Claude Vivier

For the solo piece I am currently working on, I decided to choose an instrument that I have always thought was quite beautiful but never really learned much about: the cello. I've always thought the cello was one of the orchestra greatest instruments.
As part of my research, Dr. Suter recommended to me the work of Claude Vivier(1948-1983). Vivier was a Canadian composer born to unknown parents in Montreal. Before pursuing his interest in music, he was on path to a career in the priesthood, attending boarding schools from the age of thirteen to the age of eighteen when he was asked to leave. Then he began his studies in music and within a few years had already gained a reputation. Vivier began to be inspired by different music he discovered in his travels to Europe and Japan. In 1983, he was stabbed to death in Paris before finishing his final work, Glaubst du an die Unsterblichkeit der Seele.
As I am researching works performed on the cello, I found Vivier's Piece Pour Violoncelle et Piano. What I found very useful about this piece was his ability to make use of the cello's full range. Not only does he use its wonderful lower register we're all familiar with, but he uses a lot of harmonics as well that I had not heard before on the instrument. I was not aware of just how dynamic an instrument the cello really is. Although I'm not sure I will want to use the harmonics in the piece I'm currently working on as they can sound a bit whiny and unsettling, it got me thinking about the possibility of exploring the stranger side of the instrument as well as the beautiful. And I'm not just talking about the cello but other instruments I'll work with in the future as well. It just opened up my eyes a bit that there is probably a great deal I don't know about the range of unexpected sounds that may be produced with certain instruments we're all familiar with.
Unfortunately, I was unable to find a YouTube performance of the piece.