Two Pieces for Solo Cello brings together two contrasting works connected by an underlying sense of instrumental speech. Recitativo, conceived as an homage to Constantin Silvestri, unfolds slowly and freely, allowing bow contact, resonance and expressive inflection to shape an airy, declamatory line.

In Fugitive Lines II, the writing becomes more condensed and volatile. Its opening indication — Débridé, comme parlant trop vite… — captures the character of a music that remains fundamentally parlando while continually accelerating, fragmenting and changing direction. Sudden bursts move through extreme registers and dynamics before giving way to quieter pizzicato passages that retain the same speech-like quality.

Across the pair, articulation, gesture and resonance behave like different forms of utterance: from the spacious and expressive recitative of the first piece to the restless, compressed discourse of the second. Fugitive Lines II is related to the viola work Fugitive Lines, where this approach to rapid, fragmented instrumental speech is developed in another instrumental form.