A cello sonata is usually a

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 ...

written for solo

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

with

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

accompaniment. The most famous Romantic-era cello sonatas are those written 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 ...

and

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

. Some of the earliest cello sonatas were written in the 18th century by Francesco Geminiani 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 ...

. 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 Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, (8 November 1883 – 3 October 1953) was an English composer, poet, and author. His prolific output includes songs, choral music, chamber pieces, and solo piano works, but he is best known for his orchestral musi ...

**Cello Sonata (1923) **Cello Sonatina (1933) **Legend-Sonata (1943) *

** 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. **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, "''Rain''", Op. 78 (1878–9), transcribed for cello *

Frank Bridge Frank Bridge (26 February 187910 January 1941) was an English composer, violist and conductor. Life Bridge was born in Brighton, the ninth child of William Henry Bridge (1845-1928), a violin teacher and variety theatre conductor, formerly a m ...

**Cello sonata in D minor, H. (Hindmarsh) 125 (1913-7) *

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

** Sonata in C for Cello and Piano, Op. 65 (1961) *

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer. One of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century, he combined elements of European modernism and American "ultra- ...

**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 Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...

**Cello Sonata (1916) *

Felix Draeseke Felix August Bernhard Draeseke (7 October 1835 – 26 February 1913) was a composer of the "New German School" admiring Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. He wrote compositions in most forms including eight operas and stage works, four symphonies, ...

**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 George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history, Enescu is featured on the Romanian five lei. Biog ...

**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 César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was p ...

** Violin Sonata in A major, transcribed with the composer's approval for cello by

Jules Delsart Jules Delsart (24 November 1844 – 3 July 1900)MacGregor, "Jules Delsart"Grove Music Online (Subscription Access)/ref> was a 19th-century French cellist and teacher. He is best known for his arrangement for cello and piano of César Franck's V ...

. 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 A cello sonata is usually a sonata written for solo cello with piano accompaniment. The most famous Romantic-era cello sonatas are those written by Johannes Brahms and Ludwig van Beethoven. Some of the earliest cello sonatas were written in the 1 ...

(1905, rev. 1927) *

François Francoeur François Francœur (8 September 1698 – 5 August 1787) was a French composer and violinist. Biography François Francœur was born in Paris, the son of Joseph Francœur, a basse de violon player and member of the '' 24 violons du roy''. Franc� ...

(attrib.) **Sonata for Cello and Piano in E major (actually a cello arrangement of a Louis Francoeur violin sonata) *

Peter Racine Fricker Peter Racine Fricker (5 September 19201 February 1990) was an English composer, among the first to establish his career entirely after the Second World War. He lived in the US for the last thirty years of his life. Fricker wrote over 160 works in ...

**Cello Sonata (1956) * Zoltán Gárdonyi **Cello Sonata (1944) *

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

** Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36 (1883) *

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...

**Cello Sonata, Op. 11/3 (1919) **Sonata for Cello Solo, Op. 25/3 (1923) **Cello Sonata (1948) *

Vagn Holmboe Vagn Gylding Holmboe (, 20 December 1909 – 1 September 1996) was a Danish composer and teacher. Life Vagn Holmboe was born in Horsens, Jutland, into a merchant family of dedicated amateur musicians. Both parents played the piano. His fa ...

**Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 101 (1968–69) *

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 to ...

**Cello Sonata in D minor, H.32 (1920) *

Stephen Hough Sir Stephen Andrew Gill Hough (; born 22 November 1961) is a British-born classical pianist, composer and writer. He became an Australian citizen in 2005 and thus has dual nationality (his father was born in Australia in 1926). Biography Houg ...

**Sonata for Cello and Piano (left hand) (2014) *

Bertold Hummel Bertold Hummel (27 November 1925 – 9 August 2002) was a German composer of modern classical music. Life Bertold Hummel was born in Hüfingen, Baden. He studied at the Academy of Music in Freiburg from 1947 to 1954, taking composition with Har ...

