A ‘Feeling’ Sonata: Samuel Barber’s Sonata for Cello and Piano
CMW Resident Musician and cellist Adrienne Taylor writes about the piece she’ll be performing with guest pianist Andrei Baumann at the Sonata Series concert on Thursday, February 9 at 7:00 pm. Learn more about event here. As an elementary student I found myself playing in an orchestra at West Chester University alongside musicians who were a lot older and more experienced than I was. At our first rehearsal one of the pieces on the stand was composer Samuel Barber’s famous Adagio for Strings. I had never heard the piece before, but I was taken in right away by the long build in intensity and the use of the full range of the string instruments. There were notes so high that I hadn’t yet learned how to play them. When I got home that night, I practiced and practiced my part for the rehearsal and concert the next day. That’s how I learned the higher positions on the cello for the first time – I was motivated by Barber’s music. At the time, I didn’t even know that the composer whose piece I was falling in love with was from my hometown of West Chester, PA.
This is a feeling sonata. It is full of passion, excitement and tenderness – words I hesitate to use because now we’ve found ourselves in another era that looks down on expressiveness, where words like “precious and sentimental” are meant to condemn. When pianist Andrei Baumann and I talked about what we’d like to work on together, this sonata inspired us – we are both in a feeling time in our lives, and we wanted to be able to explore that in an unrestrained way. We’re appreciating playing a piece that allows us to do that, and perhaps listeners can allow themselves to unabashedly feel with us, too. — Adrienne Taylor, cellist Join us for Sonata Series Event #2 on Thursday, February 9 at 7 PM at Bell Street Chapel in Providence. This event is presented in person and through live stream. Learn more about Samuel Barber here.
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