A cello sonata is piece written

sonata Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...

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 230px Francesco Saverio Geminiani (baptised 5 December 1687 – 17 September 1762) was an Italian violinist, composer, and music theorist. BBC Radio 3 once described him as "now largely forgotten, but in his time considered almost a musical god, ...

and

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...

, and since then other famous cello sonatas have grown to those by

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

, Ludwig van Beethoven, and

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

among others. The following list contains cello sonatas with or without accompanying instruments. See the See also list for more comprehensive lists divided up into solo and accompanied works.

List of major cello sonatas

Charles-Valentin Alkan Charles-Valentin Alkan (; 30 November 1813 – 29 March 1888) was a French Jewish 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 Lisz ...

** Sonate de Concert, Op. 47 (c. 1857) *

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. The music critic Donal Henahan said, "Proba ...

** Cello Sonata in C minor, Op. 6 (1932) * Arnold Bax **Cello Sonata (1923) **Cello Sonatina (1933) **Legend-Sonata (1943) * Ludwig van Beethoven ** Cello Sonata No. 1 in F major, Op. 5/1 (1796) ** Cello Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 5/2 (1796) ** Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69 (1808) ** Cello Sonata No. 4 in C major, Op. 102/1 (1815) ** Cello Sonata No. 5 in D major, Op. 102/2 (1815) *

Easley Blackwood Jr. Easley R. Blackwood Jr. (April 21, 1933 – January 22, 2023) was an American professor of music, concert pianist, composer (sometimes using unusual tunings), and the author of books on music theory, including his research into the properties of ...

**Cello Sonata, Op. 31 *

** Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38 (1862–5) ** Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99 (1886) ** Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, "''Rain''", Op. 78 (1878–9), transcribed for cello by Paul Klengel ** Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100 (1886), transcribed for cello by Laszlo Varga ** Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108 (1886–8), transcribed for cello by Laszlo Varga * Frank Bridge **Cello sonata in D minor, H. (Hindmarsh) 125 (1913-7) * Benjamin Britten ** Sonata in C for Cello and Piano, Op. 65 (1961) * Elliott Carter **Cello Sonata (1948) *

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

** Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65 (1845–6) *

George Crumb George Henry Crumb Jr. (24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical ...

** Sonata for Solo Cello (1955) *

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

** Cello Sonata in D minor (1915) * Frederick Delius **Cello Sonata (1916) * Felix Draeseke **Cello Sonata in D major, Op. 51 (1890) *

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...

**Cello Sonata in F major (1871) lost (cello part extant) * George Enescu **Cello Sonata in F minor, Op. 26/1 (1898) **Cello sonata in C major, Op. 26/2 (1935) *

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...

** Cello Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 109 (1917) ** Cello Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 117 (1921) * César Franck ** Violin Sonata in A major, transcribed with the composer's approval for cello by Jules Delsart. See *

John Foulds John Herbert Foulds (; 2 November 188025 April 1939) was an English cellist and composer of classical music. He was largely self-taught as a composer, and belongs among the figures of the English Musical Renaissance. A successful composer of li ...

** Cello Sonata (1905, rev. 1927) * François Francoeur (attrib.) **Sonata for Cello and Piano in E major (actually a cello arrangement of a Louis Francoeur violin sonata) * Peter Racine Fricker **Cello Sonata (1956) *

Zoltán Gárdonyi Zoltán Gárdonyi (; 25 April 1906 – 27 June 1986) was a Hungarian composer and musicologist. He taught at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music for 26 years. Life and work Gárdonyi was born in Budapest. His mother, the pianist Maria Weigl, stud ...

**Cello Sonata (1944) * Edvard Grieg ** Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36 (1883) * Paul Hindemith **Cello Sonata, Op. 11/3 (1919) **Sonata for Cello Solo, Op. 25/3 (1923) **Cello Sonata (1948) * Vagn Holmboe **Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 101 (1968–69) * Arthur Honegger **Cello Sonata in D minor, H.32 (1920) * Stephen Hough **Sonata for Cello and Piano (left hand) (2014) * Bertold Hummel **Cello Sonata in F major, Op. 2 (1950) **Sonata brevis, Op. 11a (1955) *

Johann Nepomuk Hummel Johann Nepomuk Hummel (14 November 177817 October 1837) was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the Transition from Classical to Romantic music, transition from the Classical period (music), Classical to the Romantic ...

