Suite for Solo Cello

This Suite for Solo Cello takes inspiration from Kate Kennedy’s wonderful new book, Cello: A Journey Through Silence to Sound. Each movement tells the story of a different cello: in the first, the music portrays the adventures of the Stradivari ‘Mara’ cello, broken into many pieces when it was involved in a shipwreck. The second movement depicts the ‘bee’ cello, a cello in Nottingham that has been turned into a beehive. Next is a homage to the cellists Pál Hermann and Anita Lasker-Wallfisch. Hermann was a victim of the Nazis, but his Gagliano cello was rescued by a friend in an act of tremendous bravery. Finally, the clunks, clicks and the elegant planing of cello-making are represented in the fourth movement, which takes inspiration from The Open String Cello project.