Day 21

Hello! One video and one PDF today.

Downloads:
One thing today:

Today’s Recommended Listening:

Dimitry Kabalevsky (1904-1987)
Sonata for Cello and Piano: I. Andante molto sostenuto

(Cello & Piano Collaboration)

Mstislav Rostropovich - Cello  |  Dimitry Kabalevsky - Piano
[Spotify] - 12 minutes

The Russian composer Dimitry Kabalevsky was a contemporary of Sergei Prokofiev and Dimitri Shostakovich. As cellists, we are happy to have 2 concertos and 1 sonata from all 3 composers, but Kabalevsky is the least popular of the 3. I think generally Shostakovich is considered more interesting because of the historical significance as anti-Stalinist, and Prokofiev is generally considered a more gifted composer than Kabalevsky.

But this piece has one of the darkest openings of any work for cello and it will get stuck in your head. And, spoiler alert, the dark theme comes back at the end of the final movement. So amazing! The virtuosity of the writing, too, is impressive. We’re very to lucky to have this recording of Rostropovich and Kabalevsky playing so that we can glimpse Kabalevsky’s own interpretation, too.

In fact, most of the great works of the 20th century written for the cello were written for Rostropovich, including the 6 concertos and 3 sonatas I just mentioned, plus major works by Benjamin Britten (3 unaccompanied cello sonatas, a sonata with piano, and a cello concerto), as well as the 12 solo “Sacher Pieces,” concertos by Schnittke and Dutilleux and countless others. If you don’t know the cellist the premiered the 20th-century work, you can probably just guess Rostropovich did it.

What to explore next:

Kabalevsky: Cello Concerto #2
[Super fun]

Kabalevsky: Kolas Brugnon: Overture
[Super exciting piece]

Britten: Cello-Symphony
[One of the coolest openings of a cello concerto ever]

See you tomorrow!
—Eric