STRAUSS & GRIEG: CELLO SONATAS - Marcy Rosen, Susan Walters

Grieg Strauss Cello Sonatas liner notes

It is probably little more than an accident of chronology that the two works on this record happened to be written in the same year: 1883. But there are other, more significant, similarities between the Strauss and Grieg cello sonatas. Both works are familiar to cellists but can hardly be considered "warhorses." Both are by composers not particularly renowned for their chamber music. Both are unique in the catalogs of their creators: neither Grieg nor Strauss wrote another cello sonata, although both men had long careers ahead of them (indeed, Strauss lived on for 66 years). And finally, it must be said that both works betray a certain insecurity with large forms on the part of their makers. In Strauss' case, this was likely because of his youth and relative inexperience, while Grieg's inventive, rhapsodic musical sensibility was never particularly formal. It is for their parts, then, rather than their sums that we value the sonatas. And, measure for measure, the works offer ample rewards for performer and listener -- ingratiating melodies, skillful harmonies, effective writing for piano and cello, and, in both cases, a distinct, sentimental charm that inspires affection. These are pieces that one can love, not merely admire.