The sound of the cello in this piece should be foggy like voice of Ella Fitzgerald. Sweet, smooth and pleasant, but at the same time…

The sound of the cello in this piece should be foggy like voice of Ella Fitzgerald. Sweet, smooth and pleasant, but at the same time slightly hoarse, rustle, dirty. There are almost only natural harmonics; either single, or in chords (triple-stops) including two natural harmonics, or double-stops of two harmonics. All should be played flautando, sul tasto and molto lasciar vibrare. Flautando and sul tasto should serve in search for the foggy color – harmonics should “speak” less clear than normally, but more smooth and decent.
(Martin Smolka)

“,Like Ella‘ would be suited to a player of a high standard as many harmonics are in higher positions and played as triple-stops. I would recommend ,Like Ella‘ to an advanced cellist seeking to learn a piece of modern music to add to their concert repertoire.”
(Mitchell Smith, AUSTA Stringendo)

Duration approx. 9 minutes.

Compulsory Piece for the Final Round of the ARD International Music Competition (Munich, September 2019)