Cello Sonata No. 1 in e minor, Op. 38

Quick Facts

• Written between 1862–65
• Three movement work for cello and piano:
  • Allegro non troppo
  • Allegretto quasi Menuetto
  • Allegro
• Dedicated to Austrian educator and amateur cellist Josef Gänsbacher¹

About the Piece

• While written in three movements, the work doesn’t contain a true slow movement, which was quite unusual. The original score contained an “Adagio” movement that had been removed before publication.²

“[Cello Sonata No. 1] is almost an ‘historical sonata’, its roots firmly planted in the music of the past – as if Brahms was turning his back on his wild young self… This is Brahms staking his claim as the greatest ‘classical romantic’ composer of chamber music, a worthy successor to his heroes from other epochs.”³

• Listen for – the main theme of the third movement, which is taken from J. S. Bach‘s Contrapunctus 13 from The Art of Fugue.
• A fun, apocryphal story related to the creation of Cello Sonata No. 1:
  • As Brahms played through the piece with Gänsbacher for the first time, “Brahms began playing very loudly, causing Gänsbacher to complain that he could not hear himself. ‘Lucky you,’ Brahms replied to the overwhelmed amateur, and proceeded to play even louder.”⁴

1. “Cello Sonata No.1, Op.38 (Brahms, Johannes),” IMSLP, accessed July 8, 2024, https://imslp.org/wiki/Cello_Sonata_No.1%2C_Op.38_(Brahms%2C_Johannes).
2. John Henken, “Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38,” Hollywood Bowl, accessed July 8, 2024, https://www.hollywoodbowl.com/musicdb/pieces/1224/cello-sonata-no-1-in-e-minor-op-38.
3. Steven Isserlis, Notes in accompanying booklet, Brahms: Cello Sonatas performed by Steven Isserlis and Stephen Hough, Hyperion 67529, 2005, compact disc.
4. John Henken, “Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38,” Hollywood Bowl.