We are excited to continue our collaboration with the New York Women Composers (NYWC). This month, we present a piece by Margarita Zelenaia.
“For me, the cello is a universal instrument with almost unlimited possibilities, through the sound of which everything can be expressed.” – Margarita Zelenaia
Bio
Margarita Zelenaia is a Russian-born pianist and composer whose works have been performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and international festivals. Her compositions often explore spirituality and history, including Byzantine Chants, Sacred Concerto for unaccompanied cello, supported by grants from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and NoMAA. Her Meditation for solocello was featured at the International Cello Festival in Zutphen, Netherlands.
Featured Work: Duo for cello and piano
COMPOSITION DETAILS
- Title: Duo
- Composer: Margarita Zelenaia
- Year of Composition: 2000
- Instrumentation: cello and piano
- Movements: 2
- Duration of Work: 18’10”
- Number of Measures: 289
- Number of pages: 27
- Tempo: from very slow to very fast and in between
- Difficulty Level: advanced / professional
- Highest Position Reached: thumb
- Techniques Employed: double and triple stops; arco, pizzicato; improvisando double stops; con sordino, tremolo, frequent meter changes; bass, tenor and treble clefs
- Publisher: Self-published
- Where to Purchase the Score: Contact Margarita Zelenaia
- Cost of Score*: $20
Recordings
Program Notes
“I had a difficult moment in my life, connected with the situation of my son, a teenager at that time. In order to exhale the bitterness of what happened, I found a way out, I wrote the Duo.” – Margarita Zelenaia
Performance Notes
“The Duo for cello and piano consists of two movements. The “Lullaby,” is a ballad consisting of two alternating, contrasting musical images: a light and somewhat melancholy melody in which an actual lullaby can be recognized. This is very clearly aided by a rocking element, which takes on a rhythmic regularity and melodic repetitiveness, and the expressive cello theme against the background of warbling piano passages that are both surrealistic and melodic. Such passages add a counterpoint to the theme of cello – calling forth, perhaps, associations of a whirling children’s carousel (a childhood symbol) and serenity.
“A reworked Gregorian chant is the basis of “Soliloquy.” Upon its first appearance, the main theme, expressed in a low register by the cello, is full of gloom and darkness, which is accentuated by the imperceptible, distant echo of the piano chords. The theme, based on the variation mode of development, undergoes a constant transformation: from a passionate monologue to a sharpening scherzo, from an original perpetuum mobile to a polyphonic climax, where the theme is heard directly from the piano and in a retrograde inversion from the cello. The coda brings to tranquility to this internal monologue; it has the sound, after storms and upsets, of natural speech – light and appeasing.” — Margarita Zelenaia
Margarita Zelenaia’s Other Works with a Prominent Cello Part
- Byzantine Chants, Sacred Concerto for unaccompanied cello (2008)
- Inter/Ago, Ballet Based on Preexisting Music: Excerpts from the Byzantine Chants, Sacred Concerto for unaccompanied cello
- Meditation for solo cello (2015)
- “Psalmodia” from the Byzantine Chants, sacred concerto (a version for cello and piano), commissioned by Alan Gampel, pianist and musicologist
- Homage II, duo for violin and cello, in three m0vements (as above)
Links
- Website
- Facebook: @margarita.zelenaia
- YouTube: @mzelenaia1
A Collaboration with the New York Women Composers (NYWC)
The NYWC series at the Cello Museum was created to showcase its members who have composed various pieces for cello, informing cellists seeking new music to add to their repertoire, and helping listeners find new favorites. Many thanks to the NYWC for this wonderful collaboration.
Read other installments in the series here.
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*Prices are accurate at the time of article publication, but the Cello Museum cannot take responsibility for subsequent price changes.
