Marie La Cinquantaine for Cello and Cello Quartet

Gabriel-Marie's La Cinquantaine is one of those salon pieces that cellists tend to encounter early in their studies and remember fondly. This arrangement keeps Gabriel-Marie's original melody intact in the solo cello part and replaces the piano accompaniment with a cello quartet, creating a piece that five cellists can perform together without needing any other instrument.

The arrangement came out of a request for a cello workshop, and that setting is where it particularly comes into its own. Many cellists already know the melody from their own early learning, which means the piece can get up quickly. In a workshop context, the solo can rotate between players while others take the quartet parts, so a full group can all participate and perform the piece in the same session. The quartet writing is supportive and well within reach for players of similar level to the soloist, and no one is left with a purely accompanying role.

The solo part sits at intermediate level with the focus on tone production and sustained cantabile playing: long phrases, a warm legato, and musical shaping across a singing melodic line. There's nothing technically demanding for its own sake. The piece is really an opportunity to focus on how the music sounds rather than what the left hand is doing.

At six to seven minutes, it has the weight of a proper concert item while remaining compact enough to fit naturally into a recital or workshop programme.

See and hear the difference

Check the score and parts preview images above, then watch the complete score video below. They'll give you a clear picture of the engraving quality and overall difficulty before you buy.

Key features

• Instrumentation: Solo Cello + Cello Quartet (Cello I, Cello II, Cello III, Cello IV)
• Difficulty: intermediate (solo and quartet parts)
• Duration: approximately 6-7 minutes
• Style focus: cantabile playing, sustained tone, lyrical phrasing
• Format: PDF download, full score and all five parts

Who it's for

This is an ideal choice for cello workshops, where the solo can rotate between players and the quartet parts give the rest of the group something genuinely musical to do. It also works well in student recitals, cello ensemble concerts, and chamber music events where an all-cello texture and a well-known, approachable melody are a practical asset.