Solendo for Solo Cello

Solendo, better understood as 'sol' and 'do', is a work for solo cello composed in 1995. The c-string, g-string and a-string are used separately, in which 'sol' and 'do' - via double stops or pizzicato sections - fulfil a tonal implication.

Although through-composed, we can distinguish two parts: the rhetorical 'con moto’ culminating in a contemplative 'larghetto'.

The work gives the impression of being a dialog again. Brilliant entries with fleshy chords, characterized by pithy motives, alternate with gossamer structures in mysterious lines. Invigorating forte passages are juxtaposed with whispers in a 'sul ponte' play. In addition, there is the menagerie of articulations and the extensive rendering of the instrument's range.

The composer has often used this Solendo as a source of inspiration for later cello works, such as the Miserere (1999) and the Sonata for Cello and Piano (2020). The work was artfully dedicated to Herwig Coryn.