In music history, the past is neatly divided into different stylistic periods such as the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods. But there is no specific moment when one style ends and another begins. Beethoven’s early works were considered to belong to the Classical period and his late compositions to Romanticism. When did his music shift from one to the other? Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was born 39 years after Beethoven and is considered to be a Romantic composer, but how much Classicism was there in his music? The Japanese Duo Yamane play chamber music pieces for the cello and fortepiano by Beethoven and Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, composed in 1825 and 1829. Classical or Romantic? Perhaps there isn’t as much difference as you thought.
Program
L. van Beethoven: Cello Sonata in D major, opus 102 no. 2 | F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Variations concertantes in D major, opus 17
Performers
Futo Yamane, cello | Yuki Yamane, fortepiano
