1850-1899 Cello & Piano

Question 1

Name 6 works for cello and piano ca.1850-1899.

Answer 1

Johannes Brahms

1. Sonata in e for cello and piano, Op.38 (1862–65)
2. Violin Sonata No.1 in G, Op.78 (1878–79, transcribed for cello and piano by Brahms in 1896)
3. Sonata in F for cello and piano, Op.99 (1886)
4. Edvard Grieg: Cello Sonata in a (1882)
5. Richard Strauss: Sonata in F for cello and piano, Op.6 (1883)
6. César Franck: Violin Sonata in A (transcribed for cello and piano by Jules Delsart, approved by the composer, 1886)

Question 2

Piece: Brahms work for cello and piano, 1.

Answer 2

Johannes Brahms: Sonata in e for cello and piano, Op.38 (1862–65)

• It was in 1862 that Brahms wrote the first two movements of his first Cello Sonata, the year of his first visit to Vienna, the city that was to welcome him as the heir of Beethoven. The Cello Sonata was to have had a third, Adagio movement, but this was discarded, and the work was finally completed in 1865, alter the death of the composer’s mother and at a time when the German Requiem was again in his mind.
• both instruments were meant to be partners - leading, watchful, and considerate - but under no circumstances neither assuming a purely accompanying role
• It was popularized by cellist Robert Hausmann, though initially dedicated to Josef Gänsbacher, a singing professor and amateur cellist.
• It is “a homage to J. S. Bach” and the principal theme of the first movement and of the fugual finale are based on Contrapunctus 4 and 13 of The Art of Fugue.
• Brahms sent the sonata to Simrock describing it, in one of the most mendacious statements made by a major composer about his own work, as “a violoncello sonata which, as far as both instruments are concerned, is certainly not difficult to play.”
• 1. Allegro non troppo (common time, E minor, sonata form): The sonata makes full use of the more sombre possibilities of the cello, inherent in its lower range. The opening theme of the first movement establishes this mood, momentarily lightened in the lilting closing theme of the exposition, which has been preceded by a characteristically dark-hued B minor theme. The closing theme, now in E major, ends the movement.
• 2. Allegretto quasi menuetto (3/4, A minor - F-sharp minor - A minor, ternary form): It opens with a group of notes that is to serve as a concluding figure to the principal cello theme, a melody that has graver implications than are usual in a traditional minuet. The contrasting Trio, in F sharp minor alter the A minor of the first part of the movement, offers a suaver outline, with a miraculous interweaving of cross-rhythms between the two instruments. The E minor Symphony of Brahms was to make use of a theme derived from Bach for its massive final passacaglia.
• 3. Allegro (common time, E minor, sonata form): The third movement is often referred to as a fugue, however, it is more of a sonata form movement with very substantial fugal sections. The opening theme is based on Contrapunctus 13 from the Kunst der Fuge. The piano announces the subject in the left hand, answered by the cello a fourth lower and with a third entry an octave higher from the piano. The entry of the cello is accompanied by a countersubject in typically contrasted rhythm, a device for which Brahms shows his fondness again and again. These cross-rhythms continue as a feature of the movement, with its remarkable combination of traditional, formal technique with the sensibility of a later age.

Question 3

Piece: Brahms transcription for cello and piano (from violin).

Answer 3

Johannes Brahms: Violin Sonata No.1 in G, Op.78 (1878–79, transcribed for cello and piano by P. Klengel in 1896)

• The transcription for cello and piano, once attributed to Brahms, was made in 1897 by the Leipzig musician Paul Klengel, brother of the cellist Julius Klengel.
• recordings have also been made of Brahms’ Sonata No.3 in D minor, Op.108 (Ma/Ax),
• Each of three movements of this sonata shares common motivic ideas or thematic materials from the head-motif of Brahms’s two songs “Regenlied” and “Nachklang”, Op. 59, and this is why this sonata is also called Rain Sonata (Regen-Sonate).
• The dotted rhythm motif from the two songs is not only directly quoted as a leading theme in the third movement of this sonata but also constantly appearing as fragmented rhythmic motif throughout the all three movements. The rhythm of the rain motif appearing in the middle section of the second movement is adapted to a funeral march.

Question 4

Piece: Grieg work for cello and piano.

