Tune in every day at 1PM for a different cello sonata as host Chris Wolf explores Beethoven's revolutionary writing for the cello.

Some of the earliest cello sonatas were written in the 18th century by Francesco Geminiani and Antonio Vivaldi, but the most famous Romantic-era cellos sonatas are those written by Johannes Brahms and Ludwig van Beethoven.

In the early 19th century, sonatas for piano and instrument were usually advertised as piano sonatas with instrumental accompaniment.

Beethoven's first violin sonatas, for instance, were published as "sonatas for piano with accompaniment by the violin."  For the cello sonata, it was even worse. These works grew out of sonatas for continuo. In fact as late as the beginning of the 19th century it was still common for the cello in cello sonatas to double the left hand of the piano part, with the piano right hand playing obbligato figurations and melodies. 

Beethoven, indeed, is credited with composing one of the first cello sonatas with a written-out piano part.

Tune in Monday to Friday at 1 PM on Intermezzo to hear a different sonata each day.

 

Yo Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax perform Beethoven's Cello Sonata No 1 Op. 5

 

 

Leonard Rose and Glen Gould peform Beethoven's Cello Sonata Op. 69