The title of this piece derives from its prominent use of sustained, smooth-flowing melodic lines. ’Cantilena’ tries to capture a popular flavour, borrowing freely from pop, jazz and rock styles: primary and secondary chords are used in arpeggiated piano figures, as mainstream ballads might do. A ’bluesy’ style emerges in the third main theme. The piece demonstrates a range of tone colour for the cello across a wide melodic range.