Listen & tracks

2 works · 57:40

Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 2, Op. 28 (2020)Evan Fein 4 movements29:06
1. 1 i. Serene, warm 9:38
2. 2 ii. Redemptive, resonant 8:21
3. 3 iii. Molto, scherzando 3:41
4. 4 iv. Lively, playful 7:26
Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38Johannes Brahms 3 movements28:34
1. 5 i. Allegro non troppo 16:00
2. 6 ii. Allegretto quasi Menuetto 5:33
3. 7 iii. Allegro 7:01

The partnership between Melbourne-based Luke and New York-based Evan began as a correspondence about the contemporary music scenes in their two countries. Careful navigation of time zones grew into a rich exchange of ideas between artists who both compose and perform, and who are now close friends.

Refined across three tours of North America and Australia, the programme pairs their reading of Brahms’s evergreen Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38 with Fein’s buoyant Cello Sonata No. 2, Op. 28, written expressly for the two of them in 2020 and premiered in 2022.

In the artist’s words

My Cello Sonata No. 2 was composed in January 2020 in anticipation of an Australian tour with Luke Severn that was meant to take place that year. We had recently completed a number of recitals together in both Australia and North America featuring our own works, and it was my intention that this sonata capture the fun and dynamism of our collaboration, blending Severn’s lyrical voice with my eclectic sense of humor.

The result is a sonata in four movements that moves freely between styles and moods and invokes some of the great cello and piano repertoire of the past. Thematically, our identities are also built into the work, a practice composers like Bach and Shostakovich occasionally indulged in: the main melodic motif features the notes E–F while the primary harmonic relationship features chord changes in tritones, reflective of Severn’s initials L–S (La–Es, or A and E-flat in the solfège/German nomenclature systems).

The first movement is Brahmsian in scope, though with a contrasting playfulness. The second movement is a somber, defiant adagio. Following is a breakneck, mercurial scherzo. A lively romp of a rondo concludes the work, revisiting and transforming the material from each of the previous movements before galloping to a finish.

Pairing this new sonata with Brahms’s Op. 38 seemed like a natural choice. A staple of the cello–piano repertoire, it was also the first major piece of chamber music we collaborated on and through which we got to know one another, both as people and as musicians. A number of parallels exist between the two works. The Brahms also begins with a brooding and expansive allegro, full of passion and contrast. This gives way to a quirky dance movement, heavy and hesitant, yet full of good nature. The finale embodies formality yielding to unapologetic exuberance; the fugato opening feigns a learned style which quickly dissolves into an elfin, nearly Mendelssohnian bravado, culminating in a sprint to the double bar.

This work is one of the most-frequently interpreted works in the chamber music literature, yet we dare to hope that some of our bolder musical decisions allow audiences to enjoy this beloved sonata in a new light.

— Evan Fein

Artists

Luke Severn

cello

Evan Fein

piano

Evan Fein is a New York-based composer and pianist. His Cello Sonata No. 2, Op. 28 (2020) was written for a cello–piano duo and appears on the album Over Under.

Johannes Brahms

composer

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) was a German composer and pianist of the Romantic period. His music for piano, chamber ensemble, orchestra, and voice remains central to the concert repertoire.