Sonata for Cello and Piano in d minor,
Op. 40 Dmitry Shostakovich
Shostakovich
wrote his first and only sonata for cello over the course of a month in 1934,
as a result of his collaboration with his friend, the cellist Wiktor Kubazki. This was a particularly creative period in
the composer's artist life, just prior to the censure of his music by Soviet
authorities-notably the opera Lady Macbeth of Mtensk, which was deemed
too bourgeois and decadent for the Soviet people. It was also a period of
emotional turmoil for the composer, as he had fallen in love with a young
student at a Leningrad festival featuring his Lady Macbeth. Their
affair resulted in a brief divorce from his wife Nina.
The sonata form first
movement contrasts a broad first theme in cello, accompanied by flowing piano
arpeggios, developed by the piano towards an intense climax. As tension abates,
a ray of light appears with the tender second theme, announced by the piano and
imitated by the cello. In the development a spiky rhythmic motif penetrates
through the flowing textures of the first theme, but soon the gentler second
theme reappears. The movement ends with
a dramatic twist: cosmic chaos where all moves in slow motion, with staccato
chords in the piano and sustained notes in the cello.
The second movement has
perpetual motion energy, with thrusting repeated ostinato pattern paired with a
delicate first theme presented by the piano in widely spaced octaves. The
cello's more light-hearted theme is later imitated in the piano's brittle high
register. Sudden lurches into unrelated keys, give way to a return to the
initial driving ostinato, which leads to a sudden conclusion.
The bleak expanses of Russia are evoked in the soulful Largo movement, with the piano providing a dark backdrop for
the cello's rhapsodic, vocal theme. The music eventually fades into the
impressionistic twilight.
The sonata ends with a
brief yet ebullient finale, a type of rondo in which the main playful theme
appears three times, imitated by both instruments, interspersed by episodes of
sparking scales. In the second thematic appearance, the piano is let loose in a
cadenza of helter-skelter zest, veering into unexpected tonal directions. The
theme returns, to round the movement off in decisive brilliance. Marina Hoover
Classical Music | Cello Music
Dmitry Shostakovich
Sonata for Cello and Piano in d minor, Op. 40 Play
Recorded on 12/20/2005, uploaded on 01/27/2009
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Sonata for Cello and Piano in d minor, Op. 40 Dmitry Shostakovich
Shostakovich wrote his first and only sonata for cello over the course of a month in 1934, as a result of his collaboration with his friend, the cellist Wiktor Kubazki. This was a particularly creative period in the composer's artist life, just prior to the censure of his music by Soviet authorities-notably the opera Lady Macbeth of Mtensk, which was deemed too bourgeois and decadent for the Soviet people. It was also a period of emotional turmoil for the composer, as he had fallen in love with a young student at a Leningrad festival featuring his Lady Macbeth. Their affair resulted in a brief divorce from his wife Nina.
The sonata form first movement contrasts a broad first theme in cello, accompanied by flowing piano arpeggios, developed by the piano towards an intense climax. As tension abates, a ray of light appears with the tender second theme, announced by the piano and imitated by the cello. In the development a spiky rhythmic motif penetrates through the flowing textures of the first theme, but soon the gentler second theme reappears. The movement ends with a dramatic twist: cosmic chaos where all moves in slow motion, with staccato chords in the piano and sustained notes in the cello.
The second movement has perpetual motion energy, with thrusting repeated ostinato pattern paired with a delicate first theme presented by the piano in widely spaced octaves. The cello's more light-hearted theme is later imitated in the piano's brittle high register. Sudden lurches into unrelated keys, give way to a return to the initial driving ostinato, which leads to a sudden conclusion.
The bleak expanses of Russia are evoked in the soulful Largo movement, with the piano providing a dark backdrop for the cello's rhapsodic, vocal theme. The music eventually fades into the impressionistic twilight.
The sonata ends with a brief yet ebullient finale, a type of rondo in which the main playful theme appears three times, imitated by both instruments, interspersed by episodes of sparking scales. In the second thematic appearance, the piano is let loose in a cadenza of helter-skelter zest, veering into unexpected tonal directions. The theme returns, to round the movement off in decisive brilliance. Marina Hoover
More music by Dmitry Shostakovich
Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello No. 2 in e minor, Op. 67
The Pursuite, from The Adventures of Korzinkina
Trio No. 1 in c minor, Op. 8
Sonata for Cello and Piano in d minor, Op. 40
Three Fantastic Dances op.5
Sonata for Cello and Piano in d minor, Op. 40
Sonata for Cello and Piano in d minor, Op. 40
Symphony No. 9, mvt III
Prelude and Fugue in D-flat Major, Op. 87, No. 15
Prelude Op.34 no.2
Performances by same musician(s)
Silent Woods, Op. 68, No. 5
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