Sadly I missed the Opera North production of Ariadne auf Nacos last Friday in Salford due to a combination of heavy snow and cancelled trains. ‘But the trains unexpectedly seemed to be running today between two rail strike days. So in addition to doing various things in Sheffield I managed to get to this excellent lunchtime recital by two members of Ensemble 360, Gemma Rosefield and Tim Horton.
Cello Sonatas No. 1 and No. 2, Op. 5, are two sonatas for cello and piano written by Beethoven in 1796, while he was in Berlin. Tim Horton told us that these sonatas are the first examples of fully developed cello sonatas in Western classical music. There is no precedent – it’s the first time the cello was not used simply as a continuo instrument in a sonata. 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.” The cello sonata was especially prone to this as it grew out of sonatas for continuo; 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 obligato figurations and melodies. Tim explained how Beethoven cleverly distinguishes the two instruments when one – the piano – is prone to play much more loudly than the other. Nearly always, he says, the two instruments are playing in different registers – when one is playing high, the -other will be in the middle or low – etc
It is fascinating to hear how, though composed at the start of Beethoven’s career, very different these sonatas sound to chamber music works by Haydn or Mozart. Without descending into clichéd comments about Beethoven’s personality, there is definitely something gruff and edgy about them and the cellist played up to this in some of her playing in quite amusing ways, particularly in the first sonata. There is also energy and drive, as well as occasional moments of stillness and peace. But grace and poise wouldn’t particularly strike one as descriptive terms for these works.
They’re not works I know at all. It was lovely to be able to sit with them for a lunchtime hour.
John's musical journey 