Mozart on Cello? - Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219 - for Cello - transcribed and edited by Dennis Parker - Nucello

Mozart on Cello? Transcription for Cello by Dennis ParkerViolin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219 for CelloNucello Editions, 2013“Since 1791, the year of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s death, cellists have lamented the fact that he did not leave behind a single solo work for the cello. How is it that one of the greatest musicians of all time, and one of history’s most prolific composers, could have neglected to leave us an original concerto or sonata? Alas, cellists today need to take these matters into our own hands. . .” - Dennis Parker Cellist Dennis Parker was born in New York City and began his cello studies at the age of six. He received his early training with Channing Robbins of the Juilliard School, and later earned degrees from Indiana University and Yale University, where he worked with Janos Starker and Aldo Parisot, respectively. Since 1988, Parker has served as Professor of Cello and String Chamber Music at the Louisiana State University School of Music. A former member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Parker has also served as Principal Cellist of the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra in Porto Alegre, Brazil. He has recorded to DVD the first complete performance of David Popper’s “High School of Cello Playing” and is the author of the accompanying manual, “Popper Manifesto”, an important and highly acclaimed addition to cello pedagogy. Inspired by a variety of musical activity, Parker appears frequently as soloist, recitalist, collaborator, and guest professor at universities and festivals worldwide. He is actively involved in the expansion of the existing cello repertoire, and has transcribed many important works for his instrument, most recently Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola, K364, and Mozart’s A Major Violin Concerto, K219. Parker has also released CDs with the Centaur label: Cello Matters features crossover music for cello and piano by Liduino Pitombeira, Daniel Schnyder, David Baker, and Astor Piazzolla; Uplifting Discoveries from a Generation Lost is a recording of chamber music by composers who perished in the Holocaust (Erwin Schulhoff, Gideon Klein, Viktor Ullmann and Hans Krasa). Other recent recordings include Volume 1 of Stolen Sonatas, with pianist Jennifer Hayghe, includes his own transcriptions of Debussy’s Sonata for Violin, Poulenc’s Sonata for Flute, and Enesco’s Sonata No.3 for Violin, The Lone Cello, featuring solo cello works by Scott Howard Eggert (his, Uccello), George Crumb, Viktor Kalabis, György Ligeti, and the complete cello works of Walter Burle Marx, his Concerto (1983), Sambatango for cello and piano, Divertimento a Tre for flute, oboe and cello, and the Casanova Fantasy Variations for Three Celli. When not playing cello, Parker, an avid woodworker and sculptor, creates objects that extend his musical expression and complement the delicate act of performance with the risky business of maneuvering wood through various cutting and shaping devices. You can see his work at www.dennisparkerland.com. Note about Mozart on Cello? from the editor: These editions were created for cellists who have ‘repertoire-envy’ and desire Mozart as well. As Haydn’s Cello Concerti are ubiquitous, these works offer welcome alternatives and provide perhaps the best of Mozart! to any serious cellist. The Broadcast Recording released concurrently with this publication, was, I believe, a premiere of these masterworks as cello concerti. In some way, this first performance felt historical, and I have since performed both works many times, from Nanjing, China, to Medellin, Colombia, and various points in between. In my zealous undertaking of this homegrown project, a few typological inconsistencies were overlooked in final editing; however, the music is here, ready for your own interpretation. Fingerings and bowings, etc. are included as mere suggestions. The cadenzas were created with affection, humor, and deference to Mozart’s genius (and even a bit of Beethoven, and beyond).