Michael Blake
SONATA for cello and piano
Bardic Edition BDE1184
Sonata ‘Hours with the Masters’ for violoncello and piano.
Almost everyone who had piano lessons in the mid-20th century will have encountered the now classic anthologies of so-called masterpieces, ‘Hours with the Masters’. And my Sonata for violoncello and piano, which has that subtitle, is therefore a kind of imaginary anthology of violoncello sonatas from Beethoven through to the 20th century, chosen mostly for the material they yield.
My other starting point emerged from the little-recognized scenario that Beethoven was a contemporary of the Christian Xhosa prophet and composer Ntsikana Gaba (c.1760-1821) whose hymns are the earliest pieces in the repertoire of most black South African choirs.
So my Sonata for violoncello and piano (‘Hours with the Masters’), which I started in Cape Town in November 2015 and completed at my new home in France in September 2016, has two movements derived from the classical composers of violoncello sonatas (in particular Beethoven’s third), and two movements deriving more from Xhosa music - i.e. from the masters of both traditions.
It was written at the request of Friedrich Gauwerky.
This work has been recorded by Friedrich Gauwerky (violoncello) and Daan Vandevalle (piano) on Wergo CD: WER 736 12. Michael Blake
Duration 17 minutes
Almost everyone who had piano lessons in the mid-20th century will have encountered the now classic anthologies of so-called masterpieces, ‘Hours with the Masters’. And my Sonata for violoncello and piano, which has that subtitle, is therefore a kind of imaginary anthology of violoncello sonatas from Beethoven through to the 20th century, chosen mostly for the material they yield.
My other starting point emerged from the little-recognized scenario that Beethoven was a contemporary of the Christian Xhosa prophet and composer Ntsikana Gaba (c.1760-1821) whose hymns are the earliest pieces in the repertoire of most black South African choirs.
So my Sonata for violoncello and piano (‘Hours with the Masters’), which I started in Cape Town in November 2015 and completed at my new home in France in September 2016, has two movements derived from the classical composers of violoncello sonatas (in particular Beethoven’s third), and two movements deriving more from Xhosa music - i.e. from the masters of both traditions.
It was written at the request of Friedrich Gauwerky.
This work has been recorded by Friedrich Gauwerky (violoncello) and Daan Vandevalle (piano) on Wergo CD: WER 736 12. Michael Blake
Duration 17 minutes
