SOLILOQUY FOR SOLO CELLO is subtitled “A Collection of Reflections” -- reflections implying both those in a mirror, or in slightly disturbed water, and those that occur in one’s thoughts while day-dreaming. It explores the range and scope of the solo cello, using a tone-row mainly as a unifying device. The row is not used strictly, and is unusual in being almost entirely scalar; it is presented in its downward version in the first twelve notes. I tried to convert this rather melancholy material into a form which would portray differing moods in each of the eight brief “movements”, in much the way the movements of a Bach suite represent contrasting moods and tempi. . . . The work is dedicated to my oldest son, Stephen Drake, a professional cellist who gave it its premiere in 1980, and has played it many times since -- as have other cellists around the world.