Chopin: Cello Sonata in G Minor / Schumann: Phantasiestucke, Op. 73

Featuring

Torleif Thedéen
Roland Pöntinen
Frédéric Chopin
Robert Schumann

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Composer Biography

Both Chopin and Schumann started as pianists, but Schumann had to abandon his performing career early due to a hand injury, while Chopin gladly gave up concerts to compose and teach.

Compositional Technique

Chopin's Cello Sonata is his only major work that gives equal prominence to an instrument other than the piano, and it is one of his few works that uses a larger form.

Composition History

Chopin struggled with the Cello Sonata for a long time, writing to his family in December 1845 that he was trying to finish it, but still working on it in October 1846.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Chopin composed almost exclusively for the piano, making him one of the most single-minded major composers in his choice of medium.

Composer Biography

Fryderyk Chopin and Robert Schumann, the two composers on this album, were both born in 1810 and died young, fitting the popular idea of a Romantic artist.

Composer Biography

Chopin died of consumption, while Schumann's mental illness, likely caused by syphilis, led to his death, both aligning with Romantic sensibilities.

Composition History

All three of Schumann's works on this disc were composed during his 'most fruitful year' of 1849, within the space of just two months, amidst the turmoil of the 1848 Revolution.