SKU: HL.49047413

ISBN 9784113370373. UPC: 196288216544. 9.0x12.0x0.16 inches.

“[Bach's] six unaccompanied cello suites bring together three voices - two upper voices and a bass - into one line. If so, the Goldberg Variations, which have the same structure, might also be reproduced for unaccompanied cello. This sudden idea led me to the arrangement of the piece. Of course, it is impossible to reproduce every single note, but I aimed to arrange it in a way that all the notes would sound in our mind. When combining the three lines into one, the most crucial consideration was, 'What would Bach do?' I carefully read materials and scores, repeatedly listened to recordings, performed my arrangement in concerts, and revised it over and over. That time was not painful, but pure joy, and it was a time to immerse myself in 'being Bach.' It is no exaggeration to say that it was more a time of recreation rather than arrangement. The articulations and slurs are fundamentally based on the facsimile of the first edition (the edition by Anne Fuzeau Productions) that Bach himself owned. It is a highly credible edition with corrections in red written by Bach.” Arrangement period: 2017-2023 Premiere: December 8, 2020 at Daisuke Kitaguchi Cello Recital; Muramatsu Recital Hall Shin-Osaka (Osaka).

SKU: PR.414412370

ISBN 9781491137949. UPC: 680160692637. 9 x 12 inches.

First published in 1929, Stephen De’ak’s two-volume Modern Method for Cello remains a timeless resource for new and developing cellists at every stage of practice and performance. A student of David Popper, De’ak presents a thoughtful and thorough method for beginning cellists with a detailed focus on fundamentals, including posture and balance of the bow and left hand.Unlike many other methods, the Modern Method spends considerable time developing note-recognition and tone production by isolating a skill or concept in a single exercise. These include open string and bow distribution exercises, as well as systematic left hand practice focusing on one or two notes at a time. This careful approach in the beginning allows the new player to reinforce important right- and left-hand skills before attempting performance pieces.Sequential scales and exercises in various keys and positions are supplemented with songs and tuneful etudes, allowing the player to apply practical technique to expressive performance. These etudes are both pedagogical and performance-worthy, rich with musicality and charm. The musical and technical concepts presented in this method can be learned in any order at the teacher’s discretion to best serve the student.Revisions in this new edition include additional instruction, clarification of fingerings with shifting indications, updated melodies, and a beautiful new engraving. The wealth of practice and performance repertoire in The New Modern Method for Cello, Volume 1 makes this book a valuable addition to every cellist’s library.Volume 2 offers training in higher positions and thumb position, advanced left-hand and bowing techniques, and musical exercises including 29 concert studies. These etudes, often heard in recitals, were designed by De’ak as the perfect stepping stone to Popper’s High School of Cello Playing.

SKU: HL.14035889

ISBN 9788759859285. English-Danish.

I - Lento
II - Imposante
III - Andante

Programme Note

In my early television remembrance I recall a broadcast with Samuel Beckett, one of the fathers of the absurd play and drama. At one time Beckett looked the viewer (the camera) in the eye and said:'What! - is the Word'. I have not since been able to forget it, obviously, having borrowed this ambiguous sentence as title for this short cello sonata.

The fact that it is conceived as a unity is obvious from the fact that the two outer movements are closely related. The long, immediately recognizable melodic line which dominates the first movement appears in the third movement aswell, first in an inverted version and then almost identical to its original appearance, only shorter.
In contrast, the middle movement is a fast one, constantly and intensely on the move, with many changes of pulse and meters, as well as large melodic leaps. And while the outer movements each are composed as a single melodic line, the middle movement makes extensive use of the cello as a polyphonic instrument employing lots of chords, double stops and flageolet effects.

Per Norgard (2010).

SKU: HL.14028929

Written for Moray Welsh whilst still an undergraduate at York University. This piece was completed in mid-September. Inspired by Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolf. A solo 'cello seemed an appropriate medium for music which might explore the character of Harry Haller, with his desire for bourgeois comfort and his strong misanthropic and suicidal tendencies. The opening theme attempts to express this - melancholy, nostalgic, a bit Biedermeyer (cf. Brahms Intermezzi). The basic theme of the book, at its simplest, is that every human personality consists of hundred of different personalities - within every man there lurks a wolf. Accordingly the tendency of my piece is for all its musical material to become distorted, either by thematic transformation or by changes of timbre. There are three movements played without a break. The first is a character portrait of the Steppenwolf. The second is concerned in the most general sort of way with the dance elements in the novel - Harry's being taught to dance and appreciate low 'popular' music - a tango is recapitulated in a waltz and 'Yearning', a popular song of the time (1927) is hinted at. The third movement concerns the Masked Ball and the Magic Theatre. Mozart is one of Hesse's great loves and he is repeatedly mentioned in the book. Inevitably some Mozart quotes have been worked in, the most significant being a reference to The Magic Flute 'fire and water' flute theme in the middle of the second movement. Long before I finished the piece, I was disenchanted with the work of Hesse. Much of Steppenwolf I now find rather embarrassing and the claims currently made for Hesse's greatness seem to me exaggerated. Since my piece is in no important sense programmatically specific, this change of heart doesn't really matter. ~ David Blake.