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Cello Concerto (Schumann)

The Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129, by Robert Schumann was completed in a period of only two weeks, between 10 October and 24 October 1850, shortly after Schumann became the music director at Düsseldorf.

The concerto was never played in Schumann's lifetime. It was premiered on 23 April 1860, four years after his death, in Oldenburg, with Ludwig Ebert as soloist.


The length of a typical performance is about 25 minutes.

Instrumentation[edit]

The work is scored for solo cello, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings.

Reception[edit]

Although the cello concerto is now performed with some regularity, the work spent many decades in obscurity, virtually unknown. Schumann was unable to secure a premiere of the work and initial reactions to his score were mostly very negative. This may have been in part due to the work's unusual structure as well as the personal, inward nature of the music and the lack of passages written to display the technical skill of the cello soloist; however, it may also be argued that it is these very qualities as well as Schumann's conception of the concerto that make the work so singular and admirable. As is often the case with the music of Schumann, the concerto, while offering more than ample technical demands, also requires an interpreter of the highest order and while criticism of the work persists, some cellists place the Schumann concerto alongside the cello concertos of Dvořák and Elgar in a group of three great Romantic works for their instrument.

Arrangements[edit]

Schumann created a version for violin and orchestra for Joseph Joachim to play.[1] Dmitri Shostakovich re-orchestrated the cello concerto in 1963 as his Op. 125.

1953: , The Prades Festival Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy, Sony

Pablo Casals

1955: , MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hermann Abendroth, Berlin Classics - September 5, 1955

Paul Tortelier

1960: , Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Sargent, EMI

Pierre Fournier

1960: , Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Deutsche Grammophon - September 12, 1960

Mstislav Rostropovich

1962: , The Bucharest Symphony Orchestra, Mircea Cristescu[3]

Vladimir Orloff

1962: , London Symphony Orchestra, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Decca - July 10, 1962

János Starker

1968: , New Philharmonia Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim, Warner - May 11, 1968

Jacqueline du Pré

1976: Mstislav Rostropovich, , Leonard Bernstein, EMI, Grammy Award Nomination

Orchestre National de France

1981: , The Cleveland Orchestra, Sir Neville Marriner, Decca[4]

Lynn Harrell

1986: , Vienna Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, Deutsche Grammophon

Mischa Maisky

1988: , Berlin Philharmonic, Bernard Haitink, Philips

Heinrich Schiff

1988: , Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Colin Davis, Sony

Yo-Yo Ma

1991: , London Philharmonic, Kurt Masur, EMI

Natalia Gutman

1996: , Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Christoph Eschenbach - June 15, 1996

Steven Isserlis

1997: , Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon - March 26, 1997

Mischa Maisky

: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

Cello Concerto