Soliloquy for Violoncello No. 13

This is my Soliloquy for Violoncello No. 13. It was inspired by my getting back my cello after a long time. I practiced it, hoping to be able to adequately perform it and be able to post my performance of it instead of the computer-generated MP3. However, having not touched the cello for many years, I still need much more practice to give it a smooth performance, let alone a good interpretation of the piece, and hence do justice to the piece in performance. Maybe, I'll do so in the future. In the meantime, any cellist who is interested in the piece would be welcome to take up the challenge, perform the piece, and post their performance! Reviews are also welcome.

Nice piece!

I like the rhythmic material; it keeps my interest.
Just a suggestion:
Perhaps you can do something more in the higher register of the cello to create more contrast.

Very joyful!
 

A very interesting piece. Thank you for sharing it!

Some quick notes: The harmonic  progression after the circle of fifths (mm. 7-9) comes as a surprise (mm. 10-11: F7 em7 F7 - tritone from f to b, end of phrase on a). In m. 19 to 22, the music is somewhat meandering; without the ritardando, one would not expect the piece to finish here.

The piece would be well suited to form the bass line of multi-voice piece. Many measures, especially the sequences,  remind me of partimenti, which often contained just a bass line and the student had to figure out the other voices.

Thanks Maarten and Willibald for your reviews!

Thank you Maarten for your appreciation of the piece as well as your reasonable suggestion.

Willibald: Great to hear that you find the piece interesting. Thanks for your interesting observations!

After practicing the piece for some time, I recorded it and posted a rolling score video on YouTube. Here it is:

It is always to hear the music on a real instrument!

By the way, the piece sounds like an etude to me.

Hello Luderart!

Thank you for sharing your music here! I really enjoy your use of harmonic progressions and how you hide the harmonies in the melody of the piece. Very creative. I always find that writing for solo instruments (especially strings and woodwinds) is very difficult. Both because you must create harmonic and melodic interest using (usually) just one line and because it can be challenging to create enough contrast to hold and audiences attention using just one instruments palette of colors and textures.

One suggestion: In my opinion, I think you could more clearly define the phrases and phrase structure of this piece. This would help to give this piece a more sing-able melody that could push it in a good direction. 

Thank you also for posting a live recording of you playing this piece for us. I always love hearing people (especially when it is the composer themselves) play new music.

Hi there! I’m also a cellist who is looking to expand my range and record/play different kinds of compositions. I would love to record this piece and get your feedback on it. Thanks! 

Hi luderart.  What you have is nice and diatonic - my ear is begging for some kind of chromaticism to change things up.  Also, melodically you pretty much don't stray from restating your melodies at successively different pitch levels (which in music theory is call sequencing).  It would be nice to hear a few more changes that stray away from a direct transposition of your melodic material into a new (diatonic) pitch level.  Thats my suggestion - I hope it helps! 😃

On 12/14/2017 at 2:49 AM, Jarron.Carlson said:

Hello Luderart!

Thank you for sharing your music here! I really enjoy your use of harmonic progressions and how you hide the harmonies in the melody of the piece. Very creative. I always find that writing for solo instruments (especially strings and woodwinds) is very difficult. Both because you must create harmonic and melodic interest using (usually) just one line and because it can be challenging to create enough contrast to hold and audiences attention using just one instruments palette of colors and textures.

One suggestion: In my opinion, I think you could more clearly define the phrases and phrase structure of this piece. This would help to give this piece a more sing-able melody that could push it in a good direction. 

Thank you also for posting a live recording of you playing this piece for us. I always love hearing people (especially when it is the composer themselves) play new music.

 

Thank Jarron. Carlson for your review and your valuable feedback.

On 7/10/2020 at 6:01 PM, Kfaubion98 said:

Hi there! I’m also a cellist who is looking to expand my range and record/play different kinds of compositions. I would love to record this piece and get your feedback on it. Thanks! 

 

Hi. I would love to hear your interpretation of the piece once you play and record it! I will gladly give my feedback too.

On 7/12/2020 at 6:14 PM, PaperComposer said:

Hi luderart.  What you have is nice and diatonic - my ear is begging for some kind of chromaticism to change things up.  Also, melodically you pretty much don't stray from restating your melodies at successively different pitch levels (which in music theory is call sequencing).  It would be nice to hear a few more changes that stray away from a direct transposition of your melodic material into a new (diatonic) pitch level.  Thats my suggestion - I hope it helps! 😃

 

Thanks for your review and feedback!