Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; rus, Арам Ильич Хачатурян, , ɐˈram ɨˈlʲjitɕ xətɕɪtʊˈrʲan, Ru-Aram Ilyich Khachaturian.ogg; hy, Արամ Խաչատրյան, ''Aram Xačʿatryan''; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet and Armeni ...

wrote his Cello Concerto in

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: : Changes nee ...

in 1946 for Sviatoslav Knushevitsky. It was the last of the three concertos he wrote for the individual members of a renowned Soviet piano trio that performed together from 1941 until 1963. The others were: the

Piano Concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showp ...

for Lev Oborin (1936); and the

Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque music, Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first dev ...

for

David Oistrakh David Fyodorovich Oistrakh (; – 24 October 1974), was a Soviet classical violinist, violist and conductor. Oistrakh collaborated with major orchestras and musicians from many parts of the world and was the dedicatee of numerous violin ...

(1940). Although the last written of the three, the Cello Concerto was the first one Khachaturian had considered writing, when he was a cello student at the Gnessin Institute.Virtual Museum of Aram Khachaturian
/ref> The work was premiered on 30 October 1946 (or November 1946
/ref>), in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, with the dedicatee Sviatoslav Knushevitsky as soloist. The conductor was Aleksandr Gauk.Music Web International
/ref> The Cello Concerto is the least known of the three concertos,Flying Inkpot
/ref> and has not entered the core repertoire of cellists in the way the other two have for pianists and violinists, despite its difficulty level being comparable to the piano and violin concerti. It has received relatively few recordings. The work is said to echo Khachaturian's painful experiences of war-time. It contains many allusions to folk material and dance rhythms such as the ashoug. It has been described as more of a symphony with cello than a cello concerto. The three movements are: * 1. Allegro moderato * 2. Andante sostenuto * 3. Allegro (a battuta).Naxos
/ref> The opening movement contains sections of a brooding quality, and even quotes the '' Dies Irae''. It is rhapsodic and changeable in its moods.Classical Candor
/ref> It contains a lengthy cadenza but has little by way of thematic development.Answers.com
/ref> The central Andante has been described as 'introspective and melancholy', 'nocturnal and seductive', 'dramatic and stern',ArkivMusik
/ref> and 'menacing, oriental and melismatic'. The third movement is full of bustle and tension. However, its energy level decreases until just near the end, when it concludes with a fast coda. The work was one of the reasons Khachaturian was ousted from the Composers Union, and he and other Soviet composers were denounced for formalism in the Zhdanov Decree of 1948.

References

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Khachaturian Khachaturian, Khachaturyan, Khachadurian or Khachatourian ( hy, Խաչատուրյան) is an Armenian surname meaning "cross bearer". People with the name include the following: * Leon Khachatourian (born 1936), Iranian Armenian boxer * Aram Khach ...

Compositions by Aram Khachaturian 1946 compositions 1946 in the Soviet Union Compositions in E minor