A cello sonata is piece written

sonata In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until th ...

form, often with the instrumentation of a

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

taking solo role with

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

accompaniment. Some of the earliest cello sonatas were composed in the 18th century by Francesco Geminiani and

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, impresario of Baroque music and Roman Catholic priest. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lif ...

, and since then other famous cello sonatas have grown to those by

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

, Fryderyk Chopin, and

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

among others. The following list contains cello sonatas with or without accompanying instruments. See the See also list for more comprehensive lists divided up into solo and accompanied works.

List of major cello sonatas

* Charles-Valentin Alkan ** Sonate de Concert, Op. 47 (c. 1857) *

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor (music), conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the mid-20th century. Principally influenced ...

** Cello Sonata in C minor, Op. 6 (1932) * Arnold Bax **Cello Sonata (1923) **Cello Sonatina (1933) **Legend-Sonata (1943) *

** Cello Sonata No. 1 in F major, Op. 5/1 (1796) ** Cello Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 5/2 (1796) ** Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69 (1808) ** Cello Sonata No. 4 in C major, Op. 102/1 (1815) ** Cello Sonata No. 5 in D major, Op. 102/2 (1815) * Easley Blackwood Jr. **Cello Sonata, Op. 31 *

** Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38 (1862–5) ** Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99 (1886) ** Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, "''Rain''", Op. 78 (1878–9), transcribed for cello by Paul Klengel ** Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100 (1886), transcribed for cello by Laszlo Varga ** Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108 (1886–8), transcribed for cello by Laszlo Varga * Frank Bridge **Cello sonata in D minor, H. (Hindmarsh) 125 (1913-7) *

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

** Sonata in C for Cello and Piano, Op. 65 (1961) *

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer who was one of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century. He combined elements of European modernism and American " ...

**Cello Sonata (1948) *

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

** Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65 (1845–6) *

George Crumb George Henry Crumb Jr. (24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical ...

** Sonata for Solo Cello (1955) *

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

** Cello Sonata in D minor (1915) *

Frederick Delius file:Fritz Delius (1907).jpg, Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius (born Fritz Theodor Albert Delius; ; 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934) was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prospero ...

**Cello Sonata (1916) * Felix Draeseke **Cello Sonata in D major, Op. 51 (1890) * Antonín Dvořák **Cello Sonata in F major (1871) lost (cello part extant) *

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanians, Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor, teacher and statesman. He is regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history. Biography En ...

**Cello Sonata in F minor, Op. 26/1 (1898) **Cello sonata in C major, Op. 26/2 (1935) * Heitor Villa-Lobos **Cello Sonata No. 2, W103 (1916) * Gabriel Fauré ** Cello Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 109 (1917) ** Cello Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 117 (1921) *

César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...

** Violin Sonata in A major, transcribed with the composer's approval for cello by Jules Delsart. See * John Foulds ** Cello Sonata (1905, rev. 1927) * François Francoeur (attrib.) **Sonata for Cello and Piano in E major (actually a cello arrangement of a Louis Francoeur violin sonata) * Peter Racine Fricker **Cello Sonata (1956) * Zoltán Gárdonyi **Cello Sonata (1944) *

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...

** Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36 (1883) *

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advo ...

**Cello Sonata, Op. 11/3 (1919) **Sonata for Cello Solo, Op. 25/3 (1923) **Cello Sonata (1948) * Vagn Holmboe **Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 101 (1968–69) *

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...

**Cello Sonata in D minor, H.32 (1920) *

Stephen Hough Sir Stephen Andrew Gill Hough (; born 22 November 1961) is a British-Australian classical pianist, composer and writer. Biography Hough was born in Heswall (then in Cheshire) on the Wirral Peninsula, and grew up in Thelwall, where he began pi ...

**Sonata for Cello and Piano (left hand) (2014) * Bertold Hummel **Cello Sonata in F major, Op. 2 (1950) **Sonata brevis, Op. 11a (1955) * Johann Nepomuk Hummel **Sonata in A major, Op. 104 * John Ireland ** Cello Sonata in G minor (1923) * Giuseppe Maria Jacchini ** Sonata No. 3 in C major (1697) *

Joseph Jongen Joseph Marie Alphonse Nicolas Jongen (14 December 1873 – 12 July 1953) was a Belgian organist, composer, and music educator. Biography Jongen was born in Liège, where his parents had moved from Flanders. He was the elder brother of Léon Jonge ...

