Music for Cello & Piano by Shostakovich/Prokofiev/Schnittke – Øystein Birkeland

Three Russian cello sonatas

Three Russians wrote in the middle third of the previous century three sonatas for cello and piano, one each and no more: Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Schnittke; different works from different temperaments, written on different premises, although perhaps the basic social contexts encompassing them weren´t so different after all. All three tell us something about art and musical conditions under the oppression of a totalitarian system.

On this album the duo Øystein Birkeland (cello) and Ian Brown (piano) moves into the Russian cello landscape in the form of three exceptional works. Shostakovich´s sonata must be the most distinctive work of the twentieth century for the classical sonata combination of cello and piano. In Prokofiev´s very elaborate movements of the C major sonata, there are segments so unmistakably Prokofievish, bearing a strong reminiscence of the inter-war sound palette, where contrasting elements queue up and constitute the characteristic essence of the piece. Schnittke´s cello sonata is perhaps best characterized through a conscious non-characterizing posture, standing outside all schools and movements. And nevertheless, we have little doubt who the originator is when we hear his music. With the cello sonata, Schnittke achieves the same thing as did his colleague, Shostakovich, with the same instruments, nearly half a century earlier: to grab hold of the listener with the entire range of associations and senses.