Sonata for Solo Cello in B Minor

Composed in 1915, Kodály’s Sonata for Solo Cello fuses indigenous Hungarian folksong with Western classical techniques. “Many people deny the significance of the folk song in the composition of higher music,” Kodály pointed out. “Nevertheless, there are Hungarian melodies which for me and many others are akin to a Beethoven theme.” The resulting masterwork takes its lead from J.S. Bach’s trailblazing cello suites, exchanging contemporary norms of sweet-toned cantabile lyricism for a more angular, thrusting thematic clarity and concision. Behind such apparently innocent movement headings as “maestoso ma appassionato” (“majestic, but with passion”) and “con gran espressione” (“with enhanced expression”) lie uncompromising sound worlds that capture Kodály’s feelings of anguish and despair as a wartime volunteer helping to protect Budapest’s monuments and statues. Due to its sustained difficulty—including the unconventional tuning of strings—and lack of overt melody, the sonata was initially slow to gain general acceptance, but Kodály rightly predicted that “in 25 years’ time, no player will be accepted into the world of cellists who does not play my piece”.