A Guide To The Standard Cello Repertoire

12/03/13
A Guide to the Standard Cello Repertoire / STUDIES & GUIDES / Repertoire / All Things Strings
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A Guide to the Standard Cello Repertoire

Which works are part of the standard repertoire and which represent creative delving by the artist?
By Jeffrey Solow posted November/December 1999
Since the advent of the CD, it seems as if just about everything ever written for the cello has been recorded, and one might wonder how it is possible for a cellist not to be familiar with some standard work. But this huge volume can actually create a problem for someone attempting to get a handle on the repertoire: exactly which works are part of the standard repertoire and which represent creative delving by the artist? What is the standard repertoire for the cello? There will always be a certain amount of disagreement on this point. Tastes change, causing works to go in and out of fashion, and every cellist is bound to be influenced by what he or she plays, or studied as a student. Even so, it is possible to create a list (which follows at the end of this article) with which most cellists would be in general agreement. After deciding which repertoire to learn, one must buy the music. Most compositions come in several editions at different prices. Is the cheapest the best, or is the most expensive worth it? What should one look for when selecting an edition? Certainly the first step in learning a work is to look at what the composer wrote. But the printed music is not necessarily identical to the composers manuscript or reflective of his or her intentions. Sometimes the original manuscript disappears and only someone elses handwritten copy (or copies) comes down to ussuch as the Haydn C Major Concerto or the Bach Suitesor the not-necessarily-reliable first edition is the only source, as with the Beethoven Op. 5 Sonatas. Perhaps the only extant manuscript is an early version that differs from the first edition (Beethovens AMajor Sonata). Some works have more than one official version (the Shostakovich Sonata) or two drastically different versions (Tchaikovskys Rococo Variations). What if the composers cello/piano version differs in various ways from the orchestral score (Elgar Concerto, Lalo Concerto)? Clearly if one really wants to be sure what the composer had in mind, some musicological research is in order. For most practical purposes, however, it is sufficient to be aware of the difference between the two main types of editions: urtext and critical editions, and performance editions. An urtext or critical edition is prepared by a musicologist who tries to present the composers notes and markings on paper just as the composer intended. I further define an urtext edition as a definitive text based on original sources, and a critical edition as a text that reconciles conflicting sources or reconstructs missing sources. Both of these could be categorized as authentic or scholarly editions. Such editions often have editorial fingerings or up-bow and down-bow indications. Editorial dynamics or slurs are usually placed within brackets, printed in dots or dashes, or set in a smaller size. In either edition it should be clear which markings are original and which are being supplied by the editor. (I question whether scholarly urtext or critical editions should have editorial fingerings or bowings at all. Reader feedback concerning this issue would be interesting.) A performance edition has been edited by some particular cellist who offers his or her suggestions as to the best way to play a composition. These suggestions most always include bowings and fingerings but often extend much farther. A performance edition is not a bad thingits like having a lesson with the cellist who edited it. But if it is your only text, you might end up learning different dynamics, articulations, slurs, or phrasings, or even different notes than the composer wrote. Luckily, many performance editions have an unedited and quite reliable cello part in the piano score to which you can refer. If you own a performance edition and it is your only music, check to see if the piano score is edited or not: if the slurs are different from those in the separate cello part, its probably unedited.
Further Resources
Read a companion article that focuses on the editors of the various editions.
The safest bet, though, is to obtain a study score. These are generally available for sonata and concerto repertoire and almost always for chamber music. Study scores are usually prepared with careful scholarship and thus provide good texts with which you can compare your working sheet music. As the best editions can be quite expensive, it may be a practical economical compromise to purchase an inexpensive edition and a study score. (Miniature study scores come in many editions. Some excellent onesparticularly Lea Pocket Scores and Edition Eulenberg study scores are out of print but can often be found in libraries, private collections, or used-music stores. Kalmus Study Scores or Belwin Mills reprints of Kalmus are usually readily available, and Dover full-sized study scores are an excellent value.) There are also editions that are not urtext, yet are relatively unedited. (A reminder: all printed editions have had someone other than the composeran engraver at leastmaking editorial decisions.) With non-urtext editions it is important to be able to distinguish the composers markings from the editors markings. For example, 18th- and 19thcentury composers rarely, if ever, wrote dashes under slurs; they used dots under slurs. This means that if an edition of such repertoire has dashes under slurs, it is likely that the editor is either suggesting a bowing or advising the method of execution. Careful observation and experience will soon generate enough familiarity with composers notational idiosyncrasies to give a pretty good idea of whether a particular marking is by the composer or by an editor. I dont mean to suggest, of course, that urtext editions are holy writ or that one should never add to or change any of the composers markings. Most composers were (and are) not that strict and narrow-minded. They wanted their music to be communicated to the audience and understood that to do so, performers must interpret and personalize it. But it is important to take off from a good base; sometimes a seemingly insignificant marking can make a significant musical difference.
STANDARD CELLO REPERTOIRE

