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Ludwig van Beethoven's sonatas for cello and piano comprise an important segment of the cello-piano literature. It is well-known that Beethoven was the first classic master to write for cello and piano; but, since the earliest of the cello-piano sonatas--the two of Op. 5--were the first sonatas for solo cello and obbligato keyboard, he can also be credited with creating the cello-piano sonata genre. This treatise represents a study of Beethoven's treatment of the cello in the following sonatas: Op. 5, Nos. 1 and 2 (1796); Op. 69 (1808); Op. 102, Nos. 1 and 2 (1815); and the composer's own transcription of Op. 17 (1801), originally scored for horn and piano.
The cello had been an indispensable instrument in pre-Beethoven chamber music, including basso continuo music in which it had played the bass line, "solo" (cello) sonatas with basso continuo, and accompanied keyboard sonatas, many of which are now referred to as piano trios. Beethoven, however, chose not to rely on this tradition, but explored entirely new ways of writing for cello in the new genre.
The treatment of the cello in Beethoven's five cello-piano sonatas was examined in terms of: (1) the relationship between cello and piano parts, (2) use of range and register, (3) figuration and virtuosity, and (4) idiomatic writing. It was observed that the cello writing in these sonatas was innovative in all of these aspects. Most notable, however, was the establishment--first observed in Op. 69--of an equal partnership between cello and piano. The discussion of Op. 17 was limited to comments regarding idiomatic writing for cello in a transcription.
The treatise closes with a speculation regarding the influence of the cello writing in Beethoven's sonatas on the treatment of the cello in "Romantic" music for cello and piano in the nineteenth century.