Thomas Prechal - 'Images' for cello and piano | Thomas Prechal (15), cello and Natasja Douma, piano

Thomas Prechal - 'Obrazy' ('Images') for cello and piano:
1. ‘Světlušky’ / ‘Fireflies’
2. ‘Hrozivé mraky’ / ‘Menacing clouds’
3. ‘Zmrzlá růže’ / ‘Frozen rose’
4. ‘Potok na jaře’ / ‘A stream in spring’
5. ‘Ztracený z domova’ / ‘Lost from home’
6. ‘Návrat domů’ / ‘Returning home’

Thomas Prechal (15 years old), cello
Natasja Douma, piano

Obrazy is a short suite for cello and piano, with which I tried something new. Until now, when I was starting to write a piece, I would always start with the music itself (mostly improvising on the cello or piano). This time, I challenged myself to start with an image and to really stick to that image while writing each movement (usually I tend to jump from one character to another pretty quickly...;-)). So as a result arose Obrazy. I hope you will enjoy!

I was greatly helped by Natasja's great piano playing and the camerawork of my talented sister Larissa (check out her YouTube-channel and website: https://wonderfulcreatures.nl/)

Thanks for listening and I hope to see you again in another video!


Thomas Prechal (30-11-2004) is a cellist who also likes to compose. He is currently taking lessons with Lenian Benjamins and Jan Ype Nota at the Academie Muzikaal Talent in Utrecht, and with Michel Strauss at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague. He has participated in masterclasses with Raphael Pidoux, Jerôme Pernoo, Jens-Peter Mainz, Wen-Sinn Yang, Harro Ruijsenaars, Qin Li-Wei and Colin Carr. Together with his string quartet, he has received lessons from members of the Jerusalem, Quiroga and Casals Quartets.

Thomas has won prizes in the ‘Britten’, ‘Archipel’ and ‘Maassluise Muziekweek’ music competitions, and at the ‘Edmond Baert’, ‘Bohuš Heran’ and ‘David Popper’ international cello competitions. He has performed as a soloist with several youth and professional orchestras in concertos by Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saens and Bruch.

In addition to his cello playing, Thomas likes to improvise and compose music. As a composer, he has won a prize at the ‘Prinses Christina’ competition. He has written various pieces for cello and piano, etudes and caprices for cello solo, various cello ensemble pieces, various chamber music pieces, a ‘Rhapsody for cello and string orchestra’ (premiered and recorded with the Haydn Youth String Orchestra, and performed with the Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchestr Pforzheim), ‘Symbiosis’ for two celli and string orchestra (premiered with the Stuttgarter Kammerorchestr), ‘Phoenix’ for cello and symphony orchestra (premiered with the North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra) and ‘Ephémère for string quintet (premiered at Salle Cortot Paris).