Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 22
- Instrumentation
- Cello, Orchestra
- Composed
- 1945
- Duration
- 28'30''
- Publisher
- G. Schirmer
Purchase or download
About this piece
Commissioned through Serge Koussevitzky for the Russian-born cellist Raya Garbousova and the Boston Symphony, with funding from the amateur cellist and BSO trustee John Nicholas Brown (the score is dedicated to John and Anne Brown). Barber, still in the Army Air Forces, had Garbousova play through her repertoire so he could write for her strengths; she premiered it in Boston on 5 April 1946. Three movements, with a long-breathed Andante sostenuto at the centre. G. Schirmer publishes the piano reduction (52 pages) and a study score, with orchestral material on hire.
Technical overview
Extreme technical demands in the solo part, which also carries Raya Garbousova’s heavy editing (Wikipedia).