John McCabe: Sonata: Cello: Instrumental Work

Commissioned by the Presteigne Festival of Music and the Arts Limited with funds provided by the Arts Council of Wales for premiere in August 2012 by the Carducci String Quartet in St. Andrew?s Church Presteigne.Composer's Note'Some years ago I noted down the opening theme of what I anticipated would be a relatively Classical string quartet ?Classical? in the sense of the forms adopted plus perhaps a predominantly lyrical tone of voice. The commission for this work from the Presteigne Festival for their 30th anniversary in 2012 gave me the opportunity of putting into practice this long-held idea. It isdedicated to the Festival and to the Carducci Quartet whose career as much-admired friends and colleagues I have greatly enjoyed.The only break with ?classical? tradition is that there are five movements instead of four with two Scherzi as the second and third though both these are very short and contrasting. I found myself listening to Haydn?s string quartets a lot before and during the composition of this work and I hope the spirit of his delight in writing for this medium is echoed in my own music. The opening movement is in sonata form unusually for me and lyricism is I hope the basis of it though there is a good deal of activity at times. The Scherzo light and marked by frequently-changing rhythms is followed by an equally short but ferocious Perpetuum mobile marked Wild und rasch (one of my favourite German tempo markings). The fourth movement is an intense Adagio in which a single phrase uttered strongly in unison is gradually transformed into gentle diatonic chords before the close intermingled with cadenzas for cello for viola and for the two violins together. The finale (a Rondo) resumes the classical tone of the first movement but apart from one dance-like episode it builds up a fair head of steam towards a final Presto which however ascends slows and quietens towards a gentle summer sky at dusk.'

First performance 12 October 2011 at St George's Hall Liverpool by David Pyatt (horn) and the Sacconi String Quartet as part of the Centenary Concert of the Rodewald Concert Series.Composer's NoteThroughout my musical life I have found the horn one of the most evocative and beautiful of all instruments and it is no surprise that I have written a number of works for it including a concerto a trio with violin and piano and a triptych of concert works for horn and piano. Writing a work for horn and string quartet has long been an ambition therefore fuelled not only by my love of the instrument but also by theastonishingly small repertoire of horn quintets.This work was commissioned to celebrate their centenary by the Rodewald Concert Society Liverpool who gave me an invaluable education in the masterpieces of the chamber music repertoire at their concerts which I attended regularly during my schooldays. The quintet is dedicated to Nancy and Douglas Brady two of my oldest and closest friends from Liverpool. It was written in 2010/11 and is continuous. There are however three main ?movements?: an opening quick one which is interrupted twice by brief slow interludes referring to the motto heard at the start a substantial slow movement which also contains two short scherzando sections (much as Brahms?s A major Violin Sonata has two quick trio sections in its slow movement) and a fast finale a descendant of the Beethoven one-in-a-bar scherzo.The scherzando interludes interwoven with the slow movement are frequently muted and have something of an other-worldly atmosphere perhaps Queen Mab came to deliver me of some dreams while I was writing it. At the end of the finale the furious activity gives way to an elegiac conclusion which I feel was greatly influenced by events in the world outside at the time of composition the music descending to a quiet sustained C on horn and cello. The work lasts just over 20 minutes and was first