In my cello repertoire list (which follows at the end of this article), I have divided the repertoire into six categories: etudes and studies; unaccompanied works; sonatas; concertos; suites, variations, etc.; and short pieces. I have given each category four subdivisions according to relative degree of technical difficulty (listed from easiest to most difficult), but these are not necessarily equivalent across categories. Within each subdivision the works are listed somewhat arbitrarily in an order of study suggested by technical and musical difficulty and, in some instances, importance to the repertoire. The compositions in brackets are more peripheral; some are infrequently performed today but still hold a certain place in the repertoire, while others are gaining acceptance. (In the case of a composer who wrote many works in a specific
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category from which cellists pick and choose, I have listed the total number, e.g., Vivaldi: 27 concertos.) My selections for this peripheral part of the repertoire will probably generate the most difference of opinion over works included or left out. Certainly there are many other effective or pedagogically useful works, but I have included only those that I believe have a certain universality. Likewise, the selection of short pieces is open to discussion and expansion, but these are the ones I believe to be most important. Except for the tudes and studies, this is a list of the standard concert repertoire (although a number of tudes and caprices are effective in performance). Some of the works in the first and easiest subdivision of technical difficulty will not often be programmed for professional-level concerts, but selections such as the Goltermann Etude-Caprice, the Romberg Sonatas, or the Gretchaninoff Suite are at least regular fare for young students recitals. The standard repertoire for cello may be smaller than that of the violin or the piano, but we have a lot of wonderful music. How many cellists have played everything on this list? Moreover, the repertoire continues to expand as new works are written and become accepted as standard. And when adventurous cellists explore beyond the core, there is enough for several lifetimes. While it would be ideal to compare all of the available editions when buying a piece of music, this is not always possible. I present my suggestions and evaluations of commonly encountered editions of the most important repertoire in part two of this article.
The Repertoire List

