Yuriy Leonovich

Often, when looking for the first "real" concerto to give to our students, we go to the list that includes Haydn C, Saint-Saëns 1, Lalo, and Boccherini-Grützmacher. I would like to present to you Carl Maria von Weber's Grand Potpourri…

Undoubtedly, Barber's concerto is one of the greatest of the 20th century. In my Critical Notes Series, I typically look at misprints and textual variants. But the solo part of Barber's concerto was proofread with a great amount of accuracy…

Currently, the price for the Boosey edition of Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante is $71.00. What do you expect to get when you pay that much money for a score? You get a Xerox copy of a 1950s Soviet edition that was…

Undoubtedly, Joseph Haydn's Divertimento is a staple of the cello repertoire. Besides the 2 cello concertos, Haydn didn't leave us with any sonatas, so a fancy arrangement for cello and piano is always welcome. The story of Piatigorsky's arrangement is…

Suite Op.16 was originally composed in 1862 for cello and piano by the young Saint-Saëns, full of life and passion. In 1919, he orchestrated 3 of the movements from the 1862 Suite and replaced the third (Scherzo) and fifth (Finale)…

This December, I would like to offer some of my experience in research and edition preparation. Our first session concentrated on how I go about making a cello part from start to finish. You can re-watch the session below. Here…

As with Stravinsky, Rachmaninov's cello sonata is currently suffering from reprint-itis, whether you get it for free on IMSLP or pay an arm and a leg for the Boosey edition. Be warned, it's all the same. I am currently…

Most of the music written in the last 100 years is monopolized by the original publishers. I'll venture to say that most of this music was killed by the original publisher because it was pulled out of print. We may…

Many cellists have adopted Schnittke's Suite in Old Style as their own, although it was originally composed for violin and piano (or harpsichord). I would argue that it sounds better with harpsichord. Since this work has made it into the…

This work was written about 3 years ago by Arsentiy Kharitonov, a pianist-composer from St. Petersburg, Russia. Currently residing in Texas, Kharitonov composed this solo cello tone poem for Cicely Parnas. The entire work germinates from the first three measures…

C.P.E. Bach's A major Cello Concerto has enjoyed a longstanding popularity. Bach himself has version of this work for solo cello, solo flute, or solo keyboard. In the last 100 years, it has been rearranged for cello and orchestra by…

Born in Riga, Latvia, Don Jaffé moved around quite a bit due to the war and anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe. His family was forced to flee to Siberia in 1941. After returning to his native town at age 14, Jaffé…

Tomorrow will mark 25 years since I started playing cello. It has been a tough but very rewarding road. Thinking about the subject I wanted to share with my readers on this occasion, I settled on my continued learning and…

This October marks the 185th anniversary of the birth of Camille Saint-Saëns. This is not as big as next year's 100th anniversary of his death. As musicians all over the world celebrate his 185th birthday, many will post performances of…

Next month, my orchestra is playing Haydn's G-major Violin Concerto. As with every piece I play or conduct, I also research it. Many good articles have come out in the last decade talking about Haydn's concertos. It is not my…

Here is part 3 to my Suzuki Cello School list. This compilation is called Intermediate Bach for the Cello by Charles Krane. Up until now, these pieces have not been identified by the publisher. Please read part 1 and part…

This list serves as Part 2 to my Suzuki Cello School list. As someone who loves to research, I don't understand why editors do not state their sources. As you will see below, on the left are the names that…

What is more popular than the Suzuki Method? This rhetorical question is meant to make you think about the influence of the Suzuki Method on generations of musicians for the last half century. The issue of composer and title attribution…

Review: Prokofiev Cello Sonata Op. 119 (Hans Sikorski / Boosey & Hawkes 2001 revised edition) 

Prokofiev's Cello Sonata, Op. 119 is a masterpiece cellists are lucky to have in our repertoire. It comes from Prokofiev's collaboration with cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.…

Shostakovich's Cello Sonata, Op. 40 turned 86 years old this year. This work is a staple of most professionals and advanced students' repertoires. This position is well-deserved. The cello sonata very much reflects the style of Shostakovich's Symphonies Nos. 4…

On July 20, I will be releasing my first studio album called Classical Sonatas for Two Cellos, Volume 1. The album includes 7 sonatas by Jean-Baptiste Bréval and 1 sonata by Bernhard Romberg. I'm dedicating this album to my…

New Publication Newsletter: May 2020

We have 6 new editions out this month. As many of us are making more music at home, we hope to bring brightness and a gift of music to your lives.

Arensky - Romanza, from…

Gaspar Cassadó has been my favorite cellist-composer for half of my life now. His music provides variety and imagination. His arrangements are especially well-crafted. As someone who arranges music almost daily, I look up to Cassadó for inspiration. Although the…

For this Installment of "Critical Notes Series," I would like to introduce my newest, long-awaited orchestration of Klengel's Concertino No. 1 for cello and orchestra. Klengel never orchestrated this work, leaving it for cello and piano, as with the other…