The Cello

I love the cello. It is such an amazing instrument and is definitely my favorite among the strings. My roommate in undergrad was a cellist and I remember hearing him practice and listening to great pieces like the Dvorak Cello Concerto. This instrument has an enormous range and expressive quality. When I see people play, it often seems like an extension of their very being.

The piece I have a link to below is Tchaikovsky's Andante cantabile for solo cello and string orchestra, which I think I must have heard at some point prior to today on the radio. Anyway, the piece just came alive in the hands of the great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Russian musicians are generally extremely expressive in their playing and do not shy away from showing their emotion in the music. This piece, also by a Russian shows the depth of feeling of which humans are capable. For anyone not familiar with Tchaikovsky and his music, I would suggest listening to any of his last three symphonies (Nos. 4, 5, or 6). This is the ultimate expression of internal struggle and anguish through sound(especially no. 6).

While this Andante cantabile is also wonderfully expressive, it is not at all angst-ridden. I like to think of this piece as some kind of consolation. Drawing on his own life experiences, I imagine an older wiser man consoling a disillusioned younger man about his life struggles, doubts, and questions. Tenderly, he tells him not to give up. The good things the younger man believed about life and himself are true. In spite of the evil in the world and the seemingly unprofitable quality of having integrity, he tells him to hold on to that which he knows is right.

Perhaps to you, it has a different meaning. That is simply, the beauty of music.

No Rostropovich recording available, so I had to "settle" for Yo-Yo Ma :)