Instrumental Duet Cello,Instrumental Duet,Viola - Level 5 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.722586

Composed by Marin Marais. Arranged by Randy Calistri-Yeh. Baroque,Classical,Concert. Score and parts. 4 pages. Custom Chamber Music #3483813. Published by Custom Chamber Music (A0.722586).

Marin Marais was one of the greatest viol composers and performers of the early 1700s. Among his five volumes of viol solos is a charming work entitled "Le Tableau de l’Opération de la Taille" (The Depiction of a Bladder Stone Operation). This is one of the earliest examples of program music, where the music is supposed to explicitly represent a scene from real life. In this case, the scene is a bladder stone operation that Marais experienced a few years earlier. Marais himself wrote the descriptions into the score so the performer knew what he should be visualizing at each part of the composition. It is not clear whether Marais intended the descriptions to be read as a narration, but doing so makes for a particularly powerful performance. Marais originally wrote this for viola da gamba and harpsichord.

This is an arrangement for solo cello. It sticks very closely to the original, except for filling in a few necessary parts from the harpsichord and adjusting some of the chords to fit the cello. It has cello fingerings where needed, and uses modern notation for the baroque ornamentations. The annotations (in English) are included in case the performer wishes to read them aloud during the performance.