University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The Brahms cello sonatas: A modern cellist's guide to an historically-informed interpretation

O'Donald, Keegan

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/118236

Description

Title
The Brahms cello sonatas: A modern cellist's guide to an historically-informed interpretation
Author(s)
O'Donald, Keegan
Issue Date
2023
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Bashford, Christina
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
McDonough, Daniel
Committee Member(s)
  • Koo, Salley
  • Moersch, Charlotte Mattax
Department of Study
School of Music
Discipline
Music
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
A.Mus.D. (doctoral)
Keyword(s)
  • Johannes Brahms
  • historical performance practice
  • Brahms cello sonata in E minor, Op. 38
  • Brahms cello sonata in F major, Op. 99
  • Joseph Joachim
  • William Henry Squire
  • cello
Language
en
Abstract
The two Brahms cello sonatas are among the most popular works for the instrument. Unlike the cello works by Bach and Beethoven, whose performances even by modern cellists reveal the influence of the historical performance practice movement, historically-informed performances of Brahms’s music are rare. This project investigates historically-informed performance practices for the cello sonatas and offers performance recommendations. The playing of musicians such as Joseph Joachim, Alfredo Piatti, Robert Hausmann, and David Popper indicate that continuous vibrato was not practiced by string players in Brahms’s musical circle, but was instead applied as an expressive ornament. Conversely, string portamento was much more frequent in the nineteenth century, and the advent of recording technology is examined as a catalyst for portamento’s decline in the twentieth century. Rubato was also an essential aspect of nineteenth-century performance practice. An analysis of a recording by cellist William Henry Squire confirms this usage of portamento and rubato, while also suggesting that a more liberal vibrato might sometimes be employed. A modern, HIP recording of the cello sonatas by cellist Kate Bennett Wadsworth reveals the contemporary re-emergence of historical practices. My own performance recommendations for the sonatas add to such new perspectives and are discussed and detailed in a performance practice commentary.
Type of Resource
  • text
  • still image
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2023 Keegan O'Donald

Owning Collections

Doctoral Project Theses [Option 2] - Music PRIMARY