Answer 4

Edvard Grieg: Cello Sonata in a (1882)

• Grieg’s largest chamber work. 3 movements.
• Grieg dedicated the piece to his brother, John, a keen amateur cellist. Friedrich Grützmacher premièred the work with Grieg at the piano on 22 October 1883 in Dresden. Julius Klengel also performed the work only weeks after Grützmacher, also with the composer at the piano. At one of his last public appearances in 1906, Grieg played the piece one final time with no less a figure than the emerging young star, Pablo Casals.
• The Cello Sonata was composed as a result of a new lucrative arrangement made with Grieg’s publishers in Leipzig (Peters), through his contact there, Max Abraham. The firm offered Grieg 3,000 Marks for a new piano concerto (never to emerge), piano pieces, a concert overture and a new sonata to be composed within the year.
• The first movement explores an unusually wide expressive range for this particular composer, heightened by the unusual inclusion of a mini cadenza for the cellist.
• The slow movement pays an obvious debt to the Homage March from the incidental music to Sigurd Jorsalfar
• if the finale’s all-pervading dance-rhythms have a tendency to outstay their welcome on occasion, the sense of sheer exhilaration and Grieg’s unalloyed delight in his native music typically save the day

Question 5

Piece: Strauss work for cello and piano.

Answer 5

Richard Strauss: Sonata in F for cello and piano, Op.6 (1883)

• 3 movements.
• Among Strauss’ earliest works, written at age 18 or 19, it shows a complete mastery of the classical Sonata style as well as foreshadowing characteristics of his early tone poems such as “Till Eulenspiegel” and “Don Juan.”
• Dedicated to and premiered by cellist Hanuš Wihan.
• The eminently “orchestratable” piano writing in this sonata again foreshadows his future as a composer whose main “instrument”, apart from the human voice, was to be the orchestra.
• 1-2.The first movement contains a fugued middle section. The middle section of the second movement, as well as the first and second subjects of the first movement, show Strauss’ prominent gift as a lyricist, as shown by his great Lieder and operatic output, throughout his long life.
• 3. Finale. Allegro vivo: Features dotted rhythms and quick octave leaps which prove challenging from the onset for the cellist.

Question 6

Piece: Franck transcription for cello and piano (from violin).

Answer 6

César Franck: Violin Sonata in A (transcribed for cello and piano by Jules Delsart, approved by the composer, 1886)

• 4 movements.
• a wedding present for the 31-year-old violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. Ysaÿe’s championing of the Sonata contributed to the public recognition of Franck as a major composer.
• The setting for cello and piano was the only alternative version sanctioned by Franck. This was created by the renowned cellist Jules Delsart. It has often been speculated that the work was first conceived as a sonata for cello and piano.
• The piece is further notable for the difficulty of its piano part.
• The work is cyclic in nature, all the movements sharing common thematic threads. This was a technique Franck had adapted from Franz Liszt (his friend).
• 1. The first movement contains a gentle and sweetly reflective rocking theme, introduced by the [cello] after a short introduction by the piano, is the thematic core of the entire work. The first movement of the sonata, with its characteristic opening theme, serves as little more than an introduction to the weightier second movement.
• 2. A movement of impassioned intensity. The thematic material often suggests the intervals used in the initial bars of the first movement.
• 3. The third movement, with the unusual title Recitativo - Fantasia, starts, after introductory piano chords recalling the opening of the sonata, with rhetorical statements from the [cello]. Of this there is an imaginative development, against a chromatically descending bass, before the appearance of the main theme of the movement.
• 4. In the fourth movement, the main melody is heard in canonic imitation between the instruments in almost pastoral style, and recurs in a rondo-like manner. The theme appears in various tonalities, with consequent variations in intensity, in a movement that provides a fitting climax to a sonata that makes considerable demands on both [cellist] and pianist.

Question 7

Piece: Brahms work for cello and piano, 2.

