Ruggiero Leoncavallo: Brise de Mer for Cello and Piano

When Leoncavallo's beautiful solo piece Brise de Mer ("Sea Breeze") was first published in Berlin in 1906, he was already an established opera composer, largely due to his first opera Pagliacci, which had become an international success. An Impromptu is an informal piece usually for solo instrument. This French word can be translated loosely as "off-hand" and it's used to describe relatively short pieces which sometimes have a partly improvised style, a simple structure and an emphasis on melody. Piano pieces entitled Impromptu first appeared in the early 19th century and remained popular for decades. This edition of the piece has a slightly simplified piano part, edited by Colin Kirkpatrick. The work has been transposed down to D major from the original E major. The cello part remains unchanged and the bowing and phrasing are identical to the original edition. The music uses the entire cello range in both bass and tenor clefs and the highest note is the high D above the tenor staff (D5). This note appears only twice in the entire piece. The piano part has been simplified by reducing the number of notes in many of the chords, especially those played by the left hand. This is a lovely cello piece which deserves to be heard more often, with its lyrical melody, elegant changes of harmony and contrasting moods. It would make an excellent item for a cello recital.