A cello étude (or study) is a piece of music written for the solo
cello
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
that zeroes in on specific techniques. Cello
étude
An étude (; ) or study is an instrumental musical composition, designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill. The tradition of writing études emerged in the early 19th century with the rapidly growing popu ...
s are most often written by cellists to help other cellists improve their playing ability. Music that is written for performance generally does not focus on instrumental technique. Performance music is written to convey a certain sound, mood, set of emotions or ideas.
Some cello etudes, while focusing on cello techniques, also focus on musical ideas. Some rise to the level of performance pieces. However, it is rare to find cello etudes programmed in recital.
The last set of cello etudes which had such universal cellistic appeal was the "High School of Cello Playing" written by
David Popper (1843–1913). His etudes are widely considered a pre-requisite to becoming a professional cellist.
There are several other composers whose cello etudes are widely studied by cellists. These composers include
Dotzauer,
Duport,
Piatti,
Lee
Lee may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film
* ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film
* ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama about Lee Miller, American photojournalist
* ''L ...
,
Merk,
Grűtzmacher, and
Franchomme. The first cello etudes appear to have been written in the eighteenth century by contemporaries of
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
and
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
. Clearly, the cello etude has a long and distinguished history. With the recent success of the "
Ten American Cello Etudes" of Aaron Minsky, this genre of music appears to enter into a new acceptance in the concert world.
References
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