Beethoven: Complete Works for Cello and Piano, Vol. 1

Featuring

Gabriel Schwabe
Nicholas Rimmer
Ludwig van Beethoven

Did you know?

1/6

Composer Biography

King Frederick William II, to whom Beethoven dedicated his Op. 5 Cello Sonatas, was a music enthusiast and cellist, and had two cello-virtuoso brothers, Jean-Pierre and Jean-Louis Duport, employed in his court.

Performer Biography

Gabriel Schwabe, the cellist on this recording, is a laureate of three prestigious cello competitions: the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann, the Concours Rostropovich, and the Pierre Fournier Award.

Performer Biography

Nicholas Rimmer, the pianist on this recording, holds a professorship for piano at the Freiburg University of Music and has a varied discography of over 20 albums.

Compositional Technique

Unusually for sonatas of the period, Beethoven's Op. 5 Cello Sonatas each consist of only two movements: an extended Allegro in sonata form followed by a rondo, both prefaced by substantial Adagio introductions.

Composition History

Beethoven composed his two Sonatas for Piano and Cello, Op. 5, for King Frederick William II of Prussia, a cello enthusiast, during an extensive concert tour in 1796.

Compositional Technique

Beethoven's Op. 5 Cello Sonatas were revolutionary for their time, establishing a new genre where neither the cello nor the piano is subservient, with both having fully developed, independent parts.