Brahms: Cello Sonatas Nos 1, 2 & 6 Hungarian Dances

Featuring

Jean-Guihen Queyras
Alexandre Tharaud
Johannes Brahms

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Composition History

Brahms's Hungarian Dances were inspired by Gypsy music, introduced to him by violinist Eduard Reményi, with whom he toured in his youth.

Composer Biography

Brahms was known as one of the "three Bs" (along with Bach and Beethoven) in Germany, where he was honored and admired.

Critical Reception

The bold harmonies of Brahms's Cello Sonata No. 2, Op. 99, troubled its first audience, including his close friend Theodor Billroth.

Composer's Artistic Vision

According to Claude Rostand, Brahms was the first composer after Beethoven to achieve a unique balance between inspiration and scientific rigor in his chamber music.

Composition History

Brahms composed several major works, including the Cello Sonata No. 2, Op. 99, during three summers spent by Lake Thun in Switzerland, enjoying the landscape.

Instruments

Jean-Guihen Queyras, the cellist on this recording, plays a Gioffredo Cappa cello from 1696, lent by Mécénat Musical Société Générale.

Composition History

Brahms's First Cello Sonata, Op. 38, was sketched in 1862, a time when he was in conflict with proponents of "the music of the future" like Liszt and Wagner.