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DUNHILL – Cantilena Romantica, Op.104 No.4 (1946) – QUARTET THREE CELLOS AND DOUBLE BASS or QUARTET FOUR CELLOS

Other Identification:
This present work is the last piece of four comprising the composer’s Opus 101 – almost surely his last piece, dating from 1946 which was the last year of his fully creative life. It exudes a solid maturity of writing with influences showing from the romantic English organ school, and also from Cesar Franck and almost to the French impressionists. Underneath is a short biography.

Biography – fully crediting the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society
“Thomas Dunhill was born in Hampstead, north London, on 1 February 1877. He showed early promise as a pianist and composer, and by the time he entered the Royal College of Music in 1893, aged just sixteen, he had already written a number of operettas in the style of Gilbert and Sullivan. In 1897 he won a scholarship to continue his studies with Charles Villiers Stanford for a further three years. Among his distinguished fellow students were Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, and his lifelong friend, John Ireland.

Appointed Professor at the Royal College of Music in 1905, Dunhill remained involved in music education all his life, teaching at Eton College, examining for the Associated Board, and adjudicating at regional music festivals. From 1907 to 1919 he was also active as a music promoter, being responsible for the Thomas Dunhill concerts in London, in which chamber music by English composers was prominently featured.

In addition to his 101 listed opus numbers, which range from chamber music, songs and instrumental pieces to symphonic scores and music-theatre, Dunhill composed a great number of short piano pieces intended to enrich the repertoire of students and amateur players of all ages. He had a particular skill for creating music which, though of only moderate technical difficulty, was firmly built on strong, engaging melodies characteristic of a subtle and profound musical sensibility. Many of these pieces were published in the 1920s and 30s, when they were much in demand by the Associated Board as examination material.”

Movements or sections: marked ‘Andante tranquillo’

Instrumentation:
Prepared for the unusual grouping of a Quartet of three Cellos and one Double Bass (with an alternative part for a Cello 4 with scordatura)

Downloads of 2 PDFs:
[1 – General Score
[2 – All individual parts

Approximate difficulty: MEDIUM
David Johnstone has arranged this music for the unusual quartet of THREE cellos and ONE double bass. As delightful chamber music all the parts play a vital role; indeed, a falling phrase of melody the double bass brings the work to a close. The cello parts are written in comfortable registers; thumb position is hardly necessary. Being well aware that quartets of four cellos are much more prolific than groups of cellos/basses, Johnstone allows the possibility of instead asking for a Cello 4 player in place of the double bass – however, for this to be effective the C (IV) string has been lowered (‘scordatura’) a minor third to an ‘A’. The fourth string writing has been clearly marked, so the cellist can read the part ‘normally’.

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