- Composer: Zoltán Kodály (16 December 1882 -- 6 March 1967)
- Performer: Jacob Koranyi
- Year of recording: 2010 (Live in Stockholm, Sweden)
Sonata in B minor for solo cello, Op. 8, written in 1915.
00:00 - I. Allegro maestoso ma appassionato
09:00 - II. Adagio con gran espressione
20:53 - III. Allegro molto vivace
This composition is widely considered the greatest of a small field of works written for solo cello, since Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suites. According to Calum McDonald, “Had he written nothing else apart from this magnificent sonata, Kodály would still deserve to be accounted one of the greatest musical geniuses that Hungary has ever produced”.
The piece contains influences of Debussy and Bartók, as well as the inflections and nuances of Hungarian folk music. It wavers between B minor and B major, and Kodály adjusted the two lower strings down a semitone (scordatura) to better evoke these tonalities and to extend the instrument’s tonal, dynamic and expressive range.
The sonata was written in 1915, but its premiere was delayed due to World War I so the Budapest premiere was on 7 May 1918 by Jenő Kerpely.
Kodály himself predicted that “in 25 years no cellist will be accepted who has not played it”. Indeed, less than 40 years later, in 1956, the sonata was a set piece for the Casals Competition in Mexico City. But in the meantime it had yet to earn its recognition.
The piece has become quite attached to cellist János Starker, who has recorded the piece 4 times, much to the approval of Kodály who said to him: “If you correct the ritard in the third movement, it will be the Bible performance”. However, I chose another excellent recent performance by Koranyi, that deserves at least as much recognition as Starker’s great recordings (IMHO).