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The Sonata for Violoncello and Piano exhibits the composer's characteristic mastery in the use of modes, whole-tone and pentatonic scales and brilliant coloration, and the various figurations and rhythmic elements suggest the influence of Couperin and Rameau. Debussy chose the eighteenth-century monothematic sonata as his formal model, which, in the hands of such a highly innovative composer, resulted in one of the most profound and frequently performed works for the cello.
The inspiration for the present transcription came from hearing (usually from the wings while a member of the chamber ensembles Speculum Musicae and Music From Copland House) four exceptional American musicians, the cellists Fred Sherry and Wilhelmina Smith and the pianists Ursula Oppens and Michael Boriskin. Flautists regularly perform Bach's Cello Suites, having discovered that they translate wondrously to higher registers, and the conductor George Szell - a purist of the first order - successfully transcribed for the cello, and performed, Mozart's Flute Concerto in G Major, demonstrating that the two instruments have more in common than meets the ear.
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