Uploaded November 2015 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
- Composer: Dirk Schäfer (25 November 1873 -- 16 February 1931)
- Performers: Frans van Ruth (piano), Doris Hochscheid (cello)
- Year of recording: 2011 (from Dutch Cello Sonatas, Vol. 4)
Sonata in C major, for violoncello & piano Op. 13, written in 1909.
00:00 - I. Allegro con brio
08:15 - II. Adagio, non troppo
14:37 - III. Allegro assai agitato (Finale)
Like Schäfer's string quartet, the cello sonata in C major is characterised by a rich polyphony. However, the issue of tonality is more remarkable. The tonality of the first movement is a C major that could hardly be surpassed in its exuberance. This mood is strongly determined by the three signal notes opening the main theme and the rhythmically dotted third bar of the theme which takes on a motivic role. They make their unfettered appearance in a variety of forms and relationships and the simple second theme is little more than a short, tender moment of relaxation. However, in the final movement the tonality supported by the polyphony is a nervous and driven C minor. This in itself would not have been so extraordinary if the movement were ultimately to resolve in C major, triumphantly or otherwise. However, this is far from being the case: the movement, and with it the sonata, hastens irrepressibly irresistibly or even dramatically towards its end in C minor. This is something that one might perhaps encounter in an opera or a symphonic poem but practically never in the case of a sonata. It contains the hint of an underlying programme, one featuring a young, exuberant hero who meets a sorry end. Between these two movements the charming and amiable Adagio, non troppo provides an intermezzo in A-B-A’ form.
The first performance of the sonata was given by Gérard Hekking and Dirk Schäfer in the Kleine Zaal of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw on 3 November 1909. On 14 March 1910 Flesch, Hekking and Schäfer performed a programme in Amsterdam totally devoted to Schäfer’s works, featuring the two violin sonatas dedicated to Flesch and the cello sonata, a programme they repeated a few days later in Berlin.
The cello sonata is dedicated: "Aan Gerard Hekking".
You can order this CD here: http://cellosonate.nl/en/cd-volume-4-3/
- Composer: Dirk Schäfer (25 November 1873 -- 16 February 1931)
- Performers: Frans van Ruth (piano), Doris Hochscheid (cello)
- Year of recording: 2011 (from Dutch Cello Sonatas, Vol. 4)
Sonata in C major, for violoncello & piano Op. 13, written in 1909.
00:00 - I. Allegro con brio
08:15 - II. Adagio, non troppo
14:37 - III. Allegro assai agitato (Finale)
Like Schäfer's string quartet, the cello sonata in C major is characterised by a rich polyphony. However, the issue of tonality is more remarkable. The tonality of the first movement is a C major that could hardly be surpassed in its exuberance. This mood is strongly determined by the three signal notes opening the main theme and the rhythmically dotted third bar of the theme which takes on a motivic role. They make their unfettered appearance in a variety of forms and relationships and the simple second theme is little more than a short, tender moment of relaxation. However, in the final movement the tonality supported by the polyphony is a nervous and driven C minor. This in itself would not have been so extraordinary if the movement were ultimately to resolve in C major, triumphantly or otherwise. However, this is far from being the case: the movement, and with it the sonata, hastens irrepressibly irresistibly or even dramatically towards its end in C minor. This is something that one might perhaps encounter in an opera or a symphonic poem but practically never in the case of a sonata. It contains the hint of an underlying programme, one featuring a young, exuberant hero who meets a sorry end. Between these two movements the charming and amiable Adagio, non troppo provides an intermezzo in A-B-A’ form.
The first performance of the sonata was given by Gérard Hekking and Dirk Schäfer in the Kleine Zaal of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw on 3 November 1909. On 14 March 1910 Flesch, Hekking and Schäfer performed a programme in Amsterdam totally devoted to Schäfer’s works, featuring the two violin sonatas dedicated to Flesch and the cello sonata, a programme they repeated a few days later in Berlin.
The cello sonata is dedicated: "Aan Gerard Hekking".
You can order this CD here: http://cellosonate.nl/en/cd-volume-4-3/
