Romance In A by Gabriel Fauré for Cello and Piano. Part of the the Alphonse Leduc catalogue this work has been produced to the highest editorial and printing standards.

Nocturnes is a set of four studies for Cello and Piano by Bohuslav Martinu. These four pieces can be played for a recital or a contest separately or following one another by upper-intermediate players and above. This volume features:  I. Andantino moderato – two first parts starting with a solo of Piano including many accidentals some trills and some pizzicatos  II. Lento– starts by an exchange of sets of chords between the Piano and the Cello which is played a second time at the end of the piece  III. Moderato –starts by the Piano on its own which is the joined by the Cello  IV. Allegretto moderato – swapping from pizzicato to bow few times in the suite  Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959) is a Czech composer and a violinist. Even though he was interested in different genres (including Romanticism Jazz and Expressionism) he wrote mainly neo-classical pieces including 16 symphonies 14 ballets and 15 operas.

French pianist and composer Serge Lancen (1922-2005) studied at the Paris Conservatoire where he won many prizes. Si J'Étais... for Cello Viola or Bassoon and Piano contributes to a significant catalogue of compositions by the composer. Si J'Étais... is a series of compositions by Lancen in which each piece depicts the style of a different great composer. Numbers 4 5 and 6 are influenced by Couperin Verdi and Albeniz. Adaptable to Cello Viola or Bassoon these Lancen pieces are exciting and informative ranging across a variety of musical styles. SiJ'Étais... is suitable for intermediate instrumentalists.

For quite some time posterity remembered Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947) for just a handful of songs and the operetta Ciboulette overlooking the incredible diversity of a catalogue as eclectic as it is appealing. Yet his chamber music contains many little-known treasures: thus cellist Steven Isserlis in his preface hastens to hail the first modern edition of these two scores which he regularly plays in recital so much does their beauty enchant the audience. Published in 1911 the Two Improvisations on Irish Airs for cello and piano turn out to be the transcription of his first and third Preludes for piano four hands (1894). Thesefolk themes come from the collection Songs of Old Ireland published 12 years earlier by Charles Villiers Stanford: gracefully and tenderly The Little Red Lark unfurls a melancholic tune of which the regular foundation respects the breadth of phrase typical of folk songs; in The Willow-Tree the lover begs his beloved in vain to take him in her arms one last time before he lies down lifeless in the shade of the tree. Beyond this sensitive exploration of the Irish soul Hahn offers us a journey into the past: the Variations chantantes sur un air ancien develop a theme borrowed from Cavalli’s opera Xerse. In this aria (1660 version: Act IV sc. 6) Ambassador Periarco dreams of moving away from court intrigues to be able to taste the pleasures ‘to which the gods have destined him’. Reynaldo Hahn’s variations succeed in maintaining the sweet simplicity of this theme as noble as it is refined.