By jleonard
08-May-2013

Must-buy for Cello lovers  

Othmar Schoeck was a Swiss composer who in German-speaking countries has a similar reputation to Gerald Finzi in English-speaking ones. Like Finzi, Schoeck is mainly famous for his solo vocal settings of poetry, and also like Finzi, he has a very delicate and beautiful lyricism.

The main works recorded here are late, the Cello Concerto dates from the late 1940s and the Cello Sonata was the last work he wrote (although four movements were planned he only finished three before his death). Both works are very beautiful and full of autumnal lyricism, though they are not sentimental and both works contain darker and more impassioned sections.

The transcriptions of solo songs for cello are also very beautiful and date from various dates in his compositional career. Anyone who likes Cello music should buy this disc.
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