January 26, 20206 yr Hello. I'm writing a minimalist-inspired piece in which each of the instruments of the string quartet repeats a figure while passing through the harmonic progression. I'm pretty confident in the "playability" of the upper string parts. However, I'm wondering whether 1) it would be possible for an intermediate-level cellist to play this figure in a single stroke, and 2) whether it would be tiring for a cellist to repeat this figure over and over, bar by bar (among different chords) over the course of a 2- to 3-minute piece with minimal / no breaks. Example is in a PNG file, attached. Thanks!
January 26, 20206 yr It's definitely playable. Because I'm not a cellist, I can't tell you how tiring it will be over long periods. It will be more difficult than the upper strings because the hand stretch is bigger.
January 26, 20206 yr Author @Monarcheon ah should've mentioned tempo. Allegro, about 130 bpm @aMusicComposer -- Thanks! Edited January 26, 20206 yr by Noah Brode Tags
January 26, 20206 yr Yeah, then absolutely fine, though I'm not sure if they'll like you all that much, Jenkins 2.0.
January 26, 20206 yr Author Haha, I put in a contrasting B section with dotted-half note pizzicatos in an attempt to make them hate me less
January 26, 20206 yr Yes, they'd use the G and D strings which, open, wouldn't ring as they'd be stopped for the B and higher G. All "first position".
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