Trying to find unaccompanied cello music by Asian composers? Look no further.
This month, I’m sending you the sixth installment in my new series of postcards on unaccompanied works for cello by Asian composers. You can find my previous postcards in the series here.
I created my online “just-the-facts-ma’am”-style digital postcards to introduce listeners to new-to-you cello music and to help cellists, orchestra directors, cello teachers, and students seeking new repertoire, contest pieces, and supplemental literature.
These monthly postcards give you the information you need to help you choose a piece that’s right for you. I also include links to make it easy for you to locate and purchase the sheet music you want. I hope you enjoy exploring these pieces as much as I did selecting them.
You can also read a quick round-up of my postcards featuring works by Black composers, my series featuring women composers, the series I just completed on Hispanic and Latino/Latina composers, or revisit all of my postcards.
Postcard #1: “Toshima Jinku” – Japanese Folk Song arranged by Tomoyan
The folk song “Toshima Jinku” is roughly analogous to a sea shanty or tavern song. The International Shakuhachi society notes that it was likely written as a song for a sake party whose text describes “the sceneries of the seashore, the islands of the district, and the life and customs of the local people. The song begins with a prayer to the gods asking for their protection on sea and land.”
- Title: “Toshima Jinku” – Japanese Folk Song in Miyagi Prefecture
- Composer: folk song arranged by Tomoyan
- Instrumentation: unaccompanied cello
- Movements: 1
- Duration: 1:16
- Number of Pages: 1
- Number of Measures: 25 plus a repeat
- Tempo: quarter = 72
- Difficulty Level: beginning
- Highest Position Reached: 5th for the halfway harmonic
- Technique Employed: bass and tenor clef (for two pitches); 2/4 time signature; arco and pizzicato; a few double stops and one quadruple stop; triplets
- Publisher: the arranger
- Where to Acquire: IMSLP
- Cost of Score: free
Recording
Cellist’s Guide
This pretty folk song would be ideal for a Suzuki early Book 3 cellist. Most of the tune can be played in 2nd and 3rd position, with the exception of a halfway harmonic double stop and a measure of 1st position pizzicato. Use this piece to introduce the tuning harmonics, triplets, and second position on the G string. Additionally, try out a plucked easy double stop and a not-so-easy plucked quadruple stop. Reinforce quick A to D string changes over a slur, and second position on the upper strings.
Postcard #2: “Memory” by Chen Yi
The Museum of Chinese in America notes that composer and violinist Chen Yi, born in 1953 in Guangzhou, “began studying piano at the age of 3 but her musical education was derailed by the Cultural Revolution. During that time she was sent to perform mandatory labor in the countryside; she used this time to learn and appreciate Chinese folk culture. After the Cultural Revolution, Yi became the first Chinese woman to receive a Master of Arts in music composition from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing in 1986. She continues to compose and blend eastern and western sensibilities in her compositions.”
- Title: “Memory”
- Composer: Chen Yi
- Year Composed: 2011, 2018
- Instrumentation: unaccompanied cello
- Movements: 1
- Duration: 3:30
- Number of Pages: 2
- Number of Measures: 54
- Tempo: quarter = 60
- Difficulty Level: advanced/professional
- Highest Position Reached: thumb
- Technique Employed: bass, tenor, and treble clefs; 3/4, 4/4, and 5/4 time signatures; grace notes, glissandos, harmonics, a false harmonic, tremolo, and trills; triplets, quintuplets, sextuplets, and septuplets; double stops
- Publisher: Theodore Presser
- Where to Purchase: presser.com
- Cost of Score*: $7.99
Recording
Program Notes
The music on Memory, the Navona Records debut by acclaimed violinist Patrick Yim, is linked together by the themes of memory, culture, and identity. The album’s title track was composed by the Chinese-born composer Chen Yi, who searched for a harmonious marriage of centuries-old Western and Chinese musical traditions as she remembered her beloved violin teacher, Lin Yaoji. In the liner notes for this bittersweet and poignant piece, the composer addresses her mentor directly, saying
“… I expressed my deep sorrow in the music, to remember your fatherly mentorship.” – Chen Yi
The composer later created an unaccompanied cello version of the piece.
