Podcast No. 96
Taking a Solo (43.21 MB)
Works for cello and piano duo, and for solo piano, performed by cellist Efe Baltacigil, and pianists Anna Polonsky and Paavali Jumppanen.

•Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 5, No. 1
•Beethoven: Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3, “La Chasse”

Just as in jazz, Baroque music had a “rhythm section” of its own: the continuo group. The gamba or cello played the bass line and the harpsichord or organ improvised the harmonic accompaniment. At the time that Beethoven wrote his first cello sonata it was still relatively rare to feature the cello as a solo chamber music instrument. Also unique was the import Beethoven placed on the keyboard part; its lines are far from mere harmonic accompaniment. Written throughout the course of his career, Beethoven’s piano 32 sonatas were a vital part of the evolution of the solo piano repertoire and they demonstrate the progress of the piano itself, as an instrument capable of a range of colors and dynamics. The sonata we’ll hear today was written about halfway through the group. The jocular mood throughout, and a final-movement theme reminiscent of a French horn call, may have inspired the nickname “The Hunt.”