Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129

Schumann originally called this work a Konzertstück (concert piece) rather than a concerto, and you can hear why from the opening bars: after only a brief four-bar orchestral introduction, the cello enters with a long singing melody, bypassing the extended orchestral exposition traditional to the concerto form. The three movements flow into each other without pause, giving the whole work the shape of a single continuous arc. He told a publisher it was 'quite a cheerful piece', which was, by most accounts, a stretch of the truth.

What to listen for

In the slow second movement, the solo cello opens a quiet duet with a single orchestral cello marked 'with expression', the two instruments playing together at close range rather than one accompanying the other. Later, when the first movement's main theme returns in the middle of this movement, it triggers an acceleration that carries the music straight into the march-like finale, where timpani appear for the first time in the piece.

Recommended recording

Jean-Guihen Queyras with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado has been praised for its close attention to Schumann's lyrical writing and its chamber-music transparency.

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