Cello sonata


A cello sonata is usually a sonata written for solo cello with piano accompaniment. The most famous Romantic-era cello sonatas are those written by Johannes Brahms and Ludwig van Beethoven. Some of the earliest cello sonatas were written in the 18th century by Francesco Geminiani and Antonio Vivaldi.
The following list contains cello sonatas with or without accompanying instruments. See the See also list for more comprehensive lists divided up into solo and accompanied works.

List of major cello sonatas

The following list tries to place the major sonatas and equivalent works for cello and piano or cello solo in chronological order of completion. It will be susceptible to uncertainty of dates, and whether original or revised versions are definitive.
YearComposerWorkKeyOpus
1696Giuseppe Maria JacchiniSonata No. 3C majorOp. 3
1717-23Johann Sebastian Bach6 Unaccompanied Cello SuitesG, D minor, C
E, C minor & D
early 18th century - 1739Benedetto MarcelloAt least 12 Cello Sonatas
early 18th century - 1741Antonio VivaldiAt least 9 Cello Sonatas
1760s - 1805Luigi BoccheriniAt least 19 Cello Sonatas
1796Ludwig van BeethovenCello Sonata No. 1F majorOp. 5, No. 1
1796Ludwig van BeethovenCello Sonata No. 2G minorOp. 5, No. 2
1807-8Ludwig van BeethovenCello Sonata No. 3A majorOp. 69
1815Ludwig van BeethovenCello Sonata No. 4C majorOp. 102, No. 1
1815Ludwig van BeethovenCello Sonata No. 5D majorOp. 102, No. 2
1838Felix MendelssohnCello Sonata No. 1B majorOp. 45
1842-3Felix MendelssohnCello Sonata No. 2D majorOp. 58
1846Frédéric ChopinCello SonataG minorOp. 65
1856Édouard LaloCello SonataA minor
1856Charles-Valentin AlkanSonate de concertE majorOp. 47
1862-5Johannes BrahmsCello Sonata No. 1E minorOp. 38
1872-3Camille Saint-SaënsCello Sonata No. 1C minorOp. 32
1883Edvard GriegCello SonataA minorOp. 36
1883Richard StraussCello SonataF majorOp. 6
1886Johannes BrahmsCello Sonata No. 2F majorOp. 99
1892Max RegerCello Sonata No. 1F minorOp. 5
1898Max RegerCello Sonata No. 2G minorOp. 28
1899Ernő DohnányiCello SonataB majorOp. 8
1901Sergei RachmaninoffCello SonataG minorOp. 19
1904Max RegerCello Sonata No. 3F majorOp. 78
1905Camille Saint-SaënsCello Sonata No. 2F majorOp. 123
1907Zoltán KodályCello SonataOp. 4
1907Charles-Marie WidorCello SonataA majorOp. 80
1910Max RegerCello Sonata No. 4A minorOp. 116
1910-11Albéric MagnardCello SonataA majorOp. 20
1911Nikolai MyaskovskyCello Sonata No. 1D majorOp. 12
1912Max RegerCello Suites 1, 2 and 3G, D minor
& A minor
Op. 131
1913Dora PejačevićCello SonataE minorOp. 35
1915Claude DebussyCello SonataD minorL. 135
1915Zoltán KodálySolo Cello SonataOp. 8
1916Frederick DeliusCello SonataD minor
1913-17Frank BridgeCello SonataD minor
1917Gabriel FauréCello Sonata No. 1D minorOp. 109
1921Gabriel FauréCello Sonata No. 2G minorOp. 117
1923Paul HindemithSolo Sonata for CelloOp. 25 No. 3
1923John IrelandCello SonataG minor
1929Béla BartókRhapsody for Cello and PianoSz 88
1932Samuel BarberCello SonataC minorOp. 6
1932-33Igor StravinskySuite Italienne for cello and piano
1934Dmitri ShostakovichCello SonataD minorOp. 40
1938Nikolai MyaskovskyCello Sonata No. 2Op. 81
1939Bohuslav MartinůCello Sonata No. 1
1941Bohuslav MartinůCello Sonata No. 2
1944Zoltán GárdonyiCello Sonata
1948Francis PoulencCello SonataOp 143
1948Elliott CarterCello Sonata
1949Sergei ProkofievCello SonataC majorOp. 119
1949Alan RawsthorneCello Sonata
1952Bohuslav MartinůCello Sonata No. 3
1956-57Ernest BlochCello Suites 1, 2 and 3
1961Benjamin BrittenCello SonataC major
1962Dmitry KabalevskyCello SonataB majorOp. 71
1964Benjamin BrittenSuite for Cello Solo No. 1G majorOp. 72
1966Karen KhachaturianCello Sonata
1967Benjamin BrittenSuite for Cello Solo No. 2D majorOp. 80
1971Benjamin BrittenSuite for Cello Solo No. 3Op. 87
1978Alfred SchnittkeCello Sonata