CHOPIN CELLO SONATA IN G MINOR OP.65

Alisa Weilerstein explores how to bring out all the romantic charm of the first movement using fingerings and bowings, without over-reliance on vibrato, rubato or a sticky, sickly sound

From Chopin Sonata for Piano and Violoncello in G minor op.65. Urtext edition, paperbound with marked and unmarked string parts. Ed. Ewald Zimmermann. Pf fingering Klaus Schilde. Vc fingering and bowing Claus Kanngiesser.Order no.HN495, ISMN 979-0-2018-0495-8. €22.50. Printed with permission of G. Henle Verlag, Munich © 1997

Chopin wrote very few pieces that were not for solo piano, and I am happy to say that the Cello Sonata is one of them. Cello repertoire from before the 20th century is extremely limited, so there is a special appreciation for any cello piece from that time that is truly great. This is one of the last pieces that Chopin wrote, and it’s one of his best. Of course, I would say that, but truly, it is! This first movement is structurally masterful and harmonically engaging, and the melodic writing is inspired.

The second movement is one of the most beloved cornerstones of the repertoire.

Setting the scene

One thing that I have learnt from working a lot with Daniel Barenboim is that a piece doesn’t always start at the beginning. Once the piano has stated the theme from bar 1, the first 23 bars are really quite improvisatory. The cello gesture in bar 8 can be full and confident, but it also sounds slightly shaded, even tragic, in G minor. The fermata isn’t terribly long, so from here I slide into the pickup to bar 9, keeping the bow on the string to connect it to the gesture that follows. The hairpins only go to forte, leaving room to grow into the fortissimo outburst in bars 17–18. Here I use separate bows to end the crescendo, so that the semiquavers (s) are really articulated. For the vocal writing from bar 20, I use a 2–2 fingering to connect the E flat and D flat in bar 22, to create a kind of sticky tension between them, like molasses. Then, in bar 23, I separate the C sharp, to give the feeling of a three-quaver (e) up-beat into the real start of the piece in bar 24.

THE SOLOIST

DECCA/PAUL STEWART

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NAME

ALISA WEILERSTEIN

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NATIONALITY 

AMERICAN

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STUDIED WITH 

RICHARD WEISS

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RECORDS FOR

DECCA

‘There are many ways to use fingerings and bowings to highlight a harmony, produce intensity or add colour without resorting to exaggerated rubato’

Alisa Weilerstein’s recording of the Chopin and Rachmaninoff Cello Sonatas is available on Decca

Long lines and harmonic tension

Most of my markings in this movement aim to extend musical lines and highlight intervallic tension. The bowings in bar 28 help the cello to float fluidly above the piano rhythm, and I use different fingers for the two E flats in bar 32 to carry the music forward and reflect the harmony change. I separate out the lower notes in bar 35, to prevent them

from being lost against the ascending piano line. For sonority and strength, I use the C string from bar 36, where the cello acts as an anchor and propellor. I apply more bow to give the chords in bars 40–41 power without sounding stuck or heavy, using the back, shoulder and triceps to get to the core of the sound. I play fortissimo in separate bows to match the piano and prepare for the foreboding sforzando of bar 42.

In bar 43 there is a sudden mystery and vulnerability to the sound, with ascending scales in the piano. I drop to mezzo forte for the tritone pickup, without taking extra time, then use an open A to add brightness to the third beat, as the harmony opens up into D major. Using open Ds in bars 55 and 56 helps to bring out the strangeness and tension of the falling minor 9th.

Stopping to smell the flowers

There are many ways to use fingerings and bowings to highlight a harmony, produce intensity or add colour without resorting to exaggerated rubato, so we should be tactical about where we stop to smell the flowers. One place where we can take more time is going into bar 57, where the cello floats freely around the more important piano line. It is best not to take time in bar 59, as we fade away up to the long, harmonic D.

