Frank Bridge (1879-1941): Sonata for Cello and Piano in d minor, H. 125 (1913-1917) [23′]

1.  Allegro ben moderato
2.  Adagio ma non troppo – Allegro moderato

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): La Valse, for solo piano [11′]

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Suite No. 1 in G Major for Solo Cello, BWV 1007 [15′]

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924): Sonata for Piano and Cello No. 2 in g minor, Op. 117 [19′]

1.  Allegro
2.  Andante
3.  Allegro vivo

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971): Suite italienne after Pulcinella, for cello and piano [18′]

1.  Introduzione
2.  Serenata
3.  Aria
4.  Tarantella
5.  Minuetto e Finale

Composed between 1913 and 1917, Frank Bridge’s Sonata for Cello and Piano, stands at the crossroads of two worlds: one of pastoral innocence and one of dreams turned to ashes in the War. Though not mobilized, Bridge was tormented by the war’s senselessness. This anguish is particularly evident in the second movement, where the piano motifs evoke an icy rain, already prefiguring his later style. The work oscillates between Brahmsian nobility and unique freshness before concluding in an atmosphere of uncertainty characteristic of this transitional period.

Initially conceived as a tribute to the Viennese waltz, Ravel’s La Valse was profoundly transformed by the composer’s traumatic experience during the Great War. Ravel, marked by his service as an ambulance driver during the conflict, composed a work both sumptuous and unsettling, where the splendor of a bygone world spirals downwards into a dizzying whirlwind. This piece evokes the collapse of an era while glimpsing a possibility of rebirth.

Bach’s first Suite for Solo Cello rises here as a symbol of universality, innocence, and peace. Pablo Casals, who brought these suites onto the stage as concert works and notably played them during his exile from fascist Spain, made them an emblem of peace and humanity transcending conflict.

Fauré’s Cello Sonata No. 2 was completed in 1921. Its slow movement, originally commissioned for Napoleon’s death centenary,goes beyond its initial purpose: Fauré transforms it into a funeral march dedicated to all soldiers fallen on the battlefield. This development from personal project to universal tribute reflects the spirit of the time, where personal mourning becomes collective. The entire work dialogues between memory and renewal, symbolizing the quest for reconstruction that marked post-war Europe.

Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne, an arrangement for cello and piano of excerpts from the ballet Pulcinella (1919), demonstrates a new artistic approach born from the conflict’s ashes. By reinterpreting themes by Pergolesi, an 18th-century Italian composer, through a modern language, Stravinsky offers a synthesis between tradition and innovation, reflecting Europe’s aspirations for cultural reconstruction.