Etudes and Studies Klengel: Technical Studies, Vol. I (scales) Dotzauer: 113 Studies, Vol. I A. Schroeder: 170 Foundation Studies, Vol. I (various composers) [Lee: 40 Melodic Studies, Op. 31] [Sevck: 40 Variations, Op. 3 (originally for violin)] Cossmann: Exercises for Developing Agility, Strength of Fingers, and Purity of Intonation Feuillard: Daily Exercises (left-hand studies) [Kummer: Ten Melodic Studies, Op. 57 (with 2nd cello)] Dotzauer: 113 Studies, Vol. II Schroeder: 170 Foundation Studies, Vol. II [Franchome: 12 Caprices, Op. 7] Dotzauer: 113 Studies, Vol. III Schroeder: 170 Foundation Studies, Vol. III Duport: 21 Etudes (with 2nd cello) Popper: 12 Studies Preparatory to the High School of Cello Playing, Op. 76, No. 1 Popper: High School of Cello Playing, Op. 73 Piatti: 12 Caprices, Op. 25 [Servais: Six Caprices, Op. 11 (with 2nd cello)] [Grtzmacher: Technology of Cello Playing, Op. 38, Vol. II (with 2nd cello)] Unaccompanied Works [Gabrielli: 7 Ricecare] Bach: Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 Bach: Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008 Bach: Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009 Hindemith: Sonata, Op. 25 Crumb: Sonata Bach: Suite No. 4 in E Major, BWV 10010 Bach: Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 10011 [Cassad: Suite] Bach: Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 10012
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Kodly: Sonata, Op. 8 Britten: Suite No. 1, Op. 72 [Sessions: Six Pieces for Solo Cello] [Ysae: Sonate, Op. 28]
[Dallapiccola: Ciaccona, Intermezzo & Adagio] [Britten: Suite No. 2, Op. 80; No. 3, Op. 87] [Reger: Three Suites, Op. 131c] [Ligeti: Sonate] [Penderecki: Capriccio for Sigfried Palm ] Sonatas Breval: C Major, Op. 40, No. 1 (same as Concertino No. 2) [Hindemith: Kleine Sonata] Romberg: Three Sonatas, Op. 43 Romberg: Three Sonatas, Op. 38 Vivaldi: E Minor, F. XIV, No. 5 [Vivaldi: Nine sonatas, F. XIV, Nos. 19] Eccles: G Minor Corelli: D Minor, Op. 5, No. 8 (Lindner) [Telemann: D Major] [B. Marcello: Six sonatas] Sammartini: G Major (probably not by G.B. Sammartini) [Handel-Lindner: Three sonatas] [Beethoven: Op. 17, Horn Sonata] Beethoven: Sonata in G Minor, Op. 5, No. 2 Beethoven: Sonata in F Major, Op. 5, No. 1 Breval: G Major, Op. 12, No. 5 (Moffat) Boccherini-Piatti: Adagio and Allegro (from the Sonata in A Major) Brahms: No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 38 Bach: Three Gamba Sonatas, BWV 10271029 Barber: C Minor, Op. 6 Shostakovich: D Minor, Op. 40 [Boccherini: 42 sonatas (at least this many)] [Mendelssohn: No. 1 in B Major, Op. 45] [Kodly: Op. 4] [Saint-Sans: No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 32] [Bridge: Sonata] Francoeur: E Major (Trowell) Beethoven: No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69 Debussy: D Minor Mendelssohn: No. 2 in D Major, Op. 58 Beethoven: No. 4 in C Major, Op. 102, No. 1
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Brahms: No. 2 in F Major, Op. 99 Valentini: E Major (Piatti) Prokofiev: C Major, Op. 119 Rachmaninov: G Minor, Op. 19 Strauss: F Major, Op. 6 Grieg: A Minor, Op. 36 [Dohnnyi: B Major, Op. 8] [Martinu: No. 2] [Hindemith: Op. 11, No. 3] Beethoven: D Major, Op. 102, No. 2 Chopin: G Minor, Op. 65
Schubert: A Minor, Arpeggione, D. 821 Franck: A Major (Delsart) Britten: C Major, Op. 65 Poulenc: Sonate Locatelli: D Major (Piatti) [Kabalevsky: B Major, Op. 71] [Carter: Sonata] [Hindemith: Sonata (1948)] Concertos [Breval: Concertino No. 1 in F Major] Goltermann: No. 4 in G Major, Op. 65 Klengel: Concertino, Op. 7 [Vivaldi: 27 concertos] Vivaldi: G Minor for Two Cellos, F. III, No. 2, P. 411 [Romberg: Concertino, Op. 51] [Breval: No. 1 in G Major] [Breval: No. 2 in D Major] [Tartini: A Major] [Tartini: D Major] [Boellmann: Symphonic Variations, Op. 23] Boccherini-Grtzmacher: B Major Haydn: C Major, Hob. VIIb:1 [Boccherini: 12 Concerti] Saint-Sans: No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33 Kabalevsky: No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 49 [Goltermann: No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 14] Lalo: D Minor [Herbert: No. 2, Op. 30] Haydn: D Major, Op. 101, Hob. VIIb:2 Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33
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Elgar: E Minor, Op. 85
