Zoltán Kodály: Sonata for Cello Solo, Cello Sonata, Duo for Violin and Cello

Featuring

Michal Kaňka
Pavel Hůla
Jaromír Klepáč
Zoltán Kodály

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Compositional Technique

In the Sonata for Unaccompanied Cello, Opus 8, Kodály transforms the cello into various instruments like a harp, cymbalum, genre orchestra, and shepherd's pipes.

Composition History

Kodály, an amateur cellist, initially promised to write a Sonata for cello and piano (Op. 4) for Jenő Kerpely, a cellist who premiered several of his works.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Kodály, along with Béla Bartók, collected peasant folklore around the Danube to form the foundation of a national Hungarian school of music.

Performer Biography

Michal Kanka, the cellist on this recording, was born in Prague in 1960 and won several international competitions, including Prague (1981), Moscow (1982), and Munich (1986).

Composer Biography

Zoltán Kodály, the composer, studied in Paris with Charles-Marie Widor and was fascinated by the musical world of Claude Debussy.

Compositional Technique

The Sonata for Unaccompanied Cello, Opus 8, requires a scordatura tuning where the C and G strings are lowered a semitone, creating an open B-F#-D-A chord.