**Sonata in A major, Op. 104 * John Ireland ** Cello Sonata in G minor (1923) *

Giuseppe Maria Jacchini Giuseppe Maria Jacchini (16 July 1667http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/14014 Oxford Music Online in Bologna – 2 May 1727) was an Italian cellist and composer. Life Jacchini received his musical training as a choir ...

** Sonata No. 3 in C major (1697) * Joseph Jongen ** Cello Sonata in C minor, Op. 39 (1913) * Dmitry Kabalevsky **Cello Sonata in B flat major, Op. 71 (1962) * Zoltán Kodály **Cello Sonata, Op. 4 (1907) ** Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8 (1915) **Cello Sonatine (1923) * Josef Labor **Cello Sonata Sonata in A major, Op. 7 (1896) * Édouard Lalo **Cello Sonata in A minor (1856) * Lowell Liebermann **Cello Sonata No. 1, Op. 3 (1978) **Cello Sonata No. 2, Op. 61 (1998) **Cello Sonata No. 3, Op. 90 (2005) **Cello Sonata No. 4, Op. 108 (2008) * György Ligeti ** Sonata for Solo Cello * Albéric Magnard **Sonata for Cello in A, Op. 20 (1910) *

Bohuslav Martinů Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He bec ...

**Cello Sonata No. 1, H 277 **Cello Sonata No. 2, H 286 **Cello Sonata No. 3, H 340 *

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

** Cello Sonata No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 45 (1838) ** Cello Sonata No. 2 in D major, Op. 58 (1842–3) * Ignaz Moscheles **Cello Sonata Op. 34 in B-flat major **Cello Sonata No. 2 Op. 121 in E major * Henrique Oswald ** Cello Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 21 (1898) ** Cello Sonata No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 44 (1916) * Hubert Parry ** Cello Sonata in A major (1879–83) *

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi Giovanni Battista Draghi (; 4 January 1710 – 16 or 17 March 1736), often referred to as Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (), was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and organist. His best-known works include his Stabat Mater and the opera ''L ...

**Cello Sonata in F major (uncertain attribution) *

Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...

** Cello Sonata, FP 143 (1948) * Sergei Prokofiev ** Cello Sonata in C major, Op. 119 (1949) **Sonata for Solo Cello in C minor, Op. 134 (unfinished) *

** Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 19 (1901) *

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

** Sonata for Violin and Cello (1920–22) *

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...

** Cello Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 5 (1892) **Cello Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 28 (1898) **Cello Sonata No. 3 in F major, Op. 78 (1904) **Cello Sonata No. 4 in A minor, Op. 116 (1910)Info from IMSLP listings. * Edmund Rubbra **Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 60 (1946) *

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

** Cello Sonata No. 1 in C minor, Op. 32 ** Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 123 * Philipp Scharwenka **Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 116 * Alfred Schnittke **Cello Sonata No. 1 (1978) **Cello Sonata No. 2 (1993/4) * Franz Schubert ** Sonata for Arpeggione in A minor, D. 821 is often transcribed for cello. *

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

** Cello Sonata in D minor, Op. 40 (1934) * Charles Villiers Stanford ** Cello Sonata No. 1 in A major, Op. 9 (1878) ** Cello Sonata No. 2 on D minor, Op. 39 (1893) *

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

** Sonata in F major for cello and piano (1882) *

** At least 9 cello sonatas *

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

**Sonata for Cello and Piano (1920)

Chronology of major cello sonatas

The following list (inevitably incomplete) tries to place the major sonatas and equivalent works for cello and piano or cello solo in chronological order of completion. It will be susceptible to uncertainty of dates, and whether original or revised versions are definitive.

References

External links

Complete Scores of Many Cello Sonatas

Dates need to be double-checked against other sources as they do not always agree. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cello Sonata Articles containing video clips