The First Selections
Georg Goltermann is the first cellist/composer whose works captured on my forgotten-o-meter. Klengel was actually right on his heels, with the Sechs Stücke, but I do a secondary digression within this postal diversion.
With Goltermann it was his Sechs Tonbilder, Op. 129 that caught my attention. After which, there were 5 Nocturnes—unconnected except in that someone had placed them in a collection, since all 5 are squarely set in the intermediate level—and then his Sonatine in G, Op. 61.
Revisiting Goltermann
Before continuing with this post, maybe I should explain why I am writing about Goltermann’s music again. From the outset of this Forgotten Cello Music project, the goal was always to play complete opuses as often as I could manage. Indeed, that was the case for a good portion of the uploaded content to my social media.
As time went by I began to read more books about cello. Particularly the in depth biographical look at the violoncello, The Violoncello and Its History. This roused my intrigue and so decided to make a series that used a smattering of works from each era. This has gone on, with some interruptions, through France in the 18th Century. See podcast episodes 39 and 40 on Spotify, et al.
Interested in Goltermann
As time went by I had strayed from one of my first ambitions regarding Goltermann’s output. That is, to record all music by him and upload it to YouTube, et al. Recently, his 2 Grand Duos for cello and piano have gently shaken my world in the most pleasant way possible (really they are sonatas, it is interesting calling a work with 3 or 4 movements a sonata—nothing against the traditional name—but the title literally only describes one movement’s FORM, i.e. the Sonata Allegro form of the First movement, the remaining movements of which are Binary, Tertiary, or RONDO—the title of Grand Duo is actually befitting!).
Listen to an episode about Goltermann.
Therefore, to slowly chip away at my goal to learn all of Goltermann’s music, I have begun work on his Grand Duo in D minor, Op. 15. It is a three movement work, as mentioned earlier, normally such a piece would be given the Sonata title. I have no idea why he decided to give this more descriptive title. Regardless, it has so many exciting themes that I could hardly contain my excitement while reading it.
Elevated Composition
Both of his Grand Duos are on a different musical level, despite being accessible to the upper intermediate player. They both exhibit a level of understanding and inspiration that is not possible when writing little works aimed at a pedagogical end.
At the moment I am working on the accompaniment. The length of the piece will be the longest of any single piece to date that I have worked on. His Sonatina in G, Op. 61 was fairly long but this Op. 15 will surpass by several minutes.
Have a look at the first page of the Grand Duo.
TravelingCelloJourney 