Friday, April 7, 2017

GYÖRGY LIGETI - Sonata for Cello solo



Mathias Johansen - Cello

The Same With The Score


Arranged for Guitar by Kostas Tosidis


Kostas Tosidis, guitar

The Sonata has an interesting story, the first movement composed as an imaginary dialogue between a man and a woman - written for a cellist Ligeti was in love with but who he never told he was in love with.  Later in 1953. another cellist asked him to write a piece so he added the second movement the Cappricio to it.  However, when they applied to the Hungarian Composers Union (or more honestly Soviet occupation composers censors) they banned its public performance and publication, allowing only a recording for radio which was never played.  The piece was put aside and forgotten when Ligeti walked out of the Soviet bloc and began what he considered his mature compositional period free of censorship.  The piece was revived and received its first concert performance in 1983 and was published in 1990.

I assume Kostas Tosidis had either Ligeti's permission to make the transcription or that of his estate. I think it's pretty successful.

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