This concerto is obviously primarily modelled upon the Brahms concerti, but its
first movement reminds us that Brahms never wrote a real Beethovenian Allegro
con brio. Where someone famously described the Brahms violin concerto as
"a concerto for violin against orchestra -- and the violin wins!",
this is a concerto for 'cello against orchestra, but the 'cello loses. The
topic of contention is whether, as the soloist advocates, the work really ought
to be in E-flat. The soloist is eventually convinced that D is the One True
Key, but the battle is fought with pertinacity, ingenuity, and guile.
NOTE @ 28 December 2017 The scores (full and piano-reduction) and
the solo part are watermarked "pre-publication" because the solo part has not yet
been edited and the possibility of revisions arising from the editing process
cannot be ruled out.
Copyright © 2015 -- 2022 Frank Wilhoit