Brahms's First Cello Sonata omits a slow movement, having only three movements, while the Second Sonata follows a traditional four-movement structure.
Critical Reception
Brahms's Second Cello Sonata was often ranked below his violin sonatas or even his First Cello Sonata by early reviewers, who criticized its fragmented melody writing.
Composition History
There is a 21-year gap between Johannes Brahms's two Cello Sonatas, resulting in significant differences in their character and form.
Compositional Technique
The finale of Brahms's First Cello Sonata incorporates a theme recognized as a modified quotation from Johann Sebastian Bach's Contrapunctus XIII from The Art of Fugue.
Compositional Technique
The Second Cello Sonata requires the cellist to play an unusually wide range, reaching high notes from very low registers, unlike the First Sonata which mostly stays within the cello's tenor range.
Interpretation
The six songs on this recording are arrangements for cello and piano by the performers, Gabriel Schwabe and Nicholas Rimmer, created to stay as close as possible to the original vocal works.
Recording & Production
This recording was made possible with support from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben and the Auxiliaris Foundation, and is a co-production with Radio Bremen.
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