Trying to find unaccompanied cello music by Asian composers? Look no further.

Happy New Year! This month, I’m sending you the eleventh 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 provide 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 enjoyed 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 on Hispanic and Latino/Latina composers, or revisit all of my postcards.

Postcard #1 – “Some Mornings Need Lullabies” by Aileen Chao

Aileen Chao, a USC Thornton School of Music graduate, is a composer and founder of the Los Angeles Emerging Artists Festival. Her solo cello piece, “Some Mornings Need Lullabies,” was inspired by June Yokell’s painting Now What?, evoking feelings of solitude and reflection.

• Title: “Some Mornings Need Lullabies”
• Composer: Aileen Chao
• Year Composed: 2020
• Instrumentation: unaccompanied cello
• Movements: 1
• Duration: 4:40
• Number of Pages: 2
• Number of Measures: 74
• Tempo: quarter = 80
• Difficulty Level: early advanced
• Highest Position Reached: thumb for. 1. chord, otherwise 6th position
• Technique Employed: bass and tenor clefs; 7/8, 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time signatures; double and triple stops; pizzicato
• Publisher: composer
• Where to Obtain: download here
• Cost of Score: free

Recording

Program Notes

Please visit this page for an extended conversation, notes, and videos about the collaboration that resulted in this piece.

Cellist’s Guide

“Some Mornings Need Lullabies” is a mix of intermediate and advanced-level elements. The score is written almost entirely in bass clef and can be played mostly in 1/2-4th positions. The advanced elements include one chord in thumb position, double stops (including fourths and 5ths), and a few spots that alternate between 3/4 and 7/8 time or 4/4 and 7/8 time signatures.

Postcard #2 – Suite 7 Days by Jerry Liu

Jerry Liu is a cellist and composer who studied at the San Francisco Conservatory and the New England Conservatory. His Suite 7 Days (2012) is a collection of solo pizzicato etudes, with each movement capturing the essence of a day of the week.

• Title: Suite 7 Days – a pizzicato work for violoncello solo
• Composer: Jerry Liu
• Year Composed: 2012
• Instrumentation: unaccompanied cello
• Movements: 7
• Duration:
  • Monday 2:25
  • Tuesday 2:35
  • Wednesday 2:55
  • Thursday 2:16
  • Friday 2:25
  • Saturday 2:20
  • Sunday 3:05
• Number of Pages: 14
• Number of Measures: 67, 68, 80, 76, 70, 57, 92
• Tempo:
  • Monday – quarter = 60, 130
  • Tuesday – quarter = 100, 120
  • Wednesday – quarter = 70, 120, 125
  • Thursday – quarter = 140
  • Friday – quarter = 105, 120, 130
  • Saturday – quarter = 105
  • Sunday – quarter = 60, 90
• Difficulty Level: late intermediate
• Highest Position Reached: 5th
• Technique Employed: 1/8, 7/8, 9/8, 10/8, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, and 5/4 time signatures; bass clef and one measure of treble clef; harmonics, double, triple, and quadruple stops; glissandos and grace notes; pizzicato with thumb, index finger, middle finger, and left hand; strumming with fingernails, flicking rubber practice mute, amplification recommended; hammer ons, slapping, and flicking fingerboard; finger snapping, tapping cello with thumb, brushing the side of the cello with the hand, lightly bouncing hand on fingerboard
• Publisher: Jerry Got Cello Publishing Co.
• Where to Purchase: jerrygotcello.company.site
• Cost of Score*: $10

Recording

 Program Notes

“”Saturday,” originally a piece by itself, was intended as a short concert encore. After receiving positive feedback, I decided to compose the remaining “six days” (as movements). I approached Bay Area composer and friend, Harry Whitney, for his guidance. His constant support and patience encouraged me to explore different forms of expression.

Completed in 2012, Suite 7 Days acts as a collection of concert etudes reflecting upon the essence of each day. A combination of classical techniques with percussive use of the instrument permeates the work, creating an atmosphere of unconventional sounds. Although I strongly encourage the work to be played as a whole, in the order given, “Saturday” and “Sunday” can be performed individually.” — Jerry Liu

Cellist’s Guide

This suite is written to be performed entirely with a variety of pizzicato and right-hand slapping/tapping techniques. Liu writes that due to the low volume produced by plucking, “amplification is highly recommended (but not required). ”

The modern techniques used are fairly conventional, save strumming with the fingernails and flicking a rubber practice mute. I would like to note that down and up bow symbols are used, but in this piece, they indicate the plucking direction, which I confirmed with the composer.

If you are an intermediate player looking for an accessible work with modern folk techniques, this may be the piece for you.

Postcard #3 – Khse Buon by Chinary Ung

Chinary Ung, a Cambodian-American composer, is known for blending traditional Southeast Asian music with contemporary Western techniques. His work often reflects his deep cultural heritage and personal experiences of loss and resilience.

• Title: Khse Buon
• Composer: Chinary Ung
• Year Composed: 1980
• Instrumentation: unaccompanied cello
• Movements: 1
• Duration: 9:00 – 18:00
• Number of Pages: 10, or 8 for the shorter version
• Number of Measures: unmeasured
• Tempo: eighth = 108, 132/quarter = 48, 54, 60, 72, 100
• Difficulty Level: advanced/professional
• Highest Position Reached: thumb
• Technique Employed: bass and treble clefs; double, triple, and quadruple stops; unmetered, rhythmic irregularity, three speeds of grace notes, trills, and glissandos; natural and false harmonics; quarter tones both above and below the given pitch, pitch bending; pizzicato, pizzicato with the nail, and left-hand pizzicato; finger slaps on the strings, ponticello, jeté, sul tasto, and tremolo.
• Publisher: Peters
• Where to Purchase: Ficks Music
• Cost of Score*: $22.95

Recording

Program Notes

Chinary Ung (b. 1942) is a Cambodian-American composer who immigrated to the United States in 1964. He has long been based at the University of California, San Diego, and in 1988, he became the first American citizen to receive the prestigious Grawemeyer Award in composition.

In 1980, Chinary Ung composed Khse Buon—Khmer for “four strings”—during a profoundly difficult time in his life. Having lost much of his family to the Khmer Rouge genocide, he became deeply involved in aiding Cambodian refugees while immersing himself in the folk music of his homeland. He wrote this piece for Marc Johnson, the late cellist of the Vermeer Quartet, and also exists in a transcribed version for solo viola.

At the time of its composition, Ung was intensely focused on integrating Asian musical traditions into his work. In Khse Buon, he reimagines the Western cello as an Eastern instrument, drawing inspiration from the kse diev, a traditional Cambodian one-stringed lute. His studies of Indian and Japanese music further influenced the work, shaping its unique blend of sonorities and techniques.

Cellist’s Guide

At first glance, this score is daunting, as there are no time signatures or measures, and the rhythm is complex. Fortunately, Khse Buon is carefully thought out and lies well on the cello. There are many places where the player needs to think across instead of up the instrument. I was relieved to discover that with a few minutes of searching, fingerings became self evident. This piece was written for Marc Johnson of the Vermeer Quartet, and I suspect he had a hand in some of the Ung’s compositional choices.

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*Prices given are accurate on the date of publication of this article. Please check the links for the current price. The Cello Museum does not control these prices and cannot take responsibility for price changes.