Ernö Dohnányi - Cello Sonata in B flat Minor, Op. 8 [audio + score]

00:00 I Allegro ma non troppo
09:11 II Scherzo: Vivace assai
14:22 III Adagio non troppo -
17:08 IV Tema con variazioni (Allegro moderato)

Adrian Oetiker, piano
Wen-Sinn Yang, cello
audio: http://wensinnyang.de/en/albums.html

Ernst von Dohnanyi (1877-1960 Ernö Dohnányi in Hungarian) is generally regarded, after Liszt, as Hungary’s most versatile musician. He was active as a concert pianist, composer, conductor and teacher and must be considered one of the chief influences on Hungary’s musical life in the 20th century. Certainly, his chamber music is very fine, with most of it being in the masterwork category. Yet, sadly and inexplicably, it has virtually disappeared from the concert stage. Dohnanyi studied piano and composition in his native Pressburg (Bratislava) before entering the Budapest Academy. His first published work, his Piano Quintet No.1, was championed by no less an authority than Johannes Brahms. Upon graduating in the spring of 1897, Dohnanyi embarked on a dazzling career as a concert artist, often playing in chamber ensembles. Later, he also devoted considerable time to teaching and conducting.

The cello sonata dates from 1899. The well-known music critic and composer, Donald Tovey, writing in Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music, has this to say about the sonata:
"The Cello Sonata in B flat Major, Op.8 is an important work. The first movement is weighty and majestic and the themes are well able to support the Brahmsian treatment. A lively Scherzo with a quiet trio shows that the intention of the work is not tragic and this is born out in the the theme and variations of the finale."

This is part 3 of our Bootleg Brahms series in which we look at works by composers who aren't brahms. In 1895, Dohnányi's first published composition, his Piano Quintet No. 1 in C minor Op. 1, earned the approval of Johannes Brahms, who promoted the work in Vienna. Heavily inspired by Brahm's work, this cello sonata, like many others, has unfortunatley been wrongfully neglected in the popular eye.

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