Classical Music | Cello Music

Recorded on 11/28/2008, uploaded on 08/10/2010

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Originally thought to be the work of a lesser hand, the Cello Concerto in D major is now generally believed to have been composed by Haydn after his autograph was discovered on the manuscript in 1951. It was composed in 1783 for the cellist Antonín Kraft, a member of Prince Nikolaus’s orchestra. The date of its composition places it nearly twenty years after Haydn’s first concerto for the cello.

Scored for a modest orchestra of two each of oboes and horns and the usual strings, much of the piece has the warm, lyrical disposition that so often accompanies the key of D major. The first movement is a rather expansive sonata form opening with a full orchestral exposition before the soloist enters. Though lyricism is the prominent characteristic of the movement and its melodies seem to pass by in a relaxed manner, Haydn nevertheless makes great technical demands of the soloist.

The Adagio middle movement is cast in rondo form. A tender A major melody in the cello opens the movement and forms the recurring refrain of the rondo. Following the first restatement of the principle melody, Haydn passes briefly through the darker shades of A minor before arriving at the second episode and the brilliant key of C major.

Returning to the tonic key, the finale, also in rondo form, abandons the virtuosic elements of the previous movement in favor of an almost folk-like simplicity. Its blithely principle melody comes to a pause after eight bars as if to relish in its carefree joy. Two episodes separate the statements of the rondo’s theme. The first presents a new melody in the key of the dominant while the second presents an altered form of the principle melody in the key of D minor. Although the minore section prevails for some time, the warm key of D major ultimately returns with the final statement of the rondo’s principle theme and closes the concerto with triumphal joy.      Joseph DuBose