Sonata for Solo Cello, Op.8 by Zoltan Kodaly
Published by Universal.
Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967) was a leading Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, and pedagogue. Early in his career, he traveled between Hungarian villages, recording their folk music with his friend and compatriot Bela Bartok, later incorporating this music into his compositions. Later, he developed principles for early music education based on language acquisition and universal accessibility, which was eventually developed into the Kodaly method. As a composer, he was known for his colorful, imaginative, and intensely expressive writing. Bartok wrote that his works ''are the perfect embodiment of the Hungarian spirit''.
Kodaly's Sonata for solo cello, Op.8 (1915) is the most significant and revolutionary work for solo cello since Bach's six cello suites almost two centuries earlier. Much as Bach did in his time, Kodaly takes advantage of the cello's considerable technical, expressive, and polyphonic potential with music of dazzling virtuosity and heightened intensity, changing the landscape of the cello repertory for years to come. This monumental work calls for advanced technique and special effects, including (but not limited to) extensive thumb position, harmonics, scordatura, fast string crossings, and passages of simultaneous pizzicato and arco. Master level, grade 6.
