Claude Debussy

Sonate pour violoncelle et piano

Debussy composed the Sonate for cello and piano in Normandy, in July 1915. At the age of 53, distressed by the war and afflicted by an illness that prevented him from composing, he resumed his work with the writing of this Sonate. Though his intention of asserting a French style in the tradition of the great masters of the 18th century, Debussy repeatedly affirmed the absence of a programmatic idea in the sonata: "I have written nothing but pure music. […] in the old form, so flexible (without the grandiloquence of modern sonatas)". This volume is part of "Musique française", a series designed for students and teachers as well as professionals ; it offers historical introduction and performance suggestions by the notable cellist Emmanuelle Bertrand.