002)
• Philip Glass: Songs and Poems in 7 movements for solo cello (2007)

Question 11

Piece: work for solo cello by Crumb.

Answer 11

George Crumb: Cello Sonata for solo cello (1955)

• Crumb studied composition in his native America, but also from 1955-6 in Berlin, during which time the sonata for solo cello was composed. It is clearly an early work, yet its refreshing musicality and apt expression have secured it a place in the cello’s repertoire.
• Crumb has expressed on many occasions that he actually dislikes the piece.
• His childhood in the Appalachians left a lasting mark and Crumb is a fervent ecologist; nature is a major source of inspiration for his compositions.
• Dedicated to his mother, it is the work of a young student influenced by his main models, principally Bartók, whose spirit is clearly discernible in the second movement, a Tema pastorale con variazioni (which also indicates his closeness to nature).
• The piece is generally characterized by its bitonality.
• There are 3 movements which last approximately 12 minutes total.
• 1. Fantasia. Andante espressivo e con molto rubato: The plucked pizzicato sections in the highly expressive Fantasia, which constantly alternate with bowed Arco passages, emphasize the serenade character and present a suggestion of Crumb’s later tonal developments (they are highly dissonant clusters of pitches). The pizzicato with the left hand and the arco responses create an escalating dialogue which nevertheless reverts from its point of origin. There are many passages of double stops. Glissando double stops. Clearly indicated pizzicato for double stops or chords (rolling in specific directions and at either rapid or slow speeds, ‘pizz at once’ indications).
• 2. Tema pastorale con variazioni. Tema - Variations 1-3 - Coda: The middle movement comprises a tranquil undulating pastoral theme, typically in a 6/8 time signature, which is developed in three variations rich in gesture, concluding with a con sordino damped coda. Variation 1 has constant 16th notes and is still in 6/8, but has uneven groupings of 16th notes which indicate phrasing. Variation 2 is extremely fast 8th note pizzicato throughout with many various changes of meter (2/8-7/8). Variation 3 is an expressive rhapsodic section which has much variety in lyrical color. The coda is muted and revisits the Tema of the movement.
• 3. Toccata. Largo e drammatico - Allegro vivace: A brief Largo introduction leads the way to the rousing motoric Toccata finale in a fast 6/4. The sense of movement does not let up for an instant. It contains mostly arpeggiated motion which quickly ascends and suddenly jumps back down to the low register.

Question 12

Name 1 Swiss composer of works for solo cello ca.1950-present.

Answer 12

Ernest Bloch: 3 suites for solo cello written for Zara Nelsova (1956)

Question 13

Name 1 Italian composer of works for solo cello ca.1950-present.

Answer 13

Luciano Berio

• Sequenza VIb for solo cello (1981)
• Chanson pour Pierre Boulez for solo cello (2000)
• Sequenza XIV for solo cello (2002)