cello sonatas

[chopincat]

I'm looking for some music that me and my cellist friend could play together. Preferably a sonata but could be anything really. One that caught my eye was the Brahms in e minor, but I have no idea how difficult it is. Neither of us do exams, but from what I can tell I'm around grade 8, and she's a little more advanced than me. We both have some experience playing in chamber groups. Any suggestions?

[awesom_o]

Whatever you choose to play, expect to have to put more work in than your friend!

Check out the Beethoven Sonatas, the Mendelssohn Sonatas, the Chopin Sonata, the Brahms Sonatas, and the Rachmaninoff Sonata!

 

[chopincat]

Check out the Beethoven Sonatas, the Mendelssohn Sonatas, the Chopin Sonata, the Brahms Sonatas, and the Rachmaninoff Sonata!

I've listened to a lot of those and they all sound wonderful, but could I realistically play any of them? To me they all sound pretty difficult, but I'm probably not the best judge since I haven't even seen the sheet music.

[mjames]

What about the Schubert Appergione/Cello sonata? Definitely sounds (and looks) like a doable piece for both the pianist and the cellist! It's beautiful too

Also if you still feel like a sonata is too much work, you could always settle for transcriptions and originals of miniature stuff.

Say something like Liszt's love dream, kreisler's liebeslied etc

[awesom_o]

You know, everything is difficult to do beautifully!

I have yet to be convinced by the Schubert on the modern cello.... it was written for the arpeggione, as I'm sure you are aware.

I'm think you'll be able to play anything you choose to play, provided you put in the time and effort to do a good job!

Having said that, all of the pieces I mentioned are extremely difficult for the pianist.  

[mjames]

Having said that, all of the pieces I mentioned are extremely difficult for the pianist.  

No kidding...

And hey! I didn't know that Mendelssohn wrote cello sonatas!....

yum yum

[j_menz]

Why not go baroque. Bach, Boccherini and Vivaldi all wrote a few and they're all quite wonderful.

[visitor]

I'm not gaga for Chopin, but am for this piece. probably my favorite composition of his, and certainly my favorite of his sonata output. This very late Chopin really was starting to get jiggy

[chopincat]

Visitor, I love that piece as well! But unfortunately I can't even play most of Chopin's etudes, let alone a sonata! 

[visitor]

Visitor, I love that piece as well! But unfortunately I can't even play most of Chopin's etudes, let alone a sonata! 

hmm that's problematic .  Collaborative repertoire is many instances harder than solo works or brahms cello sonata etc.

How about movement from Haydn cello concerto and you play orchestra reduction.  Those are not so bad.

Also see kabalevsky cello concerto that's one is so great
Rx

[amytsuda]

Faure Elegie. (Sounds fancy and difficult for both players, but actually really not)

Saint Saens Swan from the Carnival. (Everyone plays this....)

Brahms Sonata Op 38 1st Movement is not too bad for both pianist and cellist.

I performed those back in high school when I was a cellist with my pianist classmate. We could handle them.... we tried Brahms Op 99, but that was really hard, we fell apart completely and gave up.

[amytsuda]

Oh, another one! Rachmaninoff cello sonata 3rd movement. Really pretty.

[ahinton]

Magnard, Fauré × 2, Bridge, Shostakovich - there are many dozens of worthwhile ones to explore (and I have one here if anyone wants it)...

Best,

Alistair

[amytsuda]

I wasn't familiar Chopin cello sonata, so I just listened to it. 3rd movement is definitely approachable  (since your name is chopincat....)! Shostakovich is hard for your cellist I think...it's a great piece, though!

[awesom_o]

amytsuda, I didn't know you were a cellist!

How wonderful! Do you still play frequently?

[amytsuda]

No... my work schedules and too busy practicing piano if I ever have time... My cello is not out of her case for a long time    It's actually not motivating or it gets lonely to practice cello when not part of a group. Since my husband is a tenor not a pianist, I focus on piano - comparative advantage, I guess.