Brahms dedicated his Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38, to his Viennese friend Josef Gänsbacher, who was a lawyer but became famous as a singing teacher.
Composition History
The cellist Robert Hausmann, who performed Brahms's First Cello Sonata with the composer, requested a new work for his instrument, leading to the creation of the Second Cello Sonata and the Double Concerto.
Composer Biography
Johannes Brahms, in his youth, not only took professional piano lessons but also learned to play the cello and the horn.
Composer's Artistic Vision
For Robert Schumann, 'humour' in his Fünf Stücke im Volkston meant the ability to endure life's tensions and contradictions through ironic or sarcastic observation, rather than just telling jokes.
Composition History
Brahms composed his Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99, during a particularly productive summer in 1886 spent in Switzerland on Lake Thun.
Historical Context
Robert Schumann's Fünf Stücke im Volkston (Five Pieces in Folk Style) were composed in April 1849, shortly before the May Uprising in Dresden, which concerned the 'republican' Schumann.
Composition History
Brahms's Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38, originally had four movements, but he later withdrew the slow movement.
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