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Beethoven: The Complete Cello Sonatas

Ludwig van Beethoven composer

Emily Mantone cello
Umi Garrett piano

Release Date: November 8, 2024
Catalog #: NV6673
Format: Digital
Romantic
Chamber
String Quartet

Lauded cellist Emily Mantone is accompanied by Umi Garrett on BEETHOVEN: THE COMPLETE CELLO SONATAS, working in tandem to bring a new and distinctive tone to the five sonatas weaving through the lifetime of the great composer. Mantone’s masterfully informed playing perfectly captures the youthful exuberance of Op. 5 without failing to delve into the complicated and challenging temperaments of Beethoven’s late works in a seemingly effortless fashion. Mantone and Garrett shine particularly bright in these difficult and expansive passages, crafting an exhibition that, no doubt, both performers are enjoying to its utmost potential. This is perhaps the greatest delight in BEETHOVEN: THE COMPLETE CELLO SONATAS: the opportunity to hear a set of dedicated performers truly savoring each celebrated note as if it were the last.

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Track Listing & Credits

# Title Composer Performer
01 Sonata No. 1 in F Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 5 - I. Adagio sostenuto - Allegro - Adagio - Presto Ludwig van Beethoven Emily Mantone, cello; Umi Garrett, piano 18:26
02 Sonata No. 1 in F Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 5 - II. Rondo - Allegro vivace Ludwig van Beethoven Emily Mantone, cello; Umi Garrett, piano 07:19
03 Sonata No. 2 in G Minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 5 - I. Adagio sostenuto e espressivo - Allegro molto piu' tosto presto Ludwig van Beethoven Emily Mantone, cello; Umi Garrett, piano 21:13
04 Sonata No. 2 in G Minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 5 - II. Rondo - Allegro Ludwig van Beethoven Emily Mantone, cello; Umi Garrett, piano 9:15
05 Sonata No. 3 in A Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 69 - I. Allegro ma non tanto Ludwig van Beethoven Emily Mantone, cello; Umi Garrett, piano 13:15
06 Sonata No. 3 in A Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 69 - II. Scherzo - Allegro molto Ludwig van Beethoven Emily Mantone, cello; Umi Garrett, piano 05:41
07 Sonata No. 3 in A Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 69 - III. Adagio cantabile - Allegro vivace Ludwig van Beethoven Emily Mantone, cello; Umi Garrett, piano 08:58
08 Sonata No. 4 for Cello and Piano in C Major, Op. 102, No. 1 - I. Andante - Allegro vivace Ludwig van Beethoven Emily Mantone, cello; Umi Garrett, piano 8:00
09 Sonata No. 4 for Cello and Piano in C Major, Op. 102, No. 1 - II. Adagio - Allegro vivace Ludwig van Beethoven Emily Mantone, cello; Umi Garrett, piano 7:22
10 Sonata No. 5 in D Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 102, No. 2 - I. Allegro con brio Ludwig van Beethoven Emily Mantone, cello; Umi Garrett, piano 7:05
11 Sonata No. 5 in D Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 102, No. 2 - II. Adagio con molto sentimento d’affetto Ludwig van Beethoven Emily Mantone, cello; Umi Garrett, piano 10:12
12 Sonata No. 5 in D Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 102, No. 2 - III. Allegro fugato Ludwig van Beethoven Emily Mantone, cello; Umi Garrett, piano 4:42

Recorded April 26, May 4th & May 30, 2022 at Skillman Music in Brooklyn NY

Session Producer & Engineer Wei Wang
Editing, Mixing & Mastering Wei Wang
Assistant Editor Rick Liu

Executive Producer Bob Lord

VP of A&R Brandon MacNeil

VP of Production Jan Košulič
Audio Director Lucas Paquette

VP, Design & Marketing Brett Picknell
Art Director Ryan Harrison
Design Edward A. Fleming
Publicity Kacie Brown
Digital Marketing Manager Brett Iannucci

Artist Information

Emily Mantone

Cellist

Emily Mantone, a cellist from Mount Sinai NY, recently completed her Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School. She previously completed her Bachelor of Music degree at The Juilliard School, under the tutelage of Timothy Eddy. Currently, Mantone is pursuing a postgraduate degree at the Yale School of Music, studying with Paul Watkins, former cellist of the esteemed Emerson String Quartet.  Mantone has served as principal cellist of both The Juilliard Orchestra and the Yale Philharmonia under the baton of such conductors as Tan Dun, Alan Gilbert, Barbara Hannigan, Peter Oundjian, David Robertson, and Gerard Schwarz. She has also been a member of the Axiom contemporary ensemble, the New Juilliard Ensemble, and participated in Juilliard Chamberfest. She has previously served as principal cellist of the Handel Festival Orchestra, based in New York City, and was a Fellow of the Apex Ensemble, based in Montclair, New Jersey, under the baton of Music Director David Chan.

