Nikolai Myaskovsky

Nikolai Myaskovsky (1881-1950)

Nationality: Russian | Soviet
Born: April 20, 1881, Modlin, Poland Died: August 8, 1950, Moscow (age 69)

Cello Sonata No. 2 in a minor, Op. 81

(for cello and piano)
9:20 I. Allegro moderato
6:07 II. Andante cantabile
6:29 III. Allegro con spirito
Duration: 22 minutes (approximately)
Composed: 1948-1949 (age 66-68)
Premiere: March 5, 1949. Mstislav Rostropovich, cello
Published: 1950 (age 68-69)
Dedication: M. L. Rostropovich (Mstislav Rostropovich)
6 recordings, 12 videos
autoopen autoplay
9:43
Marina Tarasova, Alexandr Polezhaev
I. Allegro moderato
6:41
Marina Tarasova, Alexandr Polezhaev
II. Andante cantabile
7:33
Marina Tarasova, Alexandr Polezhaev
III. Allegro con spirito
9:39
Ina-Esther Joost Ben-Sasson, Allan Sternfield
I. Allegro moderato
5:21
Ina-Esther Joost Ben-Sasson, Allan Sternfield
II. Andante cantabile
6:53
Ina-Esther Joost Ben-Sasson, Allan Sternfield
III. Allegro con spirito
9:22
Unknown ensemble
I. Allegro moderato
8:37
Rudin, Ginsburg
I. Allegro moderato
6:18
Rudin, Ginsburg
II. Andante cantabile
6:01
Rudin, Ginsburg
III. Allegro con spirito
5:30
National Chamber Ensemble
III. Allegro con spirito
20:58
Gutman, Poprugin
From Edition Silvertrust

Nikolai MyaskovskyNikolai Myaskovsky (1881-1950) was born in Congress (i.e. Russian) Poland near Warsaw, where his father, a military engineer was then serving. He took piano and violin lessons as a boy but followed in his father's footsteps, entering the military academy and graduating as an engineer. When he was posted to Moscow, he studied composition with Reinhold Glière. Upon transfer to St. Petersburg, he finally decided to become a composer and entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory where he studied with Rimsky-Korsakov and Liadov. It was there he met Prokofiev with whom he became close friends. He served in WWI and was severely wounded on the Austrian front. After the war, he taught for most of his life at the Moscow Conservatory. Among his many students were Kabalevsky, Khachaturian, Shebalin and Shchedrin. He wrote in virtually every genre leaving some 27 symphonies and 13 string quartets, along with numerous instrumental sonatas. Myaskovsky has to be one of the most underrated composers of the 20th century. Most who come to his music for the first time are amazed that it is not better known.

Myaskovsky’s Second Cello Sonata was written in 1948 shortly after in direct response to the famous Resolution on Music issued by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and leveled specifically at Miaskovsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Khachaturian. The issue was "formalism;' which Soviet musical dictionaries define as "the artificial separation of form from content to the detriment of content. This boils down to a matter of elitist complexity vs. democratic accessibility. One is hard pressed to understand the extreme simplification of style that took place in the late forties not only in Miaskovsky's music but also in that of the other composers who had come under fire. The piece that got Miaskovsky out of trouble was the present sonata. It is of a studied simplicity indeed, and a no less studied return to the traditional values of Russian music, as the Party defined them. There are folk-like themes, modeled in the first movement on modal peasant songs, and in the last on the typical moto perpetuo of instrumental dance tunes. There is also diatonic purity of harmony.

Here is another master sonata which no cellist should miss.

© Edition Silvertrust. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Related Composers

1900 2000 WWI WWII Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) Anatoly Lyadov (1855-1914) Reinhold Glière (1875-1956) Nikolai Myaskovsky (1881-1950) Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) Vissarion Shebalin (1902-1963) Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904-1987) Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) German Galynin (1922-1966) Rodion Shchedrin (born 1932)
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
Teacher
Nationality: Russian
Born: March 18, 1844, Tikhvin Died: June 21, 1908, Lyubensk (age 64)
Reinhold Glière (1875-1956)
Teacher
Nationality: Russian | Soviet
Born: January 11, 1875, Kiev Died: June 23, 1956, Moscow (age 81)
Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904-1987)
Student
Nationality: Russian | Soviet
Born: December 30, 1904, St. Petersburg Died: February 18, 1987, Moscow (age 82)
Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978)
Student
Nationality: Armenian | Soviet
Born: June 6, 1903, Tbilisi Died: May 1, 1978, Moscow (age 74)
Vissarion Shebalin (1902-1963)
Student
Nationality: Russian | Soviet
Born: June 11, 1902, Omsk Died: May 29, 1963, Moscow (age 60)
Rodion Shchedrin (born 1932)
Student
Nationality: Russian | Soviet
Born: December 16, 1932, Moscow (age 92)
German Galynin (1922-1966)
Student
Nationality: Russian | Soviet
Born: March 30, 1922, Tula Died: July 18, 1966, Moscow (age 44)
Anatoly Lyadov (1855-1914)
Teacher
Nationality: Russian
Born: May 12, 1855, St. Petersburg Died: August 18, 1914, Polïnovka (age 59)
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Friend/Colleague
Nationality: Russian | Soviet | Ukrainian
Born: April 27, 1891, Sontsovka, Ukraine Died: March 5, 1953, Moscow (age 61)