Progetto Martha Argerich

italiano

Works

Dimitri Shostakovic

Sonata in D minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 40

 

Shostakovich composed the Sonata in D minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 40, in 1934, at the request of a cellist friend, Victor Kubatski, who, together with the author, gave the first performance on 25 December 1934. The sonata, which is in four movements, begins with a tranquil Allegro non troppo dominated by a Tchaikovsky-like melody; this leads to a more lively middle section and thence to a more sorrowful sounding conclusion. The second movement, Allegro, is a folk-like scherzo, whereas the following Largo is an extended, lyrical meditation entrusted to the cello. A sarcastic, grotesque Allegro – in which the cello has to wait 277 bars before making its voice heard – brings the work to a close, and the movement’s final section is a sort of frenetic perpettum mobile that requires exuberant virtuosity of both players.

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1. Allegro non troppo
2. Allegro
3. Largo
4. Allegretto

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Performance