The Sonata for Solo Cello was written by the American

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

composer

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 ...

in 1955. One of Crumb's earlier works, is heavily influenced by the works of

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 ...

and

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

Structure

This piece is divided into three movements. The first movement, ''Fantasia'', begins with plucked chords, strumming downwards, then alternates between these chords and a bowed melody. This comprises the A section. The fantasia follows a

ternary form Ternary form, sometimes called song form, is a three-part musical form consisting of an opening section (A), a following section (B) and then a repetition of the first section (A). It is usually schematized as A–B–A. Prominent examples includ ...

. The second movement, entitled ''Tema Pastorale con variazioni'', consists of a theme followed by three variations. The first variation is very similar to the theme, but with steady eighth notes and many meter changes. The second variation is played completely

pizzicato Pizzicato (, ; translated as "pinched", and sometimes roughly as "plucked") is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument : * On bowed ...

, again with many changes of meter. The third variation is much more lyrical than the first two, and strays from the theme much more than the other variations. The second movement ends with a muted repetition of the beginning of the theme. The third movement, entitled ''Toccata'', begins with a slow introduction, which grows to a high F sharp before cascading into the body of the movement. This Toccata consists mainly of stacked minor chords, but also has numerous references to the theme of the first movement. The entire sonata is approximately long.

History

The sonata was dedicated to Crumb's mother Vivian. It was first performed on 15 March 1957, and published in 1958.

References

External links

Compositions by George Crumb 1955 compositions Crumb {{sonata-stub