Cellist’s Guide
“Memory” is a beautiful composition, and it is understandable why it has been transcribed for several instruments.
Rating the difficulty of this piece is a bit tricky. The first fourteen measures could be played by a low intermediate player, though it would require help to figure out the rhythm. Then, the piece goes into tenor clef and thumb position, which is the territory of the late intermediate to advanced. In bar thirty, sixths, seventh, and octaves erupt, and it starts to look like one of the more challenging Popper etudes. I guess you could say there is something for everyone!
Postcard #3: Bloom by Dorothy Chang
The compositions of Illinois native Dorothy Chang showcase “an eclectic mix of musical influences ranging from popular and folk music to elements of traditional Chinese music. Many of her works are inspired by place, time, memory, and the question of cultural identity.” An educator as well as composer, Chang previously served on the faculty at Indiana State University and has been a professor of music at the University of British Columbia since 2003.
- Title: Bloom
- Composer: Dorothy Chang
- Year Composed: 1999
- Instrumentation: unaccompanied cello
- Movements: 3
- Duration: 12:00
- Number of Pages: 8
- Number of Measures: 91, 186, 41
- Tempo:
- I. quarter = 46, 50, 63, 88, 96, 120, 132
- II. quarter = 192
- III. quarter = 42
- Difficulty Level: advanced/professional
- Highest Position Reached: thumb in all three movements
- Technique Employed:
- I. – bass, tenor, and treble clefs; 3/16, 10/16, 1/8, 5/8, 7/8, 9/8, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, and 5/4 time signatures; grace notes and glissandos; double, triple, and quadruple stops; flautando and ul ponticello
- II. – bass, tenor, and treble clefs; 5/8, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, and 6/4 time signatures; grace notes and glissandos; hammer-ons, left-hand pull-offs, pizzicato, left-hand pizzicato, and Bartok pizzicato; double stops, harmonics, and trills
- III. – bass and treble clefs; 5/8, 7/8, 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time signatures; con sordino, grace notes, double stops, and harmonics
- Publisher: Canadian Music Centre
- Where to Purchase: Canadian Music Centre
- Cost of Score*: $8.99 digital download
Listen to the first two movements on the composer’s website, dorothychang.com.
Program Notes
Transformation is a theme common to all three movements in this work. The first movement, emerging, interprets the process as an intense struggle. Structured as a large wedge shape, the movement begins softly and gradually builds in successive waves of increasing and unrelenting tension. In the second movement, playful, this tension gives way to a sense of levity, yet even this scherzo has moments that echo the aggressiveness of the previous movement. In hushed, there is, at last, an arrival at a quiet stasis through repetitions of a simple motive that appears with only slight variations. – composer’s website
Cellist’s Guide
1st movement
Bloom opens with the slow movement emerging. The greatest challenge in this movement is counting. Not only does the meter alternate between 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 5/8, and 7/8 time signatures, but complex triplets preclude the player from simply keeping the 8th note as the beat. Additionally, there are occasional 6/16 measures. Technically, the bowing and left hand aren’t hugely challenging. Just be prepared to get out the metronome!
2nd movement
The second movement, playful, is fast and energetic. Much of the movement is pizzicato with a few pull-offs and Bartok pizzicati, so I would recommend playing this with a microphone. The pizzicato sections are quite fast, but fortunately there is time in the score to pick up and put down the bow. The writing lies well on the cello, so left-hand speed is not really an issue.
3rd movement
I love this movement! It is an earworm based on double stop 3rds, 4ths, and 6ths. Hushed is slow and, like the previous movements, is cellistically written and, therefore, not as difficult as it may appear. The given fingering is well thought out and very helpful. The only thing that may be an issue is that it is easy to confuse the “3” of the triplet with fingering, as they are the same font and size. I highlighted the triplet 3s to avoid confusing them with the fingering. As the time signature switches between 4/4, 5/8, 4/4, and 7/8 time signatures, it is best to keep the eighth as the beat throughout.
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