Edvard Grieg: Sonata for Cello and Piano in A Minor, Op. 36

 

 

 

Edvard Grieg
Grieg in 1888, with signature, portrait published in The Leisure Hour (1889

 

 

 

 Sonata for Cello and Piano in A Minor, Op. 36

 Anastasia Injushina piano

,Jian Wang cello

 

Edvard Grieg composed the Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36 for cello and piano, his largest chamber work, (and his only work for this combination) in 1882–83,^[1] marking a return to composition following a period when he had been preoccupied with his conducting duties at the Bergen Symphony Orchestra as well as illness.

The work borrows themes from Grieg's own Trauermarsch zum Andenken an Richard Nordraak (Funeral March in memory of Richard Nordraak) and the wedding march from his Drei Orchesterstücke aus Sigurd Jorsalfar (Three orchestral pieces from 'Sigurd Jorsalfar'). Grieg dedicated the piece to his brother, John, a keen amateur cellist.^[2] Friedrich Ludwig Grützmacher premièred the work with Grieg at the piano on 22 October 1883 in Dresden.^[3]

 

Structure

The sonata has three movements:

1. Allegro agitato
2. Andante molto tranquillo
3. Allegro molto e marcato

The work takes approximately 26 minutes to perform.

 

Along with the Piano Concerto and the third Violin Sonata, the Cello Sonata is one of Grieg's most

full-blooded works. Yet instead of classical balance, Grieg aimed at seething emotional ｅxpression -- passions reflected in both extremes of tempo and radiant, singing themes and folk song motifs.