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MENDELSSOHN – Kyrie (MWV B 12) – for a Cello Choir of Eight Parts

Other Identification: The Kyrie was composed in the space of five days, in November of 1823 – Mendelssohn would have been a tender fourteen years old then. He set it for a double choir, and whilst this Kyrie shows an affinity to Mozart there are also many pointers to the seeds of his originality.

Movements or sections: It is structured in three sections, which are almost individual movements (the last of which in big enough so that it might be again sub-divided into three parts!). These main sections are titled: I – Kyrie eleison (67 bars). II – Christe eleison (46 bars). III – Kyrie eleison (177 bars).

Instrumentation: 8 CELLOS. The Kyrie was originally composed in C minor, to Latin texts. The music is deserving of wider attention, unfortunately only being seldom heard in the concert hall. So, David Johnstone liked the idea of transposing this into F minor with a few other personal touches and changes, so as to be even more suitable for cellists. Along with the individual parts for cellos Johnstone also encloses the original vocal score. 3 PDFs: PDF 1 – Cellos 1 to 4. PDF 2 – Cellos 5 to 8. PDF 3 – original tonality vocal score used as a base.

Approximate difficulty: A cello octet of eight soloists will probably be the most convincing way to perform this, but there is no problem in doubling up all the parts when played by a cello orchestra (in which case a conductor might be employed). Only the parts 1 and 5 have more regular thumb position passages, but these should not present any difficulties to the medium-to-advanced players. Indeed, all eight parts have interesting melodic lines, and share in being protagonists!

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David Johnstone lives near Pamplona (Navarre, Spain) with his wife Rosa and their two “Spanglish” children, close to the Atlantic Pyrenees. The nearest international airport is Bilbao.

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