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Umi Garrett, Pianist

Umi Garrett

Pianist

Umi Garrett is a highly accomplished solo, collaborative, and chamber pianist based in New York City. She has performed numerous solo and collaborative recitals in the United States and internationally, most recently through presenters such as the Chopin Foundation of the United States, the Grace Goudy Distinguished Artists Series, the Dame Myra Hess Recital Series, and the Clark Art Institute. Garrett has performed and toured with orchestras such as the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony and Pops, Symphony Boca Raton, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Wuhan Symphony Orchestra, and the New Mexico Philharmonic. Garrett is also a passionate performer of new music, collaborating with and performing pieces by acclaimed composers such as Samuel Adler, inti figgis-vizueta, and Gabriela Smith. 

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Notes

In 1796, at just 26 years old, Ludwig van Beethoven completed his first sonatas for piano and cello while on tour in Berlin. These two sonatas, Op. 5, are dedicated to the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm II; an avid music lover, an amateur cellist, and the dedicatee of other well-loved works including the “Prussian” string quartets of both Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Wilhelm’s court musicians included two French brothers, Jean-Pierre and Jean-Louis Duport, both among the most celebrated professional cellists throughout Europe. According to an account by Ferdinand Ries, Beethoven’s student and assistant, Beethoven and Duport performed the sonatas at court for which the king then rewarded Beethoven with a golden hat box filled with one hundred Louis d’or. 

Before Beethoven’s first two cello sonatas were published in 1797, cello and keyboard sonatas typically fell into one of two categories. The first, rooted in Baroque tradition, featured a cello with an accompaniment noted in “basso continuo” shorthand. This shorthand provided a bass line with numeric symbols indicating the harmony, which had to be improvised by one or more players, usually a harpsichordist. The second category, common in the early or “proto” classical period, was a keyboard sonata with “obbligato” cello. In this arrangement, a cellist of moderate ability might play along by doubling the bass notes of the keyboard part, which otherwise dominated the piece. In both of these arrangements, either the cello or the keyboard would take a leading role while the other instrument provided background support.

The Op. 5 sonatas introduced an entirely new approach to the pre-existing model of the cello sonata. Beethoven’s original title page (translated into English) reads, “Two Grand Sonatas for the Harpsichord or Pianoforte with a Violoncello obbligato.” Unlike the proto-classical “obbligato” sonatas, the cello in Beethoven’s sonatas had its own distinct voice for the first time, rather than merely reinforcing the keyboard bass. Although it would not be until the Op. 69 sonata that the cello and piano would be treated as entirely equal partners, these early works still feature a cello part that is both integral and independent, marking the beginning of the modern cello sonata repertoire. 

The formal design shared by the two Op. 5 Sonatas is both unconventional and novel. Each sonata consists of two movements. The first movements of each begin with a long and tension-building adagio introduction that seamlessly transitions into a lively, contrasting allegro. The second movements are each spirited rondos, featuring intermittent refrains in between contrasting episodes. These sonatas both lack an expected slow middle movement; instead, the calm, lyrical character typical of a slow movement is placed at the opening, serving as a sort of prelude to the main material of the first movement. For contrast and a sense of balance, Beethoven composed the first sonata in F major and the second in G minor. This difference in character is most evident in the first movements, where the introductions and principal themes underscore contrasting emotions.

— Emily Mantone

Beethoven’s middle period, circa 1802–1812, is marked by modernization, expansion, and a defining characteristic of unrelenting heroism. Key works from this period include the Third and Fifth Symphonies, the “Razumovsky” String Quartets, the “Waldstein” and “Appassionata” Piano Sonatas, and the final Piano Trios. In 1808, Beethoven composed his third cello sonata, published as Op. 69, which shares much in common with the aforementioned works composed around the same time. The Op. 69 sonata was dedicated to Baron Ignaz von Gleichenstein, a close friend of Beethoven’s and a German aristocrat, amateur cellist, and significant patron of the arts.

