Chopin and the Cello

In addition to juvenile pieces for piano and orchestra, it is also worth mentioning chamber compositions such as the Trio in G minor, in which the piano is accompanied by a violin and a cello.

It is not only the juvenile polonaise that Fryderyk wrote for piano and cello, but also –shortly after his arrival in Paris in 1832– the Grand Duo Concertant.

We rehearsed it and it can get by...– noted Chopin in a letter to his friend. He wrote these words in 1829, after creating the Polonaise in C major, Op. 3 for piano and cello. 

He was only nineteen then, and he already showed an unusual sense of the spirit of the dance, the panache of invention and a brilliant sense of humor. However, he was critical of himself.

In a letter, Chopin confided about the cello polonaise: Nothing but trinkets for the ladies' parlour. Today, it is difficult to agree with such harsh self-criticism. 

Fortunately, Fryderyk was not discouraged and, three years later, he presented the Grand Duo Concertant for piano and cello to the Paris audience.

Sometimes I find my Sonata with cello satisfactory, at other times – not. I discard it, then I pick it up again– Fryderyk wrote in his letter. Work on the new piece begun in 1845 but was not yet at an advanced stage in the fall of the following year. 

It was not until the summer of 1847 that Chopin would announce: as far as my music is concerned, I am just about to have my Sonata with cello printed...

The time when the late masterpiece was created coincided with great changes in the composer's life. Subsequent versions of the work are created in the shadow of the breakup with George Sand and his deteriorating health. 

To this day, many critics emphasize that the cello sonata opens a new stage in Chopin's work. Unfortunately, we do not know what artistic results could that stylistic change have brought. After having written the sonata, Chopin most likely does not compose anymore.

On February 16, 1848, the Paris audience was able to hear the Sonata in G minor for the first time. August Franchomme played the cello, and the composer himself sat at the piano. It was Chopin's last public concert.

It's hard to believe today, but only three of the four parts were played during the first performance. The first one was omitted. One of Chopin's students later explained that the piece did not meet with favorable reviews by Fryderyk's friends, so he decided to omit a controversial fragment considered overloaded and not very clear.