Zoltán Kodály - Sonata for Solo Cello
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- Опубліковано 16 лип 2024
- - Composer: Zoltán Kodály (16 December 1882 -- 6 March 1967)
- Performer: Jacob Koranyi
- Year of recording: 2010 (Live in Stockholm, Sweden)
Sonata in B minor for solo cello, Op. 8, written in 1915.
00:00 - I. Allegro maestoso ma appassionato
09:00 - II. Adagio con gran espressione
20:53 - III. Allegro molto vivace
This composition is widely considered the greatest of a small field of works written for solo cello, since Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suites. According to Calum McDonald, “Had he written nothing else apart from this magnificent sonata, Kodály would still deserve to be accounted one of the greatest musical geniuses that Hungary has ever produced”.
The piece contains influences of Debussy and Bartók, as well as the inflections and nuances of Hungarian folk music. It wavers between B minor and B major, and Kodály adjusted the two lower strings down a semitone (scordatura) to better evoke these tonalities and to extend the instrument’s tonal, dynamic and expressive range.
The sonata was written in 1915, but its premiere was delayed due to World War I so the Budapest premiere was on 7 May 1918 by Jenő Kerpely.
Kodály himself predicted that “in 25 years no cellist will be accepted who has not played it”. Indeed, less than 40 years later, in 1956, the sonata was a set piece for the Casals Competition in Mexico City. But in the meantime it had yet to earn its recognition.
The piece has become quite attached to cellist János Starker, who has recorded the piece 4 times, much to the approval of Kodály who said to him: “If you correct the ritard in the third movement, it will be the Bible performance”. However, I chose another excellent recent performance by Koranyi, that deserves at least as much recognition as Starker’s great recordings (IMHO).
Looks at cello, looks at the music, looks at cello, looks at the music, contemplates life choices.
lol
Zisoy
Looks at hands
:D lol'ed very loudly at this
Ive been playing cello for almost 4 years, decided to take a chance on this piece, man, the thrills on the 1st movement are a pain to play in tune, and the entire 3rd movement is a fucking nightmare, never tought id say this but im balding ever since i picked up this piece...
It’s funny how sheet music is so different for each instrument.
Pianist: *looks over music “a good sight read practice, yes, yes indeed”
Cello player: “no thank you”
Tremolo ricochet sautille lmao
Cellist: *sees whole note with crescendo* "eh that's easy"
Pianist: "no?"
everyone gangsta until the sheet music splits into two clefs
@Jjjj Jjjjy so rude?
@Jjjj Jjjj wot
*staves
@@excuseyou7198 no all clefs are written on some sort of staff.... it's the clef that changes so he was correct
@Jjjj Jjjj .... get a life, it was a joke
Math teacher:"Come on, the test isn't that hard"
The test:
The day I discovered this piece of music, violin stopped being my second favourite instrument. Bring it on, cello!
What's your favourite?
Or d'you mean this put the cello down below the violin?
I'm Hungarian, my brother played the cello for like 14 years but I never knew Kodály has a cello piece. Neither did my brother until now I just told him.
I did, however play a lot of Kodály on the recorder. It's mandatory. Especially if you go to a more music oriented primary school like I did.
*Angrily throws cello out the window*
no dont
You are a machine trapped on an operating system, you cannot throw cellos out of windows
As a composer and a cellist, discovering this piece was inspiring!
0:06 - I. Allegro maestoso ma appassionato
9:02 - II. Adagio con gran espressione
20:54 - III. Allegro molto vivace
Pentameron haha thanks so much.
Thank you so much for sharing this online. I am working on the Kodaly after 30 years away from my cello (had to change careers due to an injury from a car wreck). Now I am retired so I'm giving it another go. Your playing is completely inspired. Thank you for the gift of sharing.
Wait what, 30 years of no playing at all, or just not working with it?
Just checked your latest video and you play beautifully!
How exactly did this accident stopped you from playing back then?
I thought my 3,5 years not practicing were a lot already. A few factors plus the pandemic made me go for another career too, now I'm at the orchestra again, and practicing again.
I'm NOT a cellist, but this is a masterpiece.
I'm not a masterpiece, but this is a cello.
@@maxgregorycompositions6216 There's no answer to that!! :-) :-) Great comment.
Oh, hello there. And do I agree!
I will never tire of this incredible piece of music
the worst nightmare of perfect pitch gang
What tuning is that?? It sounds roughly half a semitone lower that the normal A=440 to me.
孙博一 im not a cellist but according to what i read, the 2 lower strings are tuned below a semitone than standard tuning
@@boyisun Here the 3rd and 4th strings (lower two) are tuned a semitone lower, from G and C to F# and B.
