Sonata for Cello and Piano op. 6 in F Major

Richard Strauss  

Strauss was born in Munich on the 11th of June, 1864, the son of Franz Joseph Strauss, principal hornist in the Court Orchestra (Hoforchester) and Josephine Pschorr, whose family were prominent brewers in the Bavarian capital (a city still famous the world over for its beer). This lineage provided the young Richard with a background both musically and financially secure and, indeed, he showed great promise from an early age: he started piano at four (he could read musical notes before letters and words) and began composing at the age of six (lieder, piano pieces and orchestral overtures). At the age of eight, Richard Strauss began violin studies and at eleven, theory, harmony and orchestration (of which he was to become an acknowledged master). His father encouraged him to listen to the music of the older masters, including Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Schumann, all of whose influences can be clearly heard in Strauss's cello sonata, which he began to compose in 1881 at the age of seventeen. He revised the work extensively during the winter of 1882-1883, preserving only the introductory Allegro con brio, in which the cello is treated in a heroic style anticipating his tone poem, "Don Juan", of 1888. When the sonata was first performed in Berlin in 1884, he was congratulated on the opening lyrical theme by the legendary violinist and composer, Joseph Joachim.

The vitality and verve of the opening pervade the entire first movement, whose unified thematic structure shows the influence of Beethoven and Schumann. There is extensive dialogue between the cello and piano, and an ingenious four-part fugue leading into the recapitulation. The second movement, with its pensive, dark-hued atmosphere and sensitive theme in "Romanza" style, is clearly inspired by Mendelssohn - possibly by one of his "Songs without Words". In the Finale, Strauss draws inspiration from Mendelssohn's "Scottish" Symphony and Wagner's "Parsifal". In addition, the movement reveals some unmistakably Straussian characteristics, including a cadence that foreshadows his own "Elektra", written fifteen years later. The F Major Cello Sonata was written for the Czech cellist, Hans Wihan, who gave the first performance in Nürnberg on the 8th of December, 1883.