**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 John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...

** Cello Sonata in G minor (1923) * Giuseppe Maria Jacchini ** Sonata No. 3 in C major (1697) *

Joseph Jongen Joseph Marie Alphonse Nicolas Jongen (14 December 1873 – 12 July 1953) was a Belgian organist, composer, and music educator. Biography Jongen was born in Liège, where his parents had moved from Flanders. On the strength of an amazing precocity ...

** Cello Sonata in C minor, Op. 39 (1913) *

Dmitry Kabalevsky Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky (russian: Дми́трий Бори́сович Кабале́вский ; 14 February 1987) was a Soviet composer, conductor, pianist and pedagogue of Russian gentry descent. He helped set up the Union of Soviet Co ...

**Cello Sonata in B flat major, Op. 71 (1962) *

Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (; hu, Kodály Zoltán, ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music ed ...

**Cello Sonata, Op. 4 (1907) ** Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8 (1915) **Cello Sonatine (1923) *

Josef Labor Josef Paul Labor (29 June 1842 – 26 April 1924) was an Austrian pianist, organist, and composer of the late Romantic era. Labor was an influential music teacher. As a friend of some key figures in Vienna, his importance was enhanced. Biogr ...

**Cello Sonata Sonata in A major, Op. 7 (1896) *

Édouard Lalo Édouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo (27 January 182322 April 1892) was a French composer. His most celebrated piece is the ''Symphonie espagnole'', a five-movement concerto for violin and orchestra, which remains a popular work in the standard reper ...

**Cello Sonata in A minor (1856) *

Lowell Liebermann Lowell Liebermann (born February 22, 1961 in New York City) is an American composer, pianist and conductor. Life and career At the age of sixteen, Liebermann performed at Carnegie Hall, playing his Piano Sonata, op. 1. He studied at the Juilliar ...

**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 György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...

** Sonata for Solo Cello *

Albéric Magnard Lucien Denis Gabriel Albéric Magnard (; 9 June 1865 – 3 September 1914) was a French composer, sometimes referred to as a "French Bruckner", though there are significant differences between the two composers. Magnard became a national hero in ...

**Sonata for Cello in A, Op. 20 (1910) *

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 Isaac Ignaz Moscheles (; 23 May 179410 March 1870) was a Bohemian piano virtuoso and composer. He was based initially in London and later at Leipzig, where he joined his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as professor of piano at the ...

**Cello Sonata Op. 34 in B-flat major **Cello Sonata No. 2 Op. 121 in E major *

Henrique Oswald Henrique José Pedro Maria Carlos Luis Oswald (April 14, 1852 – June 9, 1931) was a Brazilian composer and pianist. Biography Oswald was born in Rio de Janeiro. His father was a Swiss-German immigrant and his mother from Italy. The family name w ...

** Cello Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 21 (1898) ** Cello Sonata No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 44 (1916) *

Hubert Parry Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 18487 October 1918) was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill in Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is b ...

** 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 ...

, FP 143 (1948) *

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

** Cello Sonata in C major, Op. 119 (1949) **Sonata for Solo Cello in C minor, Op. 134 (unfinished) *

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 ...

** 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 Edmund Rubbra (; 23 May 190114 February 1986) was a British composer. He composed both instrumental and vocal works for soloists, chamber groups and full choruses and orchestras. He was greatly esteemed by fellow musicians and was at the peak o ...

**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 Ludwig Philipp Scharwenka (16 February 1847, in Szamotuły amter Grand Duchy of Posen – 16 July 1917, in Bad Nauheim) was a German-Polish composer and teacher of music. He was the older brother of Xaver Scharwenka. Early training Scharwenka ...

**Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 116 *

Alfred Schnittke Alfred Garrievich Schnittke (russian: Альфре́д Га́рриевич Шни́тке, link=no, Alfred Garriyevich Shnitke; 24 November 1934 – 3 August 1998) was a Russian composer of Jewish-German descent. Among the most performed and re ...

**Cello Sonata No. 1 (1978) **Cello Sonata No. 2 (1993/4) *

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

** 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 Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was ed ...

** 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