Sonata No. 2

Description

Cello, Piano — Sonata No. 2 for Cello and Piano, Op.61 was commissioned by Wigmore Hall for cellist Steven Isserlis and pianist Stephen Hough.xa0 The first Cello Sonata Op. 3, was written 20 years earlier and presages the later work in that both Sonatas are in one movement with three clearly delineated sections.The 2nd Sonata makes use of a thematic fragment from my opera The Picture of Dorian Gray: a prayer uttered by Basil - “Lead us not into temptation.xa0 Forgive our sins.xa0 Wash away our iniquities.”xa0 The Sonata opens with the seven-note motto that begins this prayer, a fragment which interrupts the thematic development of the Sonata several times before being extended into a lyric outpouring in the work’s central section.xa0 The Sonata can be heard as a meditation upon faith and disillusionment.