Answer 7

Johannes Brahms: Sonata for cello and piano, Op.99 in F (1886)

• Dedicated to and premiered by cellist Robert Hausmann with the composer at the piano.
• 1. Allegro vivace (3/4, F major, sonata form): The F Major cello sonata is a less somber work than its predecessor in E minor. The writing is more lyrical and shows an almost youthful exuberance and intensity, apparent as the cello presents the first theme, over the tremolo notes of the piano. The second subject is entrusted at first to the piano, which soon breaks into those cross-rhythms that are a recurrent feature of the composer’s style. Cello tremolo notes end the first section of the movement and return during the course of a dramatic development.
• 2. Adagio affetuoso (2/4, F-sharp major - F minor - F-sharp major, ABA): The second movement shifts to the remote key of F sharp major, an effectively mysterious change of tonality already implied in the brief excursion into F sharp minor of the first movement. The second theme of the Adagio, however, is in F minor, a somber counter part of the key of the first movement, and explores the darker, lower range of the cello, before returning, with plucked notes, to the subtly modified first key and melody.
• 3. Allegro passionato (6/8, F minor - F major - F minor, ternary form): The third movement has a piano part of even greater technical complexity than that of the first movement, offering further problems of balance to performers. Three piano chords lead from the F minor opening section to the F Major Trio section, which touches briefly on the key of F-sharp major, a semitone higher, giving once again that sudden and mysteriously ethereal effect experienced in the Adagio.
• 4. Allegro molto (cut time, F major, rondo form): The final Rondo, written first with apparent haste and later corrected by the composer, seems at first too insubstantial for the preceding movements. Intervening episodes, however, add a touch of the more serious, before the final version of the first theme, which is to be played either with the bow or pizzicato by the cello.

Question 8

Name 2 of Brahms’ cellists.

Answer 8

Robert Hausmann

David Popper

Question 9

Name Grieg’s cellist.

Answer 9

Friedrich Grützmacher

Question 10

Name 2 of Richard Strauss’ cellists.

Answer 10

Friedrich Grützmacher

Hanuš Wihan

Question 11

Name 4 French composers of works for cello and piano ca.1850-1899. (include transcriptions)

Answer 11

• Édouard Lalo: Sonata in a for cello and piano (to Anton Rubinstein, 1856)
• Camille Saint-Saëns: 1 sonata for cello and piano, 2 pieces for cello and piano
  
  • Sonata No.1 in c for cello and piano (1872–73)
  • Allegro Appassionato for cello and piano, Op.43 (1875)
  • Le Cygne for cello and harp (The Swan, 1886)
• Gabriel Fauré: 3 pieces for cello and piano
  
  • Elegie for cello and piano (1883)
  • Papillon for cello and piano (1894)
  • Sicilienne for cello and piano (1898)
• César Franck: Violin Sonata in A (transcribed for cello and piano by Jules Delsart, approved by the composer, 1886)

Question 12

Name 3 German composers of works for cello and piano ca.1850-1899. (include transcriptions)

Answer 12

• Max Bruch: Kol Nidrei for cello and piano, Op.47 (1881)
• Johannes Brahms: 2 cello sonatas and at least 1 transcription of a violin sonata
  
  • Sonata in e for cello and piano, Op.38 (1862–65)
  • Violin Sonata No.1 in G, Op.78 (1878–79, transcribed for cello and piano by Brahms in 1896)
  • Sonata in F for cello and piano, Op.99 (1886)
• Richard Strauss: Sonata in F for cello and piano, Op.6 (1883)

Question 13

Name 1 Norwegian composer of works for cello and piano ca.1850-1899.

Answer 13

Edvard Grieg: Cello Sonata in a (1882)

Question 14

Name 2 Czech composers of works for cello and piano ca.1850-1899.

Answer 14

• Josef Suk
  
  • Ballade in d for cello and piano (1890)
  • Serenade in A for cello and piano (1890)
• Antonín Dvořák
  
  • Silent Woods for cello and piano, Op.68.5 (1891)
  • Rondo in g for cello and piano, Op.94 (1891)

Question 15

Name 1 Bohemian composer of works for cello and piano ca.1850-1899.

Answer 15

David Popper

• Elfentanz (Dance of the Elves) for cello and piano (ca.1890)
• Spinnlied (Spinning Song) for cello and piano (ca.1890)

Question 16

Name 1 Hungarian composer of works for cello and piano ca.1850-1899.

Answer 16

Ernő Dohnányi: Cello Sonata (1899)

Question 17

Name 1 English composer of works for cello and piano ca.1850-1899.

Answer 17

Frederick Delius: Romance for cello and piano (1896)