Professional Documents
Culture Documents
08
The Cello
The Cello
Well follow the exact same procedure in this lesson as the previous.
In the Book
Reading Assignment
Please read from Professional Orchestration, Vol. 1:
Videos to Watch
Scores to Study
Have Ready
1. The Spectrotone Chart printed out;
2. The bar charts you were instructed to create in the Spectrotone
video (Lesson 2A Video). Then print out pg. 15 (PDF pg. 38)
in Professional Orchestration, Vol. 1, showing the low,
medium, high, and very high registers for the strings;
3. The Strings Positions PDF Booklet printed out;
4. Colored pencils;
5. Optional conductors baton (or long pencil).
Compositional Considerations
After the violins, the cellos are the second star of the string section
since it:
Writing For Strings, 5th Edition. Copyright 2011 Peter Lawrence Alexander. All rights reserved. Printed in the
United States of America. No part of this work may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
08
Cello Positions
The Cello
Lesson
Work out the low, medium, high and very high registers by Hz
frequencies from the Spectrotone Chart. Where are they on your
primary EQ?
STOP! Listen!
Lesson
08
The Cello
3
Lesson
08
The Cello
STOP
Before proceeding:
From Professional Orchestration, Vol. 1, what are the
pitches that make up the low range of the Cello?
Before proceeding:
From Professional Orchestration, Vol. 1, what are the
pitches that make up the medium range of the Cello?
Mahler, Symphony #1, 4th Movement, pps. 52-53 (PDF pps. 75-76)
Starting at Rehearsal 19, you have a very interesting low string
ensemble made up of the Basses, Cellos and Violas. The Basses
sustain the pedal point. Using the tenor clef, the Cellos are in the lead,
with the Violas forming the inner part. At Rehearsal 21, the Basses
are divided (but again, sustaining) while the Cellos are also divided
in octaves between the low and medium registers. Notice that for the
Cellos to stand out, most of the other instruments have sustaining
parts.
Lesson
08
The Cello
Here is a pure soli line for the Cellos with no other strings, but! with a
whole choir. Basically, youre looking, at minimum, at a 40-voice choir
with a maximum of 8-12 Cellos. Notice that Beethoven has nothing
else doubling the Cellos. Do you agree with that decision? How about
doubling the Cellos with the Bassoons?
Before proceeding:
From Professional Orchestration, Vol. 1, what are the
pitches that make up the high range of the Cello?
Before proceeding:
From Professional Orchestration, Vol. 1, what are the
pitches that make up the very high range of the Cello?
Wagner, Tristan and Isolde (Overture), pps. 58-60 (PDF pps. 81-83)
When the Cellos first enter, theyre all alone. Look carefully at
Wagners choices of woodwinds to blend with the Cellos. Watch how a
mini-ensemble evolves with Cellos, Bass Clarinet, Bassoons, and the
Basses.