The score is still written in G and C for the lower 2 strings and cellists read score as usual but sounding lower (Just like transposing instruments like the clarinet, player reads/plays one but sounds another)
THAT is annoying(for me) as ALL CAN BE. There's a guitar piece that when played you hear it's tuned to C# G# C# G# C# E but if you take a look at the sheet music the composer just decided to write like it's a semitone higher but most people don't play it like that cuz the composer doesnt(yep, the composer's still alive) play with D A D A D F. I only barely sightread the 1st movement of that piece(cuz it's in my opinion the hardest guitar piece ever) and after like 9 or 10 bars I was already like "ok, that's it, I'll wait 10 years before I touch this again"
@@ylizi6324 I was wondering why the lowest note on the clef was only a C haha... I kept waiting to see a low B on the bass clef, but swearing what I was hearing wasn't a C... thanks for explaining 😊
This is a real treasure.
Every time I hear the name Kodaly I think of the duo for violin and cello and have always associated his music with Bartok.
Hungarian music is always so charming - the exoticness of that gypsy sound is always creeping in there - a sound I have no doubt the great Brahms found so intoxicatingly charming.
+scottbos68 Yes it is a real treasure, in fact one of the best solo cello sonatas out there in my opinion!
This piece (and in general Kodály’s music) is based in Hungarian (often pentatonic) folk music, (or any folk music in the Carpat besin) and not in gypsy melodies which are remarkably different rhytmic or mode point of view. That of Brahms inspired by gypsy music, thought. Very big difference!
i think this is the best piece of music ever written
A remarkable work for displaying the range of the cello at virtuosi level. The changes in clefs and time signatures alone are forbidding to even a reasonably seasoned cellist. As always, thank you for wonderful posts.
Thanks for sharing!!! amazing piece of music and this cellist is unbelievable!!
Amazing performance! Lot of details and nuances achieved
This piece is mighty great!!
The palette of emotions put in this piece is everlasting. Each sound means a great deal to the composer and sure as hell to the performer as well.
This score is absolutely outstanding. More and more works for cello solo have been written in the XX° century and are being written now. I think that the first important composer to break the "Bach complex" was Mas Reger, but this sonata is a major milestone on that rich pathway.
Utterly brilliant and lovely.
+18 to watch
+Yiğit Vural why?
+olla-vogala just too hard to play lol
+olla-vogala because this is some sexy stuff
@@nathanschoen4480 i guess it was fitting that i was the 69th like
most grateful for this upload.
Kodaly: jumps/does 3 clefs in 3 lines
me: ??fuk
At the end tho. “Bravo, BRAVO”, indeed.
Amazing performance thank you Jakob Koranyi, your uncle was talking about you always, good luck to you. Bravo
So good that I actually love it. I do not listen to much solo cello works but I might reconsider because of this piece. Tantalizing.
Magnificent. Bravo.
Oh your back I'm so happy !!!!
+Giovanni Smartini I'm glad to hear that! :)
watch your back olla-vogala ;).
27:00 my fav part right before the beat drop 13:45 too
i don't think i've heard anything that savage written for cello. except for 2cellos arrangements of course
Incredible
Awesome performance, awesome piece, cool use of scordatura
This is incredible...
This is the first thing I'll play on cello :)
Good luck
this is the last thing i'll play on cello
When i can play this by memory and at concert standard, ill ne happy knowing i learnt the cello to a high enough standard to call myself a cellist
Good luck dude, you are going to be working months just on those first chords
*pats your head violently* How cute
Expert difficult on guitar hero be like:
Relatable
Seeing a major 7th on the music, but an octave gets played. It hurt me on the molecular level.
@Nathan Rock bruh I know that, I knew that before I wrote that comment
It's strange to hear a low C natural with heavy vibrato
I don't know if you play cello, but there's a technique to make vibrato with this note.
Yes
Graham Thomason yes and you can also do vibrato on the 4th finger G to while playing the C string. This will allow you to get vibrato playing an open C. I don’t believe you tune the string down in this piece
胡david you have to tune C to B and G to #F
@@jvcpdl That's interesting. Is it done by manipulating the string behind the bridge? Or perhaps by manipulating it near the tuners?
Great !
Bravo indeed
What can I say- I've recently picked up this piece for a competition next year, and wow what can I say it's definitely different then what I usually play and a new challenge. That third movement has got some interesting fingerings that might be hard to get down pat.
good luck bro this one is so hard !!!
I like this music!
곡이 정말 좋아요! ㅎㅎ 근데 너무 어렵다는거..ㅜㅜ
정말 좋아하는 첼로 곡입니다
Lindo 💚
~ 24:05 is like running blue:)
Great solo piece - only half an hour. Not too hard :)
Don't be ridiculous man
This is THE best recording out there, better than Starker's in my opinion. Amazing!
