Beethoven: Complete Works for Violoncello and Piano

Featuring

Jean-Guihen Queyras
Alexander Melnikov
Ludwig van Beethoven

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Composition History

Beethoven's Sonata in A major, Op. 69, was composed in 1808, concurrently with his Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, and was dedicated to his close friend Baron Ignaz von Gleichenstein.

Composition History

Beethoven composed his two Sonatas for piano and cello, Op. 5, in Berlin during an extensive concert tour in 1796, performing them for King Frederick William II.

Compositional Technique

The finale of Beethoven's Sonata Op. 102 No. 2 is a full-blown four-part fugue, marking the beginning of his late-period preoccupation with counterpoint and anticipating works like the 'Hammerklavier' Sonata and Grosse Fuge.

Historical Context

King Frederick William II of Prussia, to whom Beethoven dedicated his Op. 5 sonatas, was a cello-playing monarch who commissioned works from Haydn and Mozart.

Compositional Technique

Beethoven's Op. 5 Sonatas for cello and piano were groundbreaking, featuring a fully developed piano part combined with an independent, obbligato cello part, a format for which there was no precedent in the 1790s.

Compositional Technique

The Op. 5 Sonatas are unusual in form, each consisting of only two movements—an extended allegro in sonata form followed by a rondo—but prefaced by substantial adagio introductions.

Critical Reception

Beethoven's Sonatas Op. 102 were initially met with bewilderment by critics, who described their style as 'unaccustomed and strange' due to their depth, free form, and fantasy.