Sonata for
Cello
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Sonata for Cello
is dedicated to Semyon Vekshtein for his support during the composition
of this work
The Sonata for
cello and piano began life as a brief adagio for violin and piano. I
felt that it contained enough material to develop an entire sonata, but
did not want to broach the form in the traditional fashion, nor felt
ready to attack a piece for violin at that time. Out of this desire
came the idea of a set of variations for cello and piano, with the
theme only being stated in its entirety much later in the piece.
The entire form
is basically a short exposition of two "themes", followed by seven
variations. The entire form suggests the traditional sonata-form of a
sonata-allegro, a scherzo, an adagio movement, and a recapitulating
finale. The 6th variation is the initial source of all the
thematic material for the sonata.
A cd of this sonata, as performed by
Marianne Houle and Tan-Trao Phi, is available for purchase for $20 CDN
plus shipping. Also on the disk are works for cello and piano by Alan
Belkin and Philippe Levesque. For ordering information, please contact
us by email.