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Sentimental Work: Steven Isserlis

By 2020-05-29T12:27:00

StevenIsserlis

Beethoven’s Cello Sonata no.4 was the gateway the British cellist needed to understand the myriad delights and complexities of the composer’s work

It was in my early twenties that I started studying Beethoven’s Cello Sonata no.4 in C major, and it took me further into the composer’s world than any other piece up to that time. Before that, I’d always had a problem with Beethoven – I couldn’t work out how to play it. I was missing the incredible spirit and strength that’s there from the early music onwards. If you miss that joy, humour and vitality in the music then I think you miss Beethoven. For me, it was the gateway to his later works as well.

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