R. SCHUMANN  Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70

Originally written for French horn, this richly lyrical diptych has become a standard of the cello literature. Although the valve horn had been in existence for some 30 years by the time Schumann wrote it in 1849, the older natural horn still held sway in most European orchestras. The Adagio and Allegro helped gain the new instrument wider acceptance.

SCHUBERT  Sonata in A Minor, D. 821, “Arpeggione”

Although not one of Schubert’s most profound works, the “Arpeggione” Sonata has a special place of affection for violists and cellists. (The short-lived arpeggione is one of the few obsolete instruments that early-music revival has left behind.) Its outgoing, uncomplicated lyricism recalls the winsome mood of the great Octet for strings and winds that the composer wrote earlier that same year.  

DVOŘÁK  “Silent Woods,” Op. 68, No. 5

Best known today as the dedicatee of Dvořák’s great Cello Concerto in B Minor, Czech cellist Hanuš Wihan also inspired a number of other works, including R. Strauss’s early Cello Sonata and two short pieces by Dvořák: the Rondo in G Minor and “Silent Woods.” The latter was featured on the composer’s “farewell” concert tour of Bohemia and Moravia in 1892, just before he began a three-year sojourn in the United States.

FRANCK  Violin Sonata in A Major (transc. Delsart)

Franck’s lushly Romantic A-Major Sonata was composed for the great Belgian violin virtuoso Eugène Ysaÿe. Considered by many to be the composer’s masterpiece, it has been enthusiastically taken up by cellists, violists, and flutists.