[Dohnnyi: Konzertstcke in D Major, Op. 12] [C.P.E. BachPollain: A Major] [Romberg: No. 2 in D Major, Op. 3] [Davidov: No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 14] [Khachaturian: Concerto (1946)] Shostakovich: No. 1 in E Major, Op. 107 Dvork: B Minor, Op. 104 Schumann: A Minor, Op. 129 Bloch: Schelomo Brahms: Double Concerto in A Minor, Op. 102 Strauss: Don Quixote, Op. 35 Beethoven: Triple Concerto in C Major, Op. 56 Barber: Op. 22 [Bernstein: Three Meditations from Mass] [Walton: Concerto] Prokofiev: Sinfonie Concertante, Op. 125 Hindemith: Concerto, 1940 [Britten: Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 68] [Dutilleux: Tout un Monde Lontain] Suites, Variations, etc. Gretchaninov: In Early Morn, Op. 126b Hindemith: Three Easy Pieces Bazelaire: Suite Franaise, Op. 114 CouperinBazelaire: Pices en Concert (also with string orchestra) [Mendelssohn: Variations Concertantes, Op. 17] Beethoven: 12 Variations in G Major, WoO 45 (on a theme from Handels Judas Maccab us) Beethoven: 12 Variations in F Major, Op. 66 (on a theme from Mozarts The Magic Flute) Beethoven: Seven Variations in E Major, WoO 46 (on a theme from The Magic Flute) Schumann: Fantasy Pieces, Op. 73 (Grtzmacher) Schumann: Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70 HaydnPiatigorsky: Divertimento Webern: Drei Kleine Stcke, Op. 11 [Hindemith: Variations on A Frog He Went A-Courting] [de FallaMarechal: Suite Popular Espagnole] [Jancek: Prohadka] [Resphigi: Adagio con Variazioni (also with orchestra)] Schumann: Five Pieces in Folk Style, Op. 102 Stravinsky: Suite Italienn Martinu: Variations on a Theme of Rossini [Bartk: First Rhapsody (also with orchestra)]
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[Piazzolla: Le Grand Tango]
[Paganini: Moses Fantasie, Variations on One String on a Theme of Rossini] Short Pieces Pergolesi: Nina (Tre giorni son che Nina, not by Pergolesi, possibly composed by Ciampi) Massenet: Elegy (Melodie), Op. 10, No. 5 Tchaikovsky: Chanson Triste, Op. 10, No. 2 (Davidoff) Squire: Boure, Op. 24 Squire: Danse Rustique, Op. 20, No. 5 Squire: Tarantella, Op. 23 Davidoff: Romance sans paroles, Op. 23 Cui: Orientale, Op. 50, No. 9 Gabriel-Marie: Gavotte in the Olden Style (La Cinquantaine) Goltermann: Etude-Caprice, Op. 54, No. 4 Senaille: Allegro Spiritoso (Trowell) Bach: Arioso (Sinfonia from Cantata No. 156) Bach: Air (from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major) Popper: Fond Recollections, Op. 64, No. 1 Offenbach: Musette, Op. 24 (also with orchestra) Paradis: Sicilienne Bach-Siloti: Adagio (from Organ Toccata in C Major) Faur-Casals: Aprs un Rve, Op. 7, No. 1 Saint-Sans: The Swan (from Carnival of the Animals) Saint-Sans: Allegro Appassionato, Op. 43 (also with orchestra) Popper: Mazurka, Op. 11, No. 3 Popper: Gavotte, Op. 23 (also with orchestra) Van Gens: Scherzo, Op. 12, No. 2 (also with orchestra) Faur: Elegie, Op. 24 (also with orchestra) Faur: Sicilienne, Op. 78 Glazunov: Chant du Menestrel, Op. 71 (also with orchestra) RavelMarechal: Pice en Forme de Habaera Mendelssohn: Song Without Words, Op. 109 Popper: Hungarian Rhapsody, Op. 68 (also with orchestra) Popper: Tarantella, Op. 33 (also with orchestra) Popper: Papillon, Op. 3 (also with orchestra) FrescobaldiCassad: Toccata (probably composed by Cassad) Bloch: Kol Nidre, Op. 47 (also with orchestra) Granados-Cassad: Intermezzo (from Goyescas) Tchaikovsky: Nocturne, Op. 19, No. 4 (also with orchestra) Chopin-Piatigorsky: Nocturne in C<#> Minor GranadosPiatigorsky: Orientale (Spanish Dance No. 2) Faur: Papillon, Op. 77
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Rachmaninov: Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14 Dvork: Silent Woods (Waldesruhe), Op. 68, No. 5 (also with orchestra) WeberPiatigorsky: Adagio & Rondo Foss: Capriccio Cassad: Requiebros Boccherini: Rondo in C Major Haydn-Piatti: Minuet (from Sonata in C Major) Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumble Bee (from Tsar Sultan) Davidov: At the Fountain, Op. 20, No. 2 Ginastera: Pampeana No. 2 ChopinFeuermann: Introduction and Polonaise Brillante, Op. 3 Dvork: Rondo, Op. 96 (also with orchestra) [Prokofiev: Adagio, Op. 97bis (from Romeo and Juliet)] Popper: Elfentanz, Op. 39 (also with orchestra) Popper: Spinning Song, Op. 55, No. 1 Tchaikovsky: Pezzo Capriccioso, Op. 62 (also with orchestra) Reader comments on my proposed list of cello standards are welcome.
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12/03/13

STANDARD CELLO REPERTOIRE

The Repertoire List

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