Masterclass: Jian Wang on Brahms’s Cello Sonata No.2 in F Major, second and third movements

Wang 2 credit Xu Bin

The Chinese cellist gives advice on how to play the middle movements of this colourful, passionate work, and calls on cellists’ capacity to play cantabile

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This is one of my favourite pieces. I feel quite passionate about it! Its four movements are all rich in texture but vastly different from each other, with more diverse colours than the E minor Sonata, and emotional content that changes more rapidly and often. It spoke to me strongly and I felt comfortable with it right away, as opposed to the E minor, which at first I had struggled to understand.

Click here to view the sheet music for this work in our digital edition

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