– FOR CELLISTS –
AMATEUR, PROFESSIONAL, OR ASPIRING,
BUT ABOVE ALL ……… CURIOUS !!
Cellofun.eu is divided into two sections:
REPERTOIRE LIBRARY
CELLOBLOG
The Repertoire Library is the “fun” part of this website. Most of the pieces found in it are transcriptions for cello (or for cellos) of wonderful music, “stolen” from the repertoire of other instruments (including the voice). Many different musical styles are represented – classical, popular and traditional – from the Renaissance to the present day. A lot of the pieces come with a “play-along” audio file of their accompaniment and all are free for download and/or printing. Most pieces are offered in various versions: a “Literal Transcription”, an “Edited Performance Version” (with bowings and fingerings), a “Clean Performance Version” (without bowings or fingerings), and an “Easier Version”. Please use A4 size paper and the smallest margins for best printing results.
The Celloblog is the “pedagogy” part of the website and contains all the knowledge, ideas and material that have been most useful to me over the last 40 years in my own journey as a professional cellist. The objective of the Celloblog is to make cello-playing easier, and while it may appear a lot less fun than playing music it is this “work” that will probably allow us ultimately to have more fun (and less suffering) when we do get out our pieces. The Celloblog is divided into four main sections:
Click on the green “links” to go into the site. To navigate more quickly through the pages, the drop-down menus can be used. Alternatively, typing your keyword(s) into the cellofun search engine (and clicking “enter” or “search”) will look for any piece, composer or subject in both the “Repertoire Library” and “Celloblog” departments.
This website is “work in progress” and always will be. There is nothing here that could not be improved. It is a long-term project and at the date of opening to the public (December 2017) the Repertoire Library is still just a baby and the Celloblog is only half-finished. Both however will be in constant expansion, evolution, development, correction and improvement. This is the beauty of Internet publishing. Ultimately, all of the music offered on the website will also be available in XML format so that it can be easily modified, improved and corrected by future users. Constructive comments and corrections are welcome via the contact link at the top right of every page.
Everything on this site is free and it will never host any commercial advertising. Why? It seems that the standard, globalised objective of most human lives is to accumulate as much individual wealth, power and material possessions as possible before dying. What a different world it would be if our life’s goal were the exact opposite: to give back as much as possible. Having had the luxury of good health, a wonderful family, a steady job as a musician and the privilege of living in one of the world’s most beautiful regions, cellofun.eu is my way of giving something back in gratitude. It is a tiny contribution to the kinder, more compassionate society that we all so desperately need.
My warmest thanks to Harry Ledwith, who with extraordinary patience and good humour designed this website (between surfing sessions) and taught me how to use it. My apologies to north-americans, because all of the printable music available on this site is laid out for A4 (european, metric) paper size which is a longer, narrower page than your standard “letter” format.
I hope that this material will help you – as it has helped me – to get more enjoyment and pleasure from your cello-playing and music-making.
Ian Swedlund