Cesar Auguste, Sonata Melancolie for Violoncello and Piano

Cesar Franck’s Sonata for Piano and Violin is one of the most treasured works in the violin repertoire, a masterpiece of cyclic form with a gracefulness and expressive force almost paradigmatic for the age of musical Romanticism. This work was composed in 1886 and was dedicated to the Belgian violinist and composer Eugène Ysaÿe.

Franck’s friend, the cellist Jules Desart, was so impressed when he heard the Violin Sonata performed at the Société nationale de musique in Paris that he adapted the work for his instrument. This arrangement was first published in 1887 by inserting the cello part into the piano score of the original edition. For this purpose the piano score had received a new cover and the publisher had expanded the title of the composition to “Sonate pour piano et violon ou violoncelle”. This version by the cellist Jules Delsart for piano and violoncello is the only arrangement of the work authorized by the composer and its first edition represents the main source for Bärenreiter’s new scholarly-critical publication.

Bärenreiter’s new edition also includes a separate movement, “Mélancolie”, first published after Franck’s death in 1911, again for the same instrumentation, piano and violin or violoncello. This short piece is based on a solfège exercise and was written at the height of the composer’s creative powers, at about the same time as his famous violin sonata.
The edition is rounded off by an informative text on the genesis and reception history of the two compositions (Ger/Fr/Eng), a complete list of sources, editorial notes and a Critical Commentary (Eng).