Classical Music | Cello Music

Recorded on 12/15/2004, uploaded on 02/18/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Sergei Rachmaninoff completed his one and only sonata for the cello in November 1901, and premiered the work on December 2 with Anatoliy Brandukov as the soloist. Several changes were made after its premiere and are the reason the date “12 December 1901” appears on the score. Rachmaninoff himself did not think of the work as a sonata for cello, but instead as a collaborative work for both instruments. His choice of title reflects this and, indeed, hearkens back to a Classical nomenclature that was revived in the official titles of the chamber sonatas of Johannes Brahms, but is even today hardly used. Indeed, in Rachmaninoff’s sonata, the piano at times even assumes the greater role between the two instruments.

The sonata opens with a slow introduction establishing the key of G minor before leading into the main body of the first movement. At the start of the Allegro moderato, a dramatic but lyrical theme is heard and punctuated by a forceful motif in the piano. A more subdued melody, yet one that at times soars into heaven, later appears as the movement’s second theme. A stormy development ensues driven in large part by the piano, who eventually usurps the full attention of the listener from the soloist, towards its close. Both themes are reprised and the movement closes with Rachmaninoff’s signature conclusive flourish.

The following Allegro scherzando abounds with an almost demonic energy and is propelled forward by its agitated and rhythmic motif. A gentler theme, however, appears in the Trio section that builds into a passionate and beautiful climax as the soloist soars into its upper register. The piano then provides a dramatic reintroduction of the scherzo which leads to a quiet, sinister ending.

Considered the best of the sonata’s four movements, the Andante begins with a lovely and charming melody in the piano atop gentle broken chords, to which the cello answers with its own impassioned song. The material of this theme is developed through the course of the movement, eventually leading to a powerful and emotional climax.

Shifting to G major, the finale opens with an exuberant theme in the piano that is quickly taken up by the soloist and expanded. At first the movement sounds somewhat removed from the composer’s typical manner, but the beautifully lyrical second theme is purely Rachmaninoff. Both themes appear throughout the movement’s middle section but it is the spirit of the first theme that largely prevails. A mysterious section of arpeggios and cello pizzicati appears close to the end of the development and provides the impetus to build to the reprise of the first theme. Like earlier in the movement, the second theme is once again lovingly dwelt upon, but this time leads into a coda. Beginning in a slower tempo with melodic fragments over resonant chords in the piano, the coda later adopts the joyous first theme to close the sonata.      Joseph DuBose

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Sonata for Cello and Piano in g minor, Op. 19           Sergey Rachmaninov

Lento - Allegro moderato - Moderato

Allegro scherzando

Andante

Allegro mosso - Moderato - Vivace

Fleeing the Soviet Revolution, Rachmaninov settled in the United States in 1918.  While he enjoyed a successful career as a pianist in Europe and America, he always insisted that composing remained difficult away from his homeland, which he missed greatly.  And indeed, there was a compositional "silence" until 1926, when he wrote the Piano Concerto no.4, followed by only a handful of works over the next 15 years

His oeuvre can be considered typical of the sentimentalism of the Russian Belle Époque, one of the most productive periods in the development of European music. His compositional heritage is more in the style of Liszt and Chopin, displaying constant virtuosity and grandeur in the writing; his music is characterized by memorable soaring melodies, romantic harmonies and a distinctive Russian flavor.

Rachmaninov was a famous piano virtuoso who continued giving concerts until a very advanced age. He also studied counterpoint under Sergey Taneyev who was regarded as the strictest master of fugal writing of his day.  While most famous for his piano concertos, Rachmaninov demonstrates his understanding and love of the cello not only within the orchestra parts of those concertos, but also with this rich cello sonata, and various short pieces he wrote for the instrument.

The Cello Sonata, op. 19, composed in 1901 together with the second Piano Concerto, was dedicated to Rachmaninov's friend, cellist Anatoli Brandukov. Brandukov and the composer premiered the work in Moscow on December 2, 1901. Rachmaninov could not deny his pianistic temperament: the piano "runs the show", while the cello part hovers around it, rather as its ornament and reflection. It is one of the composer's most Romantic works, and one loved by performers and audiences alike; the soaring melodies in the cello are often accompanied by rapid, florid filigree, and the piano solos are concerto-like in effect. Ultimately governed by the composer's melancholy lyricism, the work resonates with the sentimentality of Rachmaninov's lachrymose melodies as the cello part floats amid waves of piano sound.  Like Rachmaninov's Second Symphony, the traditional roles of the second and the third movements are "exchanged": the second is a lively Scherzando and the third is a lyrical Andante.   In the fourth movement, darker emotions give way to the light of the final Vivace.   Amit Peled

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.