Cello Sonatas No. 1 & No. 2, Op. 5; No. 3, Op. 69; No. 4 & No. 5, Op. 102

​Ludwig van Beethoven wrote these Cello Sonatas over a span of 19 years. His first two were composed in 1796 in Berlin, and dedicated to the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm II, who was a keen cellist. These were remarkable compositions as the norm in those days were for the cello or violin to accompany a continuo (a precursor to the modern piano), with the latter in a dominant role. These Sonatas were the first true cello sonatas ever written. The longest and most popular No. 3 Cello Sonata, composed in 1808, was dedicated to a German aristocrat, Baron Ignaz von Gleichenstein. While the last two Sonatas, No. 4 and No. 5, completed in 1815, and dedicated to a Hungarian noble, Countess Marie Erdody. The Countess was one of Beethoven’s loyal patrons. Beethoven’s cello sonatas contain features that were unconventional, with deeply probing emotional expression, and technical difficulty, particularly in his complex exploration of fugue. 

Here are four albums:

Beethoven, The Conquering Hero, Complete Works for Cello & Piano. Jennifer Kloetzel (cello) and Robert Koenig. Release Date: 21 Jan 2022. Label: Avie.

Beethoven, Die Cellosonaten. Mischa Maisky (cello) and Martha Argerich. Release Date: 1 Nov 1994. Label: Deutsche Grammophon.

Beethoven, Cello Sonatas. Steven Isserlis (cello) and Robert Levin. Release Date: 6 Jan 2014. Label: Hyperion.

​Beethoven, Cello Sonatas & Bagatelles. Roel Dieltiens (cello) and Andreas Staier. Release Date: 10 Jun 2022. Label: Harmonia Mundi.

Reference: Christiansen, K. (2020). Beethoven’s Cello Sonatas. EarSense. 
https://www.earsense.org/article/Beethovens-Cello-Sonatas/