# Minuet and Trio in F major for unaccompanied Cello



## JorgeDav (Apr 9, 2020)

Hello everyone!

This is a Minuet and Trio for Cello that I composed these days while studying the Minuet and Trio form. The Minuet is in F major and the Trio in F minor. Both of them follow the practice form of [:A:][:BA':] with 8 (A) + 16 measures (BA').

I decided to compose the Minuet for the Cello because of my admiration for Bach Cello Suites. I tried to make sure all the double and triple stops were possible to play but, since I have never played the Cello, there might be some mistakes or unidiomatic parts.

Any feedback is appreciated, thank you for listening!


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## TalkingPie (May 15, 2020)

I liked many spots. Here are some random observations:

1. The chord at m. 16 is unplayable.

2. I'd be wary of chords with the 5th and no third like at m. 24. This is generally avoided before the middle romantic period (excluding folsky pieces), es.p for tonic chords. I'd either play the third too, or put just a bare octave.

3. I'd beam some or all the 8th notes in groups of 4+2 or 6 depending on the phrasing.

4. All those ritardandos and hidden fermatas should be visible.

5. With things like m.25, I'd write them as mordants.

6. While you already have some, I'd use more melodic sequences and parallelisms, many baroque pieces are 30% sequences or even more. Descending are probably more common than ascending. 

7. Just as a suggestion, this is just a personal opinion: I expected descending sequences following m.17-18, and following m.41-42. Also, in any case, you can make the sequences repeating the material more than once. If you repeat it twice, the 2nd repetition can start like the previous, but then fork out and move to somewhere else, breaking the monotonous expectations. A 2+2+4 model with the "4" breaking the pattern is very effective.

8. Another personal opinion: my mind kind of expected E natural and Db at m. 35.

9. m.49: don't copypaste it literally, write "da capo senza ripetizione" and that's it.

Keep composing!


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## JorgeDav (Apr 9, 2020)

Thank you so much for the feedback TalkingPie! I have been giving a though to all your advices and they are all really useful! 

You are right, I checked few baroque cello scores and there are not many chords with fifth and without the third (in the case of Bach, it only seems to happen rarely when the fifth is in the melody and it is a double stop, never in a three note chord). 

I agree with the sequence suggestion. I am still having troubles to write sequences in this kind of pieces were the phrases are few and not long. As soon as I try to use sequences I end up making phrases longer than the usual 4-8 measures :S. I will try to take sequences more into consideration from now on, thanks for pointing that out! 

Also, quite impressive that you realized your melodic expectation of the E natural and the Db at m.35 by only hearing it. I tried it and it sounds more sofisticated, probably thanks to the use of an augmented second in the melody. I like it better so I think I will stick to the E natural and Db. I hope by practicing I learn to be aware of those melodic tendencies as easily as you did!

Thank you for all the feedback!


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## GucciManeIsTheNewWebern (Jul 29, 2020)

I'm a cellist, would you like me to record this for you? I'm not a pro so I'l need some time to practice it. I definitely like your subtle articulation and phrasing.


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## JorgeDav (Apr 9, 2020)

GucciManeIsTheNewWebern said:


> I'm a cellist, would you like me to record this for you? I'm not a pro so I'l need some time to practice it. I definitely like your subtle articulation and phrasing.


Oh wow! that would be such an honour! I am changing the few mistakes TalkingPie pointed out but I cannot update the youtube video URL nor the thread. It's mostly for making the score cleaner and changing four or five notes, so 99.9% of the piece will stay the same, but if you feel like recording it I can send you the corrected score!


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## GucciManeIsTheNewWebern (Jul 29, 2020)

JorgeDav said:


> Oh wow! that would be such an honour! I am changing the few mistakes TalkingPie pointed out but I cannot update the youtube video URL nor the thread. It's mostly for making the score cleaner and changing four or five notes, so 99.9% of the piece will stay the same, but if you feel like recording it I can send you the corrected score!


PM me or post here when you've cleaned up the score some. I'm looking forward to playing it. The F Minor trio looks especially fun.


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