I. Allegro non troppo II. Allegro III. Largo IV. Adagio
Shostakovich wrote his first and only sonata for cello over the course of a month in 1934, as a result of his collaboration with his friend, the cellist Wiktor Kubazki. This was a particularly creative period in the composer's artist life, just prior to the censure of his music by Soviet authorities-notably the opera Lady Macbeth of Mtensk, which was deemed too bourgeois and decadent for the Soviet people. It was also a period of emotional turmoil for the composer, as he had fallen in love with a young student at a Leningrad festival featuring his Lady Macbeth. Their affair resulted in a brief divorce from his wife Nina.
The sonata form first movement contrasts a broad first theme in cello, accompanied by flowing piano arpeggios, developed by the piano towards an intense climax. As tension abates, a ray of light appears with the tender second theme, announced by the piano and imitated by the cello. In the development a spiky rhythmic motif penetrates through the flowing textures of the first theme, but soon the gentler second theme reappears. The movement ends with a dramatic twist: cosmic chaos where all moves in slow motion, with staccato chords in the piano and sustained notes in the cello.
The second movement has perpetual motion energy, with thrusting repeated ostinato pattern paired with a delicate first theme presented by the piano in widely spaced octaves. The cello's more light-hearted theme is later imitated in the piano's brittle high register. Sudden lurches into unrelated keys, give way to a return to the initial driving ostinato, which leads to a sudden conclusion.
The bleak expanses of Russia are evoked in the soulful Largo movement, with the piano providing a dark backdrop for the cello's rhapsodic, vocal theme. The music eventually fades into the impressionistic twilight.
The sonata ends with a brief yet ebullient finale, a type of rondo in which the main playful theme appears three times, imitated by both instruments, interspersed by episodes of sparking scales. In the second thematic appearance, the piano is let loose in a cadenza of helter-skelter zest, veering into unexpected tonal directions. The theme returns, to round the movement off in decisive brilliance. Marina Hoover
Classical Music | Cello Music
Dmitry Shostakovich
Sonata for Cello and Piano in d minor, Op. 40 Play
Recorded on 01/03/2013, uploaded on 01/03/2013
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
I. Allegro non troppo
II. Allegro
III. Largo
IV. Adagio
Shostakovich wrote his first and only sonata for cello over the course of a month in 1934, as a result of his collaboration with his friend, the cellist Wiktor Kubazki. This was a particularly creative period in the composer's artist life, just prior to the censure of his music by Soviet authorities-notably the opera Lady Macbeth of Mtensk, which was deemed too bourgeois and decadent for the Soviet people. It was also a period of emotional turmoil for the composer, as he had fallen in love with a young student at a Leningrad festival featuring his Lady Macbeth. Their affair resulted in a brief divorce from his wife Nina.
The sonata form first movement contrasts a broad first theme in cello, accompanied by flowing piano arpeggios, developed by the piano towards an intense climax. As tension abates, a ray of light appears with the tender second theme, announced by the piano and imitated by the cello. In the development a spiky rhythmic motif penetrates through the flowing textures of the first theme, but soon the gentler second theme reappears. The movement ends with a dramatic twist: cosmic chaos where all moves in slow motion, with staccato chords in the piano and sustained notes in the cello.
The second movement has perpetual motion energy, with thrusting repeated ostinato pattern paired with a delicate first theme presented by the piano in widely spaced octaves. The cello's more light-hearted theme is later imitated in the piano's brittle high register. Sudden lurches into unrelated keys, give way to a return to the initial driving ostinato, which leads to a sudden conclusion.
The bleak expanses of Russia are evoked in the soulful Largo movement, with the piano providing a dark backdrop for the cello's rhapsodic, vocal theme. The music eventually fades into the impressionistic twilight.
The sonata ends with a brief yet ebullient finale, a type of rondo in which the main playful theme appears three times, imitated by both instruments, interspersed by episodes of sparking scales. In the second thematic appearance, the piano is let loose in a cadenza of helter-skelter zest, veering into unexpected tonal directions. The theme returns, to round the movement off in decisive brilliance. Marina Hoover
More music by Dmitry Shostakovich
Prelude Op.34 no.5
Prelude n. 1 (from five preludes without opus number)
Trio No. 1 in c minor, Op. 8
Adagio from The Limpid Stream, Op. 39
Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 99
Prelude n. 3 (from five preludes without opus number)
Sonata for Cello and Piano in d minor, Op. 40
Piano Quintet in g minor, op. 57
String Quartet no. 1, op. 49
Sonata for Cello and Piano in d minor, Op. 40
Performances by same musician(s)
Meditation, from 18 Pieces, Op.72
Le Grand Tango for Cello and Piano
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