Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Chant Hébraïque For Cello And Piano

Born into a family of bankers that had lived in Florence since the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968) studied under Pizzetti at the city's Conservatoire. He soon became one of the leading members of the young Italian school, which broke with the tyranny of bel canto to return to the instrumental tradition of the Italian masters from the Baroque era. In 1928, Castelnuovo-Tedesco was asked to write a vocalise for the Répertoire moderne de Vocalises-Études.

Castelnuovo-Tedesco's contribution became so popular that it was immediately transcribed several times over. The present adaptation for cello and piano, was created, with prior consent from the composer, by the famous Catalan cellist Gaspar Cassadó in 1930.