Album

There's a lot to be said for this album as an actual pedagogical device—buy one for the young cellist in your life. In a world where the musical tuition of young people is too often standardized and dull, this disc has a touch of the eccentric, of the personal, of the kind of music teacher you tell stories about years after the fact. It offers 30 short pieces suitable for the student cellist, with piano, mostly from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They begin with a short work played entirely on the open strings of the cello and with one hand on the piano, moving up to recital-level works—and then concluding with a set of pieces dedicated to the son of cellist Steven Isserlis. One humorous ghost story with narration is composed by Isserlis himself, and another by pianist Stephen Hough.

The best thing about the disc is that it includes not only famous short cello pieces but also, as Isserlis says, "more or less unknown pieces that somehow caught our fancy." The 48-second Lulu Waltz of Sibelius is a charming snatch of melody that distills the quiet elegance of works like The Swan of Tuonela down into a few gestures, and even the very easy pieces will hold a listener's (or a parent's) interest. Everything is introduced in detail in the rather snarky booklet notes, with emphasis in many cases on stories behind the pieces or on how these two musicians happened to encounter them. The sum total is an impression of two adult musicians immersed in a vital web of connections and in a spirit of exploration—an impression guaranteed to further the education of any young cellist.

© James Manheim, Rovi

CD 1
Ludwig Lebell Composer Berceuse Orientale, for cello & piano Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
1	Berceuse Orientale, for cello & piano	1:47			$0.99
Sheila Nelson Composer Mad as a Hatter, for cello & piano Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
2	Mad as a Hatter, for cello & piano	0:33			$0.99
Alfred Earnshaw Composer Tarantella, for cello & piano Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
3	Tarantella, for cello & piano	1:22			$0.99
Joachim Stutschewsky Composer Six Israeli Melodies, for cello & piano Work 4:58 Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
4	Kinnereth (Tune: Haninah Karchevsky, arr. Stutchewsky)	2:22			$0.99
5	Wanderer's Song (Oriental Melody, arr. Stutchewsky)	2:36			$0.99
Adam Carse Composer A Merry Dance, for cello & piano Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
6	A Merry Dance, for cello & piano	1:47			$0.99
Francis Purcell Warren Composer A Sunday Evening in Autumn, for cello & piano Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
7	A Sunday Evening in Autumn, for cello & piano	2:22			$0.99
Francis Purcell Warren Composer Cradle Song, for cello & piano Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
8	Cradle Song, for cello & piano	1:09			$0.99
John Graves Composer The Swans Glide on the Bishop's Palace Moat, for cello & piano Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
9	The Swans Glide on the Bishop's Palace Moat, for cello & piano	1:51			$0.99
William Henry Squire Composer Danse rustique, for cello & piano Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
10	Danse rustique, for cello & piano	2:41			$0.99
Luigi Boccherini Composer String Quintet in E, Op.11, No.5 (includes the famous 'Minuetto')...String Quintet in E, Op.11, No.5 (arr. cello and piano) Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
11	3.Minuetto	3:43			$0.99
Gavin Bryars Composer With Miriam by the River, for cello & piano Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
12	With Miriam by the River, for cello & piano	3:30			$0.99
Arnold Trowell Composer 12 Easy Pieces, for cello & piano Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
13	Gavotte	1:48			$0.99
Jean Sibelius Composer Tempo di valse (Lulu Waltz) in F#-), for cello and piano, JS 194 Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
14	Tempo di valse (Lulu Waltz) in F#-), for cello and piano, JS 194	0:48			$0.99
George Dyson Composer Work(s) Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
15	Melody	2:38			$0.99
Frank Bridge Composer Spring Song Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
16	Spring Song	2:24			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 3 Pieces, for violin and piano, Op.40 Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
17	2.Berceuse	3:06			$0.99
Gabriel Marie [Gabriel-Prosper Marie] Composer La cinquantaine, for piano "The Golden Wedding" Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
18	La cinquantaine, for piano "The Golden Wedding"	3:30			$0.99
Georg Eduard Goltermann Composer La Foi, for cello & piano Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
19	La Foi, for cello & piano	3:33			$0.99
Francis Poulenc Composer Serenade, for cello and piano Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
20	Serenade, for cello and piano	1:55			$0.99
Joseph Tuby Composer Serenade, for cello & piano Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
21	Serenade, for cello & piano	2:31			$0.99
Gabriel Fauré Composer Berceuse, for violin and piano, Op.16 Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
22	Berceuse, for violin and piano, Op.16 (arr. cello and piano)	3:47			$0.99
David Popper Composer Gavotte for Cello and Piano in D-, Op 23 Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
23	Gavotte for Cello and Piano in D-, Op 23	4:39			$0.99
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Composer Lied ohne Worte (Song without words), for cello and piano, Op.109 Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
24	Lied ohne Worte (Song without words), for cello and piano, Op.109	4:39			$0.99
Gaspar Cassadó Composer Requiebros, for cello and piano Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
25	Requiebros, for cello and piano	4:52			$0.99
Howard Blake Composer Archangel's Lullaby, for cello & piano Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
26	Archangel's Lullaby, for cello & piano	1:31			$0.99
Olli Mustonen Composer Frogs Dancing on Water Lilies, for cello & piano (or string orchestra) Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
27	Frogs Dancing on Water Lilies, for cello & piano (or string orchestra)	3:07			$0.99
Stephen Hough Composer Angelic Song, for cello & piano Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
28	Angelic Song, for cello & piano	2:12			$0.99
Stephen Hough Composer Angelic Dance, for cello & piano Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
29	Angelic Dance, for cello & piano	1:29			$0.99
Steven Isserlis Composer The Haunted House, for cello & piano Work Stephen Hough Piano, Steven Isserlis Cello
30	The Haunted House, for cello & piano	4:03			$0.99