Cello Repertoire

24 pieces · 18 composers · 58 editions

BaroqueRomanticPost-RomanticClassical20th Century

Johann Sebastian Bach

6 pieces

Cello Suite No. 1 in G major

The first of six suites for unaccompanied cello. Composed during Bach's tenure as Kapellmeister in Cothen, the suite consists of six movemen...

Cello Baroque 3 editions

Johann Sebastian Bach

Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor

BWV 1008

The second of Bach's six suites for unaccompanied cello, set in D minor, lending it a darker and more introspective character than the first...

Cello Baroque 3 editions

Johann Sebastian Bach

Cello Suite No. 3 in C major

BWV 1009

The third suite returns to a bright, expansive key and is the most extroverted of the set. The Prelude's brilliant scale passages and bariol...

Cello Baroque 2 editions

Johann Sebastian Bach

Cello Suite No. 4 in E-flat major

BWV 1010

The fourth suite marks a shift in technical demands, with the key of E-flat major requiring less resonant string crossings and more careful ...

Cello Baroque 3 editions

Johann Sebastian Bach

Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor

BWV 1011

The fifth suite requires scordatura tuning (the A string lowered to G), giving the instrument a darker, veiled sonority. The Prelude opens w...

Cello Baroque 2 editions

Johann Sebastian Bach

Cello Suite No. 6 in D major

BWV 1012

The final and most technically demanding of the six suites, likely written for a five-stringed instrument (viola pomposa or violoncello picc...

Cello Baroque 3 editions

Joseph Haydn

2 pieces

Joseph Haydn

Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major

Hob.VIIb:1

Lost for nearly two centuries and rediscovered in Prague in 1961, this concerto has since become a cornerstone of the cello repertoire. Its ...

Cello Classical 3 editions

Joseph Haydn

Cello Concerto No. 2 in D major

Hob.VIIb:2

Composed around 1783, this concerto is one of the most frequently performed works for cello and orchestra. The singing Adagio is a masterpie...

Cello Classical 2 editions

Antonín Dvořák

1 piece

Antonín Dvořák

Cello Concerto in B minor

Op. 104

One of the greatest cello concertos ever written. Composed in 1894-95 during Dvořák's time in America, it combines Czech lyricism with orche...

Cello Romantic 2 editions

Edward Elgar

1 piece

Edward Elgar

Cello Concerto in E minor

Op. 85

Elgar's last major work, composed in 1919 in the shadow of World War I. Its autumnal, elegiac character makes it one of the most emotionally...

Cello Post-Romantic 2 editions

Robert Schumann

1 piece

Robert Schumann

Cello Concerto in A minor

Op. 129

Composed in just two weeks in 1850, Schumann's only cello concerto is a deeply personal, through-composed work in which the three movements ...

Cello Romantic 3 editions

Camille Saint-Saëns

1 piece

Camille Saint-Saëns

Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor

Op. 33

A compact, single-movement concerto in three connected sections that unfolds with irresistible momentum. The opening theme bursts in immedia...

Cello Romantic 3 editions

Johannes Brahms

1 piece

Johannes Brahