The cello became fully recognized as an expressive solo instrument by the mid-19th century, with composers like Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Chopin contributing significant works.
Recording & Production
This recording uses a 19th-century Bechstein piano, an instrument Brahms himself would have known, to achieve a balanced sound between the piano and cello.
Composer Biography
Robert Schumann composed his Five Pieces in Folk Style after a period of mental instability and deep depressions, which stifled his creativity.
Performer Biography
Clive Greensmith, the cellist on this recording, plays a 1736 cello made by Antonio Stradivarius, known as the 'Paganini, ex-Ladenburg', loaned by the Nippon Music Foundation.
Performer Biography
Boris Berman, the pianist, immigrated to Israel in 1973 from a flourishing career in the Soviet Union and now heads the piano department at Yale University School of Music.
Compositional Technique
Schumann's Five Pieces in Folk Style, despite their simple folksong construction, are pervaded by a dark, almost cynical atmosphere, hinted at by the Latin phrase 'Vanitas vanitatum' in the first piece.
Composition History
Brahms's Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor was the first duo sonata he ever published, though its original slow movement was discarded and replaced with a fugal finale.
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Brahms / Mendelssohn: Cello Sonatas
Brahms: The Cello Sonatas
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Brahms & Schumann: Works for Cello and Piano
Brahms: Cello Sonatas - Stanford: Ballata
Brahms: Sonatas for Cello and Piano No. 1 & 2
Brahms: Sonatas for Cello and Piano (The Mercury Masters, Vol. 4)
Brahms: Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor & Cello Sonata No. 2 in F Major