Lol fancy seeing you here
Blasphemy!
perfectly
The finale is my favourite part.
5:29 I'm not a cellist but... ouch
Yea ik…
Where is the hidden violin?
❤️👌🎶
I wish my instructor had assigned this to me but I think he was worried I might hurt myself and he would have been right.
How is it hitting the notes that are astronomically higher than E6?? An A6 I can understand but higher than that? It doesn't even touch the fingerboard? I am seriously debating if I should still play cello after this lol
There are indeed pieces which go way higher lol - A7s in Popper's Hungrarian Rhapsody or Klengel's Scherzo. Just go miles off the fingerboard :)
Sincerely, in my opinion this one edges out everything has been written for either accompained or unaccompained solo cello, probably even Bach's Suites (probably the only time Bach is in my opinion beaten by another composer...).
It is a truly tough call. Bach was so prolific and expert in his compositions that they remain exquisite and mostly uncontested to this day. Yet, Kodaly wrote this singular tour-du-force that competes well with Bach's work. I struggle to think of any work that is comparable to either. Many others have produced admirable works, but the unaccompanied repertoire lacks much of the gravity and interpretive freedom found here and in Bach's Suites. Even the cellist virtuoso composers, like Goltermann, Boccherini, Popper and Piati, did not produce comparable depth. I think I agree with you, that Kodaly edges out Bach, if only because Kodaly also explores the full virtuosic and expressive range of the cello, which Bach does not. That being said, I don't think we'd have gotten Kodaly's sonata without Bach's suites and Casal's work with them.
Melody at 24:21 is so dark and heavy I love it
*Is an intermediate cellist about to go to a pretty good music school*
*Hasn't been totally confident in abilities lately*
*Hears this piece for the first time*
*Downloads a copy before the first page is even over*
How far did you get?
some say he's still downloading it to this day.....
ㅋㅋㅋ Can you play it now?
What about now?
Now?
8:48 those acoustics
31:14 tenths? 12th's?!?!? WHAT
Because that is very high on the cello, the notes are very close together which allows for ridiculous intervals
This makes me wish I was a cellist instead.
I prefer Starker’s but only slightly, this was very well done too!
Why do you prefer Starker's?
Woah bruh
Interesting how the lower notes are one semitone flat but higher notes sound as written. Seems like the strings are tuned differently?
Yes, the two lowest strings are tuned down a half step.
I didn't notice that. For me, the distinction is clear when it comes to the difractal partition between the -r and -FG scales, and this piece is heavy when it comes to the transitioning.
I’ve been looking for a new piece to play. Might try this.
Haha good luck!
3:34
Brilliantly played - with a technique that verges on the nigh impossible! What commitment is required to master such a monstrous piece! Yet was it all worth it? The musical value is questionable..... I was captivated by listening to the performance and watching the score - but - will I ever wish to hear the piece again? I doubt it somehow!
Why wouldn't you want to hear it again?
19 people missed the like button
Riviting
Cello ist hart, Cello solo meine ich.Desto besser ist dieses Werk von Kodaly.
ich höre seit jahren dieses werk immer wieder extremst gerne: mitgeriisen bin ich jederzeit mehr als beim erstmakligen hören: also das ist einfach excellent gut
24:21
Can you imagine a genius composer writing this concerto for you? Can you make a bit easier please?
Anyone get here by means of Delany's Einstein Intersection? Dragon music. :~
I was waiting for the piano to come but I guess not
you're adorable
Sonatas for solo cello don’t have much piano in them.🤪
Sounds like it's performed a half step down from what is actually written
Noah Mason it is
The G string is tuned to F# and the C string is tuned to B
@@nathanrock9269 you mean Gb
@@Nyanrlathotep well they are enharmonics , and it is specified in the beginning of the score that it is F# within the context of the piece
@@nathanrock9269 I respectfully disagree. For me, the distinction is clear when it comes to the difractal partition between the -r and -FG scales, and this piece is heavy when it comes to the transitioning.
shit... this really make a nigga feel emotions
First of all, I'm ashamed that I didn't know cellists had to read into treble clef ~~ I thought they only read bass and tenor (maybe I'm thinking of Trombone). I'm a clarinetist and woodwind player but I'm thinking of learning cello and taking some lessons. I already know how to read and theory and such... does anyone have suggestions on instruments etc?
When the cello really gets pushed up into its stratosphere, it gets the treble clef treatment, yep.
Cellist: “I cant believe I need to read two staves at once!”
Violinist: *First time?*
Pianist: *Laughs maniacally at the background*
Smh
Jesus the cello isn’t a violin
This isn't abnormally high for the cello.
Of course this song sounds great. But how is the pitch of this cello? This is not a courtesy for the cello
Dont do drug kid
Alisa Weilerstein's version is way better than this.