This beautiful choral piece works well as a cello arrangement. Requires good bow control for long notes, tidy position changes and expressive phrasing.
Suitable for the musically mature older student or adult as the Romance looks innocent on the page but requires a good vibrato and range of tone colours to bring out its musical and harmonic complexities.
All three movements are in A minor and reflect Perlman’s Jewish heritage. It is an excellent piece to show off characterisation and a projected sound.
1st movement (Hora-Hatikvah) is virtuosic with a slower middle section (the Hatikvah). Harmonics and chords at the end need mastering.
2nd movement (Nocturne) alternates between 3/4 and 4/4. This is very beautiful and needs vibrato and cantabile playing.
3rd movement (Fantasie-Recitative) is again virtuosic, starting slowly and speeding up, with a slower Recitative section in the middle. Again chords, more tricky in this movement, provide a challenge, as does the frequent shifting between 1st and 3rd positions.
DeHaske also publishes this with a CD with some useful practice points, but the page turns are all in the wrong place in this edition!
Dog Tired has long phrases with a changing time signature though the pulse is always a crotchet. It will benefit from vibrato and sustained bows. There is a rall. in the middle and a glissando at the end. It goes up to 3rd position but could use 4th position on the D string depending on the chosen fingering.
The Great Tail Chase opens with an up bow crescendo followed by fast semiquavers which require good co-ordination. It goes up to 3rd position.
Dog’s Life is a very effective concert piece.
Vibrato and dynamic contrast enhance this expressive piece. It lies in 1st and half positions but the expressive quality will benefit from some use of 2nd position and even 3rd position on the D string.