** Cello Sonata in C minor, Op. 39 (1913) * Dmitry Kabalevsky **Cello Sonata in B flat major, Op. 71 (1962) *

Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (, ; , ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, music pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music education. ...

**Cello Sonata, Op. 4 (1907) ** Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8 (1915) **Cello Sonatine (1923) *

Josef Labor Josef Paul Labor (29 June 184226 April 1924) was an Austrian pianist, organist, and composer of the late Romantic era. Labor was an influential music teacher. As a friend of some key figures in Vienna, his importance was enhanced. Biography Lab ...

**Cello Sonata Sonata in A major, Op. 7 (1896) * Édouard Lalo **Cello Sonata in A minor (1856) * Lowell Liebermann **Cello Sonata No. 1, Op. 3 (1978) **Cello Sonata No. 2, Op. 61 (1998) **Cello Sonata No. 3, Op. 90 (2005) **Cello Sonata No. 4, Op. 108 (2008) *

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde music, avant-garde composers in the latter half of the ...

** Sonata for Solo Cello * Albéric Magnard **Sonata for Cello in A, Op. 20 (1910) *

Bohuslav Martinů Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphony, symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber music, chamber, vocal and ins ...

**Cello Sonata No. 1, H 277 **Cello Sonata No. 2, H 286 **Cello Sonata No. 3, H 340 *

** Cello Sonata No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 45 (1838) ** Cello Sonata No. 2 in D major, Op. 58 (1842–3) * Ignaz Moscheles **Cello Sonata Op. 34 in B-flat major **Cello Sonata No. 2 Op. 121 in E major * Georges Onslow ** Cello Sonatas 1, 2 and 3, Op. 16/1-3 (1820) * Henrique Oswald ** Cello Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 21 (1898) ** Cello Sonata No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 44 (1916) *

Hubert Parry Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 1848 – 7 October 1918), was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is ...

** Cello Sonata in A major (1879–83) * Giovanni Battista Pergolesi **Cello Sonata in F major (uncertain attribution) * Francis Poulenc ** Cello Sonata, FP 143 (1948) *

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

** Cello Sonata in C major, Op. 119 (1949) **Sonata for Solo Cello in C minor, Op. 134 (unfinished) *

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...

** Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 19 (1901) *

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

** Sonata for Violin and Cello (1920–22) * Max Reger ** Cello Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 5 (1892) **Cello Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 28 (1898) **Cello Sonata No. 3 in F major, Op. 78 (1904) **Cello Sonata No. 4 in A minor, Op. 116 (1910)Info from IMSLP listings. * Edmund Rubbra **Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 60 (1946) *

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

** Cello Sonata No. 1 in C minor, Op. 32 ** Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 123 * Philipp Scharwenka **Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 116 *

Alfred Schnittke Alfred Garrievich Schnittke (24 November 1934 – 3 August 1998) was a Russian composer. Among the most performed and recorded composers of late 20th-century classical music, he is described by musicologist Ivan Moody (composer), Ivan Moody as a ...

**Cello Sonata No. 1 (1978) **Cello Sonata No. 2 (1993/4) *

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

** Sonata for Arpeggione in A minor, D. 821 is often transcribed for cello. *

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer. Shostak ...

** Cello Sonata in D minor, Op. 40 (1934) ** Viola Sonata, Op. 147 (1975), transcribed for cello by Daniil Shafran * Charles Villiers Stanford ** Cello Sonata No. 1 in A major, Op. 9 (1878) ** Cello Sonata No. 2 on D minor, Op. 39 (1893) *

** Sonata in F major for cello and piano (1882) *

** At least 9 cello sonatas * Kurt Weill **Sonata for Cello and Piano (1920)

Chronology of major cello sonatas

The following list (inevitably incomplete) tries to place the major sonatas and equivalent works for cello and piano or cello solo in chronological order of completion. It will be susceptible to uncertainty of dates, and whether original or revised versions are definitive.

References

External links

Complete Scores of Many Cello Sonatas

Dates need to be double-checked against other sources as they do not always agree. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cello Sonata Articles containing video clips