Steffan Morris / Beatson,Alastair * Brahms: Cellos Sonatas [New CD]

Brahms' Cello Sonata No.1 was composed at a time of great emotional upheaval in 1865. His mother was dying, and the composer having visited her in Hamburg, had immersed himself in the music of Bach for solace. The finale of the sonata has an uncanny resemblance to Contrapunctus XIII from The Art of Fugue. The second sonata is a product of the tranquil summer holiday Brahms spent in the scenic lakeside suburb of Hofstetten, outside Thun in Switzerland in 1886. The work is on a large symphonic scale in four movements, and in contrast to the earlier sonata's pensive and unsettled nature, is bathed in afternoon sunlight. Stanford composed his Ballata and it's companion, the Ballabile in 1918 for cello and orchestra. This is the product of the end of his compositional career, after his 7th and final symphony, and the large scale concertos. Effectively a cello concerto minus a first movement, Stanford made the version for cello and piano the same year. The Ballata is a delightful slow movement.