Cello Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 (Beethoven)

Cello Sonatas No. 1 and No. 2 (Opus 5) were written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1796, while he was in Berlin. While there, Beethoven met the King of Prussia Friedrich Wilhelm II, an ardent music-lover and keen cellist. Although the sonatas are dedicated to Friedrich Wilhelm II, Ferdinand Ries tells us that Beethoven "played several times at the court, where he also played the two cello sonatas, opus 5, composed for Duport (the King's first cellist) and himself". Although Jean-Pierre Duport was one of the King's teachers, it is now thought to have been his brother Jean-Louis Duport who had the honor of premiering these sonatas.

Both of these sonatas are in two movements, with an extended Adagio introduction preceding the opening Allegro of both of them. The movements are entitled as follows:

Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 5 No. 1

1. Adagio sostenuto - Allegro
2. Rondo. Allegro vivace

Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 5 No. 2

1. Adagio sostenuto e espressivo - Allegro molto più tosto presto (ends in major).
2. Rondo. Allegro (in G major)

Performance of this piece takes approximately 15 minutes.

See also

• List of compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven

External links

• Free scores by Cello Sonata No. 1 at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• Performance of Cello Sonata No. 1 by Efe Baltacigil (cello) and Anna Polonsky (piano) from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format