Cello excerpt
Tchaikovsky, Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy-Overture
Love theme (cellos & English horn)
The most famous love theme in classical music. Cellos take the soaring line.
At a glance
- Instrument
- Cello
- Composer
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- Work
- Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy-Overture
- Movement
- Love theme (cellos & English horn)
- Era
- Late-Romantic (c. 1880–1910)
- Composed
- 1880
- Key
- D
- Metre
- 4/4
- Tempo
- Moderato · ♩ ≈ 76
- Clef
- Tenor clef
- Level
- Intermediate, university level
- Audition list
- Not a standard excerpt
How to practise it
The bow style, the trouble spots, and the stylistic decisions that come up most often on this excerpt.
Style
Rubato. Let the long notes bloom. Take time at the peak.
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.