Rejoice All Ye Cello Ensembles!

Ovation Press and Stephen Watkins Release Multiple Arrangements for Cello Ensemble

Ovation Press is excited to be making several additions to its growing catalog of arrangements for cello ensemble. We recently published a new set of cello ensemble scores from editor Stephen Watkins.

About Stephen Watkins

Stephen Watkins attended the Guidhall School of Music in London where he studied, of all things, trombone and piano. You might be wondering how he came to be writing music for cello. Mr. Watkins’ real interest at the Guidhall School was in composition, where he benefited from the tuition of very diverse professors. However, upon leaving the school, he entered the profession of music education, involved in classroom and instrumental teaching. When Watkins was in his mid-forties, he came to a crossroads in life, encountering a medical situation that ruled out playing brass at the professional level. After some soul-searching, Mr. Watkins changed his primary instrument to the cello.

Stephen Watkins has composed and arranged numerous works that have been published by houses in the US, the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany. His output includes works for brass, recorders, and strings.

Stephen Watkins’ Scores for Cello Ensemble at Ovation Press:

1. Johann Sebastian Bach – Prélude from English Suite No. 3 (for Cello Quartet)
2. Gioachino Rossini – Overture from The Barber of Seville (for Cello Octet)
3. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Allegro Molto from Symphony No. 40 (for Cello Quartet)
4. Ludwig van Beethoven – Allegretto from Symphony No. 7 (for Cello Octet)
5. Gabriel Fauré – Pavane (for Cello Octet)
6. Camille Saint-Saëns – Allegro Appassionato (for Cello Quartet)
7. John Philip Sousa – Liberty Bell (for Cello Septet)

While the cello is an extremely popular instrument, cello ensembles are a bit more of a rarity in the music world. We often find the cello matched with other string instruments or piano in chamber settings. But, the rich sound of the cello blends just as well with itself as it does its counterparts across the registers. The sound of cellos playing in unison and harmony with one another creates an unusually beautiful, deep and warm sound. Ovation Press is proud to be the publisher of these fantastic scores, and to play a role in growing the available repertoire for these less-frequently heard musical ensembles.

Ovation Press is the exclusive publisher of several extraordinary arrangements and transcriptions for cello ensemble, many of which have been performed by the world-famous 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic and Les Violoncelles Français. View the complete list of arrangements and transcriptions for cello ensemble available from Ovation Press. All scores are available to print instantly!