ABSTRACT
The two best-known “lonely star” approaches of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries belong to three pedagogues: William Pleeth, Hans Jørgen Jensen, and Jensen’s co-author Minna Rose Chung. William Pleeth’s pedagogy is exploratory and creative rather than prescriptive. William Pleeth rejects any distinction between “technique” and “musicality,” preferring to use each as a starting point for the other. William Pleeth teaches a pronated shape, which he terms the “sloped position,” to “[give] the sound greater richness and expression.” The degree of slope varies by the individual’s finger proportions. William Pleeth teaches “release” in fingering and is opposed to what he terms the “set hand.” “Most of the sour intonation one encounters in cellists who otherwise play well comes because they attempt to keep as many fingers as possible down while they are playing”.
