Cello excerpt · Audition repertoire
Shostakovich, Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47
I. Moderato (opening cello/bass)
The dotted-rhythm canon between low strings and violins that opens one of the great 20th-century symphonies.
At a glance
- Instrument
- Cello
- Composer
- Dmitri Shostakovich
- Work
- Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47
- Movement
- I. Moderato (opening cello/bass)
- Era
- Modern (c. 1910–1950)
- Composed
- 1937
- Key
- D
- Metre
- 4/4
- Tempo
- Moderato · ♩ ≈ 76
- Clef
- Bass clef
- Level
- Advanced, conservatory level
- Audition list
- Yes, standard excerpt
How to practise it
The bow style, the trouble spots, and the stylistic decisions that come up most often on this excerpt.
Bowing
Dotted rhythm sharply pointed, never lazy.
Style
Stark, pointed, anxious. The world of 1937 Soviet Russia.
Tags
Work on the technique underneath
Arco's cello curriculum builds the bow strokes, positions, and clef reading this excerpt assumes, with recorded cello playback throughout.