The Op. 69 is undeniably the most popular amongst the five sonatas, and is a favorite amongst cellists. In this single middle-period cello sonata, true equality between the two instruments is achieved for the first time in the set, as evidenced by the cello presenting the first theme alone. Melodic material throughout the sonata is equitably shared by both instruments, often with the cello presenting it first. The first movement features a substantial and exploratory Sonata-Allegro form. Dark and striking, albeit in A major, the folk-like melody presented at the start directly inspires the kindred, modified, and fragmented versions of itself found across all three movements. The second movement in A minor presents another “folk-esque” theme, notable for its rhythmic displacements that disrupt regular metrical patterns. The movement features two contrasting trios, alternating between A minor and a hopeful, playful A major. The lively finale opens with a warm and inviting adagio introduction, momentarily reminiscent of the lengthy introductions in the earlier Op. 5 sonatas, providing only a slight suggestion of a slow movement, which would not come to full fruition until the very last cello sonata. Typical of Beethoven’s middle-period style, the temperament across the Op. 69 sonata is exuberant, full of dramatic contrast, and largely free from profound emotional or spiritual reflections.

— Emily Mantone

In 1815, Beethoven returned to writing cello sonatas for the last time in his career, producing a set of two sonatas published the following year as Op. 102, dedicated to Countess Marie Erdödy. Erdödy, a Hungarian noblewoman and amateur pianist, maintained a close relationship with Beethoven dating back to roughly 1802. She commissioned the Op. 102 cello sonatas for their mutual friend, cellist Joseph Linke. Linke, the cellist of the renowned Schuppanzigh Quartet, had premiered many of Beethoven’s string quartets and served as the “house” quartet for another of Beethoven’s patrons, Russian Count Razumovsky. On New Year’s Eve in 1814, Razumovsky’s palace burned down, leaving him financially ruined and forcing him to return to Russia. With the quartet disbanded and Linke out of work, Countess Erdödy hired him as a music tutor for her family and requested Beethoven compose new music for him. In response, Beethoven wrote his last two cello sonatas as a farewell gift.

Beethoven’s “late” period, marked by the Ninth Symphony, the late string quartets, and the last four piano sonatas, begins with the Op. 102 Cello Sonatas. These two sonatas exhibit many characteristics of late period Beethoven, including nonstandard forms, probing emotional depth, and experimental complexity, especially in his intricate exploration of the fugue. While the last cello sonatas are now squarely solidified in the standard repertoire, they initially caused confusion and even angered listeners due to their challenging complexity.

The first of the set, the fourth cello sonata, fantasia-like in its structure, consists of only two movements and is significantly shorter than the three previous sonatas. Both movements begin with wistful, slow introductions that share the same thematic material, suggesting an interconnected, cyclic design where one theme permeates both movements. After the slow introduction, the first movement presents a Sonata-Allegro form, made especially commanding by being set in A minor rather than the C major of the introduction and finale. The second movement’s introduction features a much darker character than the first, but eventually brightens and coalesces as it recalls the opening material from the first movement. This transition seamlessly connects to the finale, which emerges with a sense of uninhibited simplicity. 

The last cello sonata, the second of the Op. 102 pair, delves even deeper into Beethoven’s late period style while maintaining the exuberant vibrancy present in all five of the sonatas. Like the Op. 69, the fifth consists of three movements. The first movement is a tightly composed Sonata-Allegro form, omitting any introduction and focusing on minimal thematic material based on simple scales and intervals, yet it exudes a rich, heroic character. The longest movement is the second, marking the only slow movement among the five cello sonatas. The hallmark of this movement is the duality between dark and light, brooding and tender, embodying the profound depth characteristic of Beethoven’s late works. Though the movement almost concludes in a dark resolution, it quickly and unexpectedly transitions (attacca) into the finale. Here, Beethoven introduces a transcendental fugue, another hallmark of his late period works. Using a deceptively simple subject first stated by the solo cello, he crafts a brief but complex fugue that serves as both a marvel in its own right and a foreshadowing of the intricacies to come in his very last works.

— Emily Mantone