Category: Videos

First movement:

Second movement:

Third movement:

Sebastian Diezig, cello

Sebastian Diezig plays Zoltán Kodály’s Sonata for cello solo.
Live Recording Aarau July 21, 2011.

“Program for that recital was the solo sonatas by Veress and Kodaly, which was a healthy challenge. I would do it again anytime though.

The Veress Solo Sonata is not exactly easy but this Kodaly Sonata is probably the most difficult piece I have learned so far. Anyways, I love to play it because it is great music and playing this kind of material keeps me in shape and helps me progress.

This Kodaly composition is a milestone in cello playing technique. I think it did for the cello a comparable job as Bach’s Suites did a couple of hundred years earlier in order to help establishing the instrument in a solo recital setting.

In order to play this piece you have to tune the C string down to a B and the G string down to an F sharp. Makes the whole thing a little tricky but as I said this is one of the great solo pieces of the 20th century so it pays off.

As you can see: Double-stops all the time, left-hand pizzicatos at every corner, extremely fast virtuosic passages, all the notes of the cello used from the lowest up to the highest (sometimes at once) and of course this scordatura (the lower two strings need to be tuned down half a step). In addition it’s not easy to play by heart because it is quite complicated. But you have no choice as there is no time for page turning.”