Album Leaves

12 Album Leaves for Cello and Piano
by: Reinhold Glière

 Discovering heretofore unknown works for cello from the Romantic period and before is a pleasant, if not exhilarating experience. Seeing the printed music for the first time, I generally get a sense of excitement at the chance that the music will be interesting enough to play more than once. The notes are on the page and they begin to speak before being played. Then, as I draw my bow over my strings, with my fingers stopping notes as the composer wishes, the music has a voice. This is the moment that I have been waiting for. What is the voice that the notes wish to express?

In the case of the 12 Album Leaves or Albumblaetter (in German) the sounds coming from my cello gave rise to a soothing, though dark Russian voice. As Russian composers are known for their darker music, even happy music can have a somewhat heavy tone to it, this music seemed to be no exception. I played through all 12, one or two page, movements in one sitting. Each little piece gained in melodic beauty, all the while compelling me to continue. The notes were not written for beauty's sake nor to prove the composer's ability at writing flowing lines that meld together.

I don't know any people who have played these pieces let alone anyone who knows they exist. I am grateful to the generous uploader to IMSLP for allowing others to discover one more reason for playing cello.


On a short note about Reinhold Glière, I read in Wikipedia that he was born to a German father and Ukrainian mother in Ukraine after his father moved to live there. His father's family name was Glier. Only later on did Reinhold change his Germanic family name to the more Belgian/French looking and sounding name Glière, which also changed the pronunciation. If this is true it certainly clears up the questions I've always had about a Russian with a French looking name.