Once the piano has played the gorgeous second theme from bar 61, it is tempting to restate that material completely out of time from bar 65. It should sound beautiful and noble, not syrupy, so instead we can use fingerings that express sentiment while avoiding sentimentality. It’s in piano, not pianissimo, and the harmony changes mid-phrase, so I would start on the A string with a beautiful, intimate sound, then switch to the D string for a colour change in bar 67. We can use a centred vibrato to enhance every subtle change in colour, always starting from the note and then vibrating back up to it from below.

I slide up to the final E flat on the new finger in bar 67, adapting my bow speed to avoid heaviness. When well done, slides can create a natural, vocal connection between notes and can make a performance really stand out. From bar 84 I use full bows, to free the sound without relying only on the left hand. It’s crucial to feel a flow of energy in the bow, and not to be afraid to really use it.

In bar 89 we are suddenly left alone and wandering. To find ourselves again, it can help to take time in the middle of bar 90, then to connect the last three notes to lead into the forte piano chords of bar 91.I play flautando to support the gorgeous, meandering piano part in bar 93, letting the hairpin into bar 95 happen naturally with the fall in register. Playing this too intentionally can make it sound overpronounced. From bar 98, a more cheeky, creative bowing and articulation helps to bring out the dialogue with the piano.

I take a time going into bar 100, as though I’m struggling to push a cart up a hill before gravity rolls me down the other side.

Bar 111 is one of the most passionate moments of a passionate movement and it needs to be strong and crying. I connect the D to the C with a slide, slurring in the open A for a bright, uninterrupted sound.

‘We can use fingerings that express sentiment while avoiding sentimentality’

The repeat back from bar 114 is long and much of its material comes back in the recapitulation, so structurally I don’t find it necessary and I don’t always do it. If we do repeat, of course, it gives us a chance to come at things differently and experiment. Chopin’s markings are precise, but there are many ways to interpret them.

Conversing with the piano

Chopin wrote this sonata for cellist Auguste Franchomme, so well that the cello can really sing without the pianist having to walk on eggshells. The first challenges of balance come from bar 114, where the music becomes thicker and thornier in the development. We have to be careful how we pace the crescendo in bar 125, really breathing with the bow as the cello floats up above the piano’s E major chord. The sound needs to be pure, mysterious and full, without much vibrato, and with a real integrity. We can then hang on to the first gesture in bar 129 before fading away to pianissimo.

In bar 141 the cello’s ascending scale mirrors the piano and is buried in the texture, but from bar 145 we can really bring out our secondary voice and highlight the crescendo into bar 147, to help the story move on into D minor. This is tricky because it’s in the middle register. In bar 160 the piano takes over again, while the cello provides rhythmic propulsion and goes along for the ride.

The piano brings us out of this storm in bar 175, and it’s important that we respond to this in bar 179. We have already played this material once – twice if we took the repeat – but now it is more vulnerable, with a bit of a smile, so I stay on the D string.

There is no dynamic marking for the cello counter-melody from bar 190, so we have to follow the piano, staying active in the conversation even if we’re not at the forefront. It has always made me smile that Chopin was so very egalitarian with his cello and piano writing in this sonata!

A change in register

Chopin was an inexperienced, cautious writer for strings. His op.3 Polonaise Brillante contained almost nothing for the cello until Pierre Fournier and Leonard Rose moved a lot of the virtuosic piano writing into the cello part. His writing here is unusually fantastic, but it still needs a little help. For example, musically it makes more sense to play bars 195–206 up an octave, so that we can soar and sing with real euphoria. Using the D string for the pickup to bar 207 then takes us back to the tragic world that we had briefly left behind. There’s a kind of desperation which we really need to express, without taking time. My fingerings here are all about finding the molasses between the notes.

Performance inspiration

When we learn any piece, it’s important to hear different performances of it, even if we disagree with them, or love them and then decide to do things our own way. I grew up listening to Jacqueline du Pré’s recording of this sonata and her interpretation was so instinctive, natural and convincing that sometimes it seemed to me that it couldn’t be played any other way. It felt so utterly right, even though it wouldn’t work in anyone else’s hands. Of course, I would never try to play it that way myself!

INTERVIEW BY PAULINE HARDING