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JOHNSTONE – Carmen Fantasy, based on the Bizet Opera- CELLO SOLOIST AND 5 CELLOS (or larger ensemble)

Other Identification:
There have been a number of marvellous arrangements of themes from Bizet’s opera ‘Carmen’ into instrumental masterworks, such as the wonderful violin showstoppers of Sarasate and Waxman, or the virtuoso rendition from Borne for flute. However, for some reason or another cellists have been left out in the cold. Is it because we are not virtuosic enough? No, not at all, I feel that not all the themes are necessarily suited to solo cello but yet other Bizet themes that have not been included by the afore mentioned masters are! I have checked up in depth on this, and perhaps the best I have found for cello is that which I have found by J. Hollman, so this has served as the initial base for me. However, I have tried to open up the possibilities for cellists into a new creation well programmable in the 21st century – that of a solo cellist accompanied by either string orchestra (the ‘normal’ scoring) or by an orchestras of cellists (more unusual, but great fun!).
The solo part has been very carefully graded to be on a par with the difficulty of writing encountered in the Saint-Saens A minor or Lalo concertos, and therefore is perfectly playable by nearly all senior students at music conservatoire. However, the concept is virtuosic and grandiose throughout and should be convincing to all professional soloists. Special mention should be made of an original large-scale cadenza for the soloist. The orchestrations, in both scorings, should not present any unforeseen difficulties and indeed the lower parts are especially comfortable.

Movements or sections:
In rhapsodic form, but includes some of the principal melodies from the Bizet opera – it is hoped that this might become a future popular work for cello!

Instrumentation:
this music has been specially produced for solo cello and five accompanying cellos, or solo cello and cello orchestra. Excellent material for use in the Cello class etc.
There is also a version of this work for solo cello and (normal) string orchestra which may be of real interest to cello soloists.

3 PDFs:
PDF 1 – General Cello Ensemble Score.
PDF 2 – Cello Soloist Part.
PDF 3 – Parts for the cello ensemble/orchestra.

Approximate difficulty:
The soloist writing is on a par to that (in terms of difficulty) to the Saint-Saens or Lalo cello concertos. Therefore duo performances with piano accompaniment can also be very interesting for good cellists to shine!

the cello orchestral writing has been carefully and specially graded this way:
Cello I – will include passages in Q position, but generally comfortable.
Cello II – does not use Q position, but it will take cellists up to the 6th and 7th positions.
Cello III – Only uses material that goes no farther than 4th position.
Cello IV – This part uses only 1st position, but does include extensions of the first and fourth fingers.
Cello V – This part also uses only the first position, and there are no extensions present.
Therefore you can see that this work can be attempted by cellists of many levels – if the soloist is good !!

Dedicatee of this presentation (if applicable):
Rodolfo Zanni, Argentine/Spanish cellist.

Links (Audio – Visual), and known performances given by:
First performed by David Johnstone, in Tarrafona.
Known further performances known by Irene Ansó in Leioa, Basque Country Spain, and by Alberto Martos in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain.

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Johnstone Music has been performed by orchestras and conservatories worldwide, earning international recognition in cello repertoire.

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