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RAVEL – Kaddish (1914) – 8 SOLO CELLOS or VOCAL SOLOIST WITH 7 CELLOS

Other Identification:
This music by Maurice Ravel is of the most beautiful Jewish music ever. Kaddish is the first of two songs which form his cycle named Deux Mélodies Hébraïques and is proof that Ravel was well acquainted with this style of music. They were first performed in June 1914 by Alvina Alvi (who commissioned them) with Ravel himself at the piano, just a month or so before the outbreak of the first World War.

Movements or sections:
marked ‘Lent’

Instrumentation:
The original piano accompaniment is simple yet effective, often repeatedly stroking chords of a harmonic nature to create a climate of sublime clouds upon which the melody is free to express itself; Johnstone treats the cello ensemble in the same fashion, though by lowering the tonality some deeper gravitational weight is added to the eighth cello part, playing with a C string scordatura set to Bb. A singer may take the pace of Cello 1.

Arranged by David Johnstone

This music is in 3 PDFs:
[1 – General Score
[2 – Cellos 1 to 4
[3 – Cellos 5 to 8

Approximate difficulty:
Difficult

Dedicatee of this presentation (if applicable):
Enjoy the music in the version for multi-cellos! The wonderful British cellist MATTHEW SHARP has recorded a solo disc of devotional works from across denominations and the world for multi-tracked cello and voice entitled “Rough Magic” for Edition Peters Sounds. The programme includes this setting of Ravel’s Kaddish for voice and seven cellos, dedicated to him.

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

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Personal

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.

He is interested in world affairs, politics, animal rights, and most sports (including being a lifelong suffering Reading FC fan!). Also passionate about Celtic culture and genealogy, he has traced his ‘English’ family back to 1280, although Scotland and Ireland have also shaped his background. And yes — he is half-ashamed to admit it, he loves silly jokes!

Social Work

David Johnstone supports animal rights, he is against any form of abuse towards them, and says a loud “NO” to bullfighting, foxhunting and any other animal cruelty.

TORTURE IS NOT CULTURE !