The Op. 5 sonatas are groundbreaking as the first cello sonatas where the piano and cello share equal importance, unlike earlier works where the keyboard part was often a skeletal figured bass.
Composition History
The Op. 5 cello sonatas were composed for Jean-Louis Duport, the King's principal cellist, with whom Beethoven also performed them.
Composition History
Beethoven composed his first two cello sonatas during a rewarding two-month stay in Berlin in 1796, where he performed repeatedly for King Frederick William II, an avid cellist.
Compositional Technique
Beethoven's Op. 5 cello sonatas feature a unique two-movement, three-part design, opening with a fantasia-like Adagio sostenuto followed by a capacious Allegro and a Rondo finale.
Instruments
The cello used in this recording is a Giovanni Grancino, made in Milan in 1707, and the fortepiano is an Anton Walter copy built by Rodney Regier.
Performer Biography
Keiran Campbell, the cellist on this recording, is co-principal cello of Tafelmusik and can be heard on Jordi Savall's new Beethoven Symphonies recording.
Composer Biography
Beethoven's 1796 concert tour, which included Berlin, was sponsored by Prince Karl Lichnowsky, who had also supported Mozart's similar tour in 1789.
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