Cello Symphony

Benjamin Britten wrote his Cello Symphony (1962-63) for the great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich who successfully premiered the work with Britten conducting the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra in March 1964. The most extended and ambitious of the composer’s post-war orchestral works, it follows a similar emotional trajectory to his earlier Sinfonia da Requiem, moving from turmoil and darkness in its earlier movements to eventual resolution and consolation in the finale. Cello and orchestra remain equal partners in the musical dialogue, sharing, exchanging, and developing the same material: hence Britten’s choice of title describing it as a symphony rather than a concerto. The only obvious concession to concerto-style virtuosity is the solo cadenza that bridges the third and fourth movements. In the opening “Allegro maestoso,” the dark rumblings of double bass, tuba, and contrabassoon set up an ominous mood over which the cello states a declamatory and aggressive series of chords. An air of menace also pervades the mercurial “Presto inquieto,” a dance of death which shifts restlessly between passages of frantic activity and a series of mysterious static chords. Sombre and warlike timpani rolls accompany the lamenting funereal tread of the third movement “Adagio.” Finally, a “Passacaglia” presents a set of contrasting variations on a simple, almost childlike theme, first introduced by the trumpet, bringing the work to an emphatic and ultimately positive end.