Brahms: “FAE” Scherzo: Transcribed for Cello

Here is the first draft of a cello transcription of the Scherzo that Brahms wrote as his contribution to the F.A.E. Sonata, a four-movement collaborative violin-piano work composed in October 1853 in Düsseldorf by Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, and Albert Dietrich. Created as a gift for violinist Joseph Joachim, the piece is based on his motto “Frei, aber einsam” (Free, but lonely).

This transcription keeps the original key, which means that we can use any standard piano accompaniment part, available also for free download from imslp.org. A disadvantage of keeping the original key is that the cello part sometimes goes up high – to an “A” two octaves above our open A-string. In our “Easier Version”, the high passages are transposed down an octave.

1.   Cello Part: PARTIALLY EDITED
2.      Cello Part: LITERAL TRANSCRIPTION
3.     Cello Part: EASIER VERSION

1. Cello Part Engraving Files (XML)

Here is a play-along audio accompaniment with thanks to Vincent Cheung and his Musicarpet YouTube channel: