Titus et Bérénice: Grande Sonate dramatique

About this piece

Strohl's Grande Sonate dramatique takes Racine's tragedy Bérénice as its programme: each of the four movements represents a scene from the drama of the Roman emperor Titus and the queen he must renounce. The Strad describes anguished, intense writing for the two lovers set against a light, elegant scherzo, and a deeply moving unaccompanied lament in the third movement. One of the few works Strohl published in her lifetime (Enoch, Paris), it has been revived since 2017 through recordings by Aude Pivôt, Edgar Moreau and Sandra Lied Haga, and its soft, Franck-like harmonic language is now widely admired.

Technical overview

Four large movements (Allegro moderato; Scherzo: Vivace – Molto movimento; Lento, Tristamente; Allegro molto movimento) lasting 35-37 minutes. The writing spans the whole range of the cello, includes an unaccompanied cello lament in the slow movement, and demands sustained dramatic intensity; stamina and high-register security are essential.

Technical focus

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