Classical Music | Cello Music

Recorded on 03/19/2011, uploaded on 04/11/2011

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Camille Saint-Saëns’s Second Cello Concerto in D minor was composed in 1902, exactly thirty years after its famous predecessor. By this time, Saint-Saëns was already being seen as a stalwart of the waning 19^th century musical tradition, a soon-to-be anachronism of a bygone era, fighting the growing influence of Claude Debussy and likeminded composers. Nevertheless, Saint-Saëns continued to command a powerful reputation as a composer. Composed for the Dutch cellist Joseph Hollmann, the Second Cello Concerto has never garnered a reputation unto itself equal to that of the composer’s first concerto for the instrument, despite the many similarities between the two. However, some consider it to be wrought of finer material than its famous counterpart.

Saint-Saëns was often accused of being resistant to Romanticism, yet works such as the Second Cello Concerto show his penchant for adopting Romantically treated Classical forms. The concerto is structured into two large movements, further divided to create a quasi-four movement plan typical of 19^th century large-scale compositions. The closing movement furthermore employs the cyclic technique common during the latter half of the century by returning to material announced at the outset of the first movement. On the one hand, this may be seen as straightforward means of bringing closure to work; on the other, it also hints at the possibility of an expanded sonata form, superimposed over the entire piece and reminiscent of the cyclic works of Franz Liszt.

For the performer, the Second Cello Concerto certainly places greater virtuosic demands upon the soloist. Indeed, the extensive range utilized throughout the piece required Saint-Saëns to notate a large portion of the soloist’s part on a grand staff. This virtuosic display, calling on the performer’s technical skill and emotive power, creates a thrilling work which is undeserving of the neglect it has suffered in the shadow of its predecessor.     Joseph DuBose