John Ireland
John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian-American actor and film director. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia and raised in New York City, he came to prominence with film audiences for his supporting roles i ...
, composed in 1923 and premiered on 4 April 1924 by
Beatrice Harrison
Beatrice Harrison (9 December 1892 – 10 March 1965) was a British cellist active in the first half of the 20th century. She gave first performances of several important English works, especially those of Frederick Delius, and made the first or ...
and pianist Evlyn Howard-Jones at the Aeolian Hall, London. Harrison then performed it again at the Salzburg ISCM Festival in August the same year. Ireland subsequently performed and recorded the Sonata for Columbia Records in 1928 with Antoni Sala.
Lionel Tertis
Lionel Tertis, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (29 December 187622 February 1975) was an English viola, violist. He was one of the first viola players to achieve international fame, and a noted teacher.
Career
Tertis was born ...
made an arrangement for viola in 1941 and played it with Ireland at one of the wartime
National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...
concerts that year.
There are three movements: Moderato e sostenuto (which begins quietly but with an important four-note motif that informs the rest of the work); Poco largamente, a lyrical, pastoral movement in the key of Eb; and (without a break) the lively Con moto e marcato, returning to G minor. Performances typically last between 20 and 25 minutes.
Sala described it as "the best cello sonata of modern times".
Pablo Casals
Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,Ireland Cello Sonata, played by Antoni Sala and the composer (1928)
{{portal bar, Classical music, Music
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...