Free cello and piano sheet music

Easy cello scores with piano accompaniment

I have just started to include cello melodies with piano accompaniment for beginners. One of the most popular downloads at my site is Canon In D by Pachelbel. The arrangement below is simplified and shortened and can be played by intermediate cello players.

Cello and piano scores (PDF)

Cello lesson - Who Was Jacqueline Du Pre?

By Val D Moratalla

Jacqueline du Pre was a legendary cellist of all time. Her rendition of Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor is one of her famous masterpieces which established her stardom. She combined heart and soul to produce extravagant tones ever to be heard in a cello. She is shy in nature, but she plays with precision and pureness of tone. Jacqueline was born in Oxford on January 26, 1945 in England. She is the second child of Derek and Iris du Pre. At an early age, she showed signs of a music prodigy. She became inclined in playing cello just before her fifth birthday when she first heard the sound of the cello. She asked her mother to buy her one and the course of her career has started.

When Jacqueline is ten, she studied under William Pleeth. She then studied with Mstislav Rostropovich, Pablo Casals and Paul Tortelier. Rostropovich once quoted that Du Pre played Elgar pieces much better than him because the piece itself is appropriate for young people, and the theme of the slow movement sounds like it's about first love. At the age of 16, Jacqueline made her formal debut at Wigmore Hall, London. She played sonatas by de Falla, Handel, Brahms and Debussy, and a solo cello suite by Bach. Under Rudolf Schwarz, she made her concerto debut on 21 March 1962 at the Royal Festival Hall playing the Elgar Cello Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Jacqueline performed with renowned orchestras, including New Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and many more. She performed with famous conductors such as Daniel Barenboim (her husband), Sir Adrian Boult, Zubin Mehta, Sargent, Barbirolli and Leonard Bernstein. Jacqueline has received honorary doctorate degrees and several companionships from music academics for her exceptional contributions to music. She was the second recipient of the prestigious Guilhermina Suggia Award. She won the Gold Medal at the Guildhall School of Music in London and the Queen's Prize for British Musicians. She was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

Her career has fallen down into pieces when she became a victim of multiple sclerosis. It is an illness in which the protecting cover of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. She could not identify the time when she started losing sense in her fingers and her arms. She stopped playing cello at the age of 28. She continued teaching lessons on occasion and takes part in some plays, but her health had worsened and on October 19, 1987 was her last day here on earth.

She left the world with so many contributions in the music industry. She had been an inspiration to others and a role model to all her followers. Despite her illness, she still managed to continue her duty as a mother and a musician.

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