Cello Sonata (Alkan)
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Charles-Valentin Alkan Charles-Valentin Alkan (; 30 November 1813 – 29 March 1888) was a French composer and virtuoso pianist. At the height of his fame in the 1830s and 1840s he was, alongside his friends and colleagues Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt, amon ...
composed his Cello Sonata in Paris in 1856, titled ''Sonate de concert pour piano et violoncelle'' (Concert sonata for piano and cello), Op. 47. The work in
E major E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, F-flat maj ...
is structured in four
movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...
.


History

Alkan completed his
cello sonata A cello sonata is piece written sonata form, often with the instrumentation of a cello taking solo role with piano accompaniment. Some of the earliest cello sonatas were composed in the 18th century by Francesco Geminiani and Antonio Vivaldi, and ...
in 1856, as the dated manuscript shows. It was published in Paris in 1857, dedicated to James Odier. It was premiered with Alkan as the pianist. A reviewer of a performance in Paris in 1875 with Alkan at the piano noted its "wealth of melody" and an ovation by the audience. It was neglected during the twentieth century until a "mini Alkan-revival".


Structure and music

The sonata is in four
movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...
: # ''Allegro molto'' # ''Allegrettino'' # ''Adagio'' # ''Finale alla Saltarella: Prestissimo'' It is the only one of Alkan's chamber works for which the composer provided
metronome A metronome () is a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a uniform interval that can be set by the user, typically in beats per minute (BPM). Metronomes may also include synchronized visual motion, such as a swinging pendulum ...
markings, although in performance the speeds prescribed are problematic. The first movement, in
sonata form The sonata form (also sonata-allegro form or first movement form) is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of t ...
, begins with passionate fervour, and is then reminiscent of the lyricism of the time's
grand opera Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and Orchestra, orchestras. The original productions consisted of spectacular design and stage effects with plots normally based on o ...
s. In the
development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...
section, a "striding new theme" in
C minor C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major. The C natural minor scale is: Cha ...
may have been inspired by a similar introduction in Beethoven's
Eroica Symphony The Symphony No. 3 in E major, Op. 55, titled as the ''Eroica'' Symphony, is a symphony in four movements by Ludwig van Beethoven. One of Beethoven's most celebrated works, the ''Eroica'' symphony is a large-scale composition that marked the b ...
, and anticipates moves in compositions by
Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...
. The second movement begins with a simple
siciliano Siciliano may refer to: *Siciliana or siciliano (also known as sicilienne or ciciliano), a musical style or genre * Siciliano (surname), surname * Siciliano indigeno, breed of horse from Sicily * Nero Siciliano, breed of domestic pig from of Sicil ...
theme, which "gradually becomes infected with slightly twisted 'wrong' notes, and even more peculiarly biting harmonies", sounding satirical and ironic. The third movement, ''Adagio'', is accompanied in the score by a quote from the
Book of Micah The Book of Micah is the sixth of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. The book has seven chapters. Ostensibly, it records the sayings of Micah, whose name is ''Mikayahu'' (), meaning "Who is like Yahweh?", an 8th-century BCE prophet f ...
: "As dew from the Lord, as a shower upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man …". Alkan, who had attempted to translate the
Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...
,Conway, David (2012). ''Jewry in Music: Entry to the Profession from the Enlightenment to Richard Wagner''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press probably used his own French version. The music features a "heartfelt melody" in the cello's low range and "shimmering passages" of
tremolando In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are multiple types of tremolo: a rapid repetition of a note, an alternation between two different notes, or a variation in volume. Tremolos may be either ''measured'' ...
in the piano, which according to the music historian David Conway "recalls the inflections of the ''
haftorah The ''haftara'' or (in Ashkenazic pronunciation) ''haftorah'' (alt. ''haftarah, haphtara'', ) "parting," "taking leave" (plural form: ''haftarot'' or ''haftoros''), is a series of selections from the books of ''Nevi'im'' ("Prophets") of the ...
'' chant from the ewishSabbath service." It ends fading away in both instruments. The
finale Finale may refer to: Pieces of music * Finale (music), the last movement of a piece * ''Finale'' (Loggins and Messina album), 1977 * ''Finale'' (Pierrot album), 1999 * "Finale" (song), by Madeon * " Neo Universe/Finale", a single by L'Arc-en-C ...
is a dance described as "manic" and "furiously fast", in a sonata–rondo form. Saltarellas and
tarantella Tarantella () is a group of various Southern Italy, southern Italian Italian folk dance, folk dances originating in the regions of Calabria, Campania, Sicilia, and Apulia. It is characterized by a fast Beat (music), upbeat tempo, usually in Ti ...
s were fashionable in France at the time, for example in Auber’s opera ''
La muette de Portici ''La muette de Portici'' (''The Mute Girl of Portici'', or ''The Dumb Girl of Portici''), also called ''Masaniello'' () in some versions, is an opera in five acts by Daniel Auber, with a libretto by Germain Delavigne, revised by Eugène Scri ...
''. According to legend, those bitten by a
tarantula Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,100 species have been identified, with 166 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...
danced themselves to death in a frenzy, which Alkan's music seems to illustrate. The sonata was regarded as "among the most difficult and ambitious in the romantic repertoire ... anticipating
Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...
in its juxtaposition of the sublime and the trivial". The musicologist
Brigitte François-Sappey Brigitte François-Sappey (born 21 January 1944) is a French musicologist, educator, radio producer, and lecturer. Biography Brigitte François-Sappey studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris where she won First Prize (music diploma), first ...
noted in its four movements an anticipation of progressive tonality, each movement ascending by a
major third In music theory, a third is a Interval (music), musical interval encompassing three staff positions (see Interval (music)#Number, Interval number for more details), and the major third () is a third spanning four Semitone, half steps or two ...
.


Versions

The work exists in a transcription for
viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...
by
Casimir Ney Louis-Casimir Escoffier, known primarily as Casimir Ney or L. Casimir-Ney (24 February 1801 – 3 February 1877) was a French composer and one of the foremost Viola, violists of the 19th century. History Escoffier/Ney was born in Paris. During th ...
. Alkan himself also transcribed the last movement for
piano duet According to the ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', there are two kinds of piano duet: " ieces of musicfor two players at one instrument, and those in which each of the two pianists has an instrument to themselves." In American usage th ...
.
IMSLP The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), also known as the Petrucci Music Library after publisher Ottaviano Petrucci, is a subscription-based digital library of public domain, public-domain sheet music, music scores. The project use ...

piano duet score


References


External links

* {{authority control Alkan 1856 compositions Music with dedications Compositions by Charles-Valentin Alkan