François Salque & Eric Le Sage - Beethoven: Cello Sonatas (2017) [Hi-Res]

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Beethoven was one of the first composers to reveal the expressive and technical qualities of the cello, both in his symphonic works and in his chamber music. Some illustrious predecessors (Bach, Geminiani or Vivaldi) had already worked on the creation of an autonomous repertoire of concertos and sonatas for the cello, but Beethoven transformed the former instrument of accompaniment and support of the continuo into a true partner of a music based on dialogue, exchange, and contrast.

Originating from the rebec family that had developed since the twelfth century, the cello appeared as a violin bass in Italy in the seventeenth century, then at the end of the following century its musical role was freed from the accompaniment to which it was most often confined. Until the end of the eighteenth century, its main role was limited essentially to the continuo part, realizing with the harpsichord or organ the bass lines according to the criteria of baroque aesthetics. Some composers (Vivaldi, Boccherini, Bach and Haydn), however, began to give it solo or concerto parts. In the nineteenth century, after Beethoven, many others exploited its virtuosity and specific melodic qualities, especially Schumann, Brahms, Dvorák, Lalo or Saint-Saëns… At the end of the eighteenth century, Haydn was the only one to compose real concertos for cello, but Mozart had already given it some melodic freedom in his last three Strings Quartets commissioned by the King of Prussia Friedrich-Wilhelm II, himself an amateur cellist. It is this same King of Prussia who was the dedicatee in 1796 of the two Sonatas op. 5 "for pianoforte and cello" by Beethoven. …