Cello Sonata in B-flat major, Op. 46
- Instrumentation
- Cello, Piano
- Composed
- 1857
- Publisher
- Hildegard Publishing Company
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About this piece
Farrenc's only cello sonata was among her last compositions, written in the late 1850s and published in Paris in 1861 with a dedication to the cellist Charles Lebouc. Edition Silvertrust notes that she took Beethoven's cello sonatas as her model and that the piano part makes extensive use of tremolo, broken octaves and scale passages. The three movements move from an effortlessly gliding Allegro moderato through an ornamented, gently lilting Andante sostenuto to a lively finale. Brilliant Classics calls it a full-blooded Romantic sonata and a gem of its genre.
Technical overview
Three movements (Allegro moderato; Andante sostenuto in 6/8 with undulating sixteenths in the piano; Finale. Allegro). The first movement features grace notes and delicate turns of phrase; the finale has the cello prominent over nimble piano passagework. The piano part is the more virtuosic of the two.