Suite No. 2 for Cello All By Its Lonesome

Cover of Suite No. 2 for Cello All By Its Lonesome

Suite No. 2 for Cello All By Its Lonesome is the second of a pair of parody pieces by P.D.Q. Bach, pseudonym of composer and musical parodist Peter Schickele. As with most of his other pieces, Suite No. 2 is impressively unique, not only in its challenge as a piece, but for its most humbling moments — the piece calls for no fewer than four varieties of pizzicato (normal, slap, snap, and left hand), and makes frequent use of the three common cello clefs, requiring the cellist to be comfortable in all of his or her left-hand positions in order to even approach the piece.

Parts

The piece is divided into five parts, the naming convention an apparent parody, with almost every word ending in "o", even when this means nothing in proper Italian.

1. Preludio Molto Importanto
2. Bourrée Molto Schmaltzando
3. Sarabanda In Modo Lullabyo
4. Menuetto Allegretto
5. Gigue-o-lo