One does not generally associate the words chamber music with Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900). He did however compose several chamber works. Virtually all of them were composed in his youth. Sullivan studied at the Royal Academy of Music’s where he was the first Mendelssohn Scholar, which allowed him to attend the Leipzig Conservatory where he studied with Moscheles among others. Sullivan was regarded as a very promising classical composer.
The cello seems to have been Sullivan’s favorite solo instrument and he himself owned a cello and his brother Frederic, with whom he was close, played the cello semi-professionally. Sullivan only wrote one concerto and it was for the cello. The other substantial recital piece he composed was also for the cello, his Duo Concertante, dating from 1868. Although it is in one movement, there are two sections. It begins with a bold Andante and is followed by an extended Allegro moderato. The work bursts with melody and boasts a marvelous interplay between the instruments which the title of the work suggests.
