The latest cello and piano sheet music we have for sale in our online shop is an arrangement of Lilliburlero . The cello part is around Grade 5 in standard – so considerably easier than our original violin and cello duet version.
But it still retains the liveliness and vitality of the original and works very effectively as a cello and piano duo.
About Lilliburlero
Lilliburlero became a popular folk tune in 1688 and some of the words have a political meaning. It was also used in The Beggars’ Opera which was written by John Gay in 1728. But there is absolutely no political meaning to our arrangement – it is simply a fun, happy tune!
We now have four new cello and piano sheet music pieces for sale at our online shop. These are: Scarborough Fair, Morning Prelude, Christmas Variations and Highland Meeting. The standard of the music is between Grades 6 and 7 and each piece is three to four minutes long.
Our latest piece
Highland Meeting was composed last month and is inspired by folk music. There’s ongoing dialogue between cello and piano throughout and the title is deliberately evocative.
Music with narrative
I love playing short pieces with imaginative titles. If you play the piano you may have come across Bergmuller’s Easy and Progressive Piano Studies . Each short study is a little jewel, with a title that brings the music to life. Listen to the fun performance of La Chasse below and you’ll see what I mean:
More information
Moving back to cello and piano, please feel free to email us at info@fedorastrings.com if you’d like more details about any of the music that we sell.
Building a repertoire of violin and cello duets for weddings
If you are forming a professional violin and cello duo which will play at weddings you may be struggling to find repertoire. Violin and cello duets are an unusual combination.
So… welcome to Fedora Strings! Our website specialises in violin and cello duet sheet music which is imaginative and effective. Our two wedding collection albums are likely to contain almost all the music you’ll need to start with. And the pdf format they are sold in can be printed not just once, but as many times as you want. This makes them excellent value for money.
Not just for weddings!
While Wagner’s Bridal Chorus might be considered an unusual choice to play in a recital, most of our other music is not just for weddings but can be played anywhere! Almost all our arrangements and compositions are true chamber music. They have very equal parts and share the tunes between the instruments. And at the moment we are offering five arrangements ( or compositions) for the price of four!
What is summer music? Most people would probably think it’s music that’s calm, rural and relaxing. Delius’s Summer Evening ( below) is exactly that:
But for Vivaldi summer evoked different feelings. His ‘Summer’ in The Four Seasons is an early example of programmatic music. Vivaldi wrote his own sonnets in the score to explain what the music is describing. The first movement’s sonnet reads: ” Langour in the heat” . This is followed by: ” …beneath the blazing sun’s relentless heat men and flocks are sweltering and the cuckoo’s voice can be heard.”
For Gershwin the season was even more complex. His aria Summertime opens his opera Porgy andBess which is set in a black tenement in South Carolina in the 1930s. The themes of the opera are romance struggling against poverty, drug taking and violence. Our violin and cello duet version is below:
…and you can buy our violin and cello duet sheet music arrangement here
This autumn we will be adding some cello and piano sheet music to our online shop. Some of the sheet music is a piano and cello reworking of already existing pieces. These are Scarborough Fair, Christmas Variations and Morning Prelude. There will also be three new cello and piano sheet music compositions.
New Commissions
For more information email us at info@fedorastrings.com And remember, you can commission us to arrange or compose a piece for you for any combination of strings.
This blog explores how tv themes work. Have you noticed how the best tv themes immediately take you into the world of the programme with no words needed? Ever wondered how they do that? Here’s a very rough outline:
First – Hawaii 5 0. The lively mood, off beat rhythms, energy, contemporary pop style, use of drums and minor key instantly evoke action, seriousness and America.
Compare this with Inspector Morse – a very different, definitely non American, detective:
This tune expresses darkness and sadness – ideally suited to the older, cultured and world weary Inspector Morse! The minor key, repeated rhythms and repeated descending bass line – in chaconne style – create a sense of inevitability. Vitali’s Chaconne ( below) with its famous repeated descending bass line, is in the same world (but was written 300 years earlier.)
Changing the mood completely, the Pride and Prejudice theme projects lightness and happiness with its major key, scale patterns and lively speed. The composer effectively captured the late classical /early romantic style of Jane Austen’s era .
Compare this with the Haydn Piano Concerto and John Field Nocturne below. Both composers were contemporaries of Jane Austen.
Do we sell similar sheet music?
We don’t sell anything exactly like the above themes. But all music creates its effects in similar ways. The nearest we have to Hawaii 5 0 is Over the Hills and Far Away or Lilliburlero. Both are lively and energetic, but they don’t have the American feel and are not in a minor key. The closest we have to the Inspector Morse theme is probably Una Furtiva Lagrima or Scarborough Fair.There’s no repeated descending bass, but both are sad, beautiful minor tunes.For the classical style of Pride and Prejudice choose Exsultate Jubilate and Boccherini’s Minuet and Trio.
Finally, the Listen With Mother radio theme – from long, long,long ago – was simply Faure’s Berceuse – a lullaby duet that was perfect for the programme.
What are your film music favourites? In this blog I am going to share some of my favourite film themes. I’m also going to explain how some film themes have influenced our sheet music arrangements.
Film Music Favourites
This is the first fab film theme that springs into my mind, and I love its energy and excitement. If fact, I like this theme so much that I included a quote from the main tune in our arrangement of Long Ago and Far Away ( even though this song is entirely different in mood)
Next, who could fail to be impressed by use of Bach’s Air on a G String in the Hamlet Cigar adverts ? This particular arrangementy is more jazzy than our own, but certainly gets some of the sense of calm across!
The film extract below is by far my favourite version of La Cumparsita – and some of the accordion playing influenced our arrangement.
The theme from Dances with Wolves – with its sense of openness achieved by using the first and fifth degrees of the scale – had some influence on Morning Prelude
While Gabriel’s Oboe from the film The Mission is an excellent example of a beautiful melody:
Enjoy!
Happy Christmas to all our customers from around the world! Thank you for your support, which we value very much, and warmest wishes for 2019.Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have enquiries or suggestions. Below is some super Christmas string music:
And if you are looking for Christmas string duet sheet music visit our New Compositions’ page
I went to a wonderful performance of Cinderella by Ballet Cymru recently. I was especially impressed by the choreography and music, which had been newly created.
The production was inspiring: the ballet was powerfully expressive and I loved the music , which was composed by Jack White:Rehearsing Cinderella
Using music to enhance a story
Telling a story or having a clear feeling, image or mood that you want to express can be a great starting point for composing music . It can also be a fun way of improvising when you practice: Cinderella Music
Commissioning music
Ballet Cymru is an innovative company and I definitely recommend going to see them if they are performing nearby. The most comparable thing to the Cinderella music we have on our website is our music commissioning service: Gifts and Dedications
…and perhaps these opera cello duets, which have been arranged with the character of the songs very much in mind: Habanera Cello Duet
We have just added some new duet sheet music to our online shop. It’s called Morning Prelude and a recording will be available in November.
This is a 3 -4 minute piece in a gentle reflective mood which starts and ends with harmonics on the cello. There is a also a cello solo version: Morning Prelude for Cello Solo
The music was inspired by watching one of my baby twin grandsons looking out of the window on a wintry morning when he was just three weeks old.
Composing and improvising
Becoming confident about improvising on your instrument is one of the easiest ways to learn to compose. There are actually very few well known pieces for cello solo, and those that do exists are often extremely challenging to play. This is a pity, because you can achieve evocative effects fairly easily without making it too technically demanding. This is what I aimed to achieve in both the cello solo and duet version of Morning Prelude. The main mood, after the opening harmonics, is calm and relaxing, so if you are able to feel like that when you play the music it definitely helps.
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