The Complete Cello Music

Abstract

Felix Mendelssohn's Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 45 was composed in October, 1838, during the composer's tenure in Leipzig. Although its popularity is overshadowed by that of its sibling, the Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 2, Op. 58, it readily exemplifies the composer's fluid, elegant handling of string instruments, and his ability to wring interesting material from standard forms.

Written in a comfortable tessitura for the cellist and fully utilizing the sonorities of the lower strings, the first movement introduces a relaxed atmosphere in which Mendelssohn's natural melodic facility at once comes to the fore. The piano provides more than mere accompaniment, assuming the role of an equal to the cello, while never overshadowing that instrument's natural cantabile voice. The movement follows a classical sonata form, never straying from expected harmonic developments; still, the music's effectiveness confirms that, in hands as capable as Mendelssohn's, predictability and logical development present their own expressive possibilities.

The second movement, an Andante, opens with the piano. The movement's primary theme consists of punctuated phrases that suggest a playful, whimsically enigmatic, spirit. This mood eventually yields, without fundamentally changing the character of the theme, to a feeling of drama, enabling the piano to display a certain measure of virtuosity.

Although the principal theme of the final movement recalls elements from the first movement, the mood here is of breezy lightness. In accompanying the melodic line, the piano engages in a pleasant jocosity while never threatening to overpower the cello.

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