Beethoven: Complete Works for Cello & Piano

Featuring

Gautier Capuçon
Frank Braley
Ludwig van Beethoven

Did you know?

1/6

Performer Biography

Gautier Capuçon, the cellist on this recording, considers recording Beethoven's complete cello sonatas a significant milestone in a cellist's musical life.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded at Schloss Elmau, a luxury spa retreat and cultural hideaway in Bavaria, known for its peaceful and inspiring atmosphere and unique acoustics.

Compositional Technique

Beethoven's five cello and piano sonatas, composed over two decades, reflect different stages of his journey and initiated a long series of virtuoso works leading to the Romantic sonata.

Composition History

Beethoven's first two cello sonatas, Op. 5, were completed during a visit to Berlin in 1796 and dedicated to King Friedrich-Wilhelm II of Prussia, who was an excellent musician.

Historical Context

Unlike Haydn, who wrote two cello concertos, and Mozart, who included a beautiful cello obbligato in Don Giovanni, neither composer wrote a cello sonata, leaving Beethoven without a direct model.

Compositional Technique

Beethoven found freedom and strict discipline in the variation form, which suited his imagination, leading him to become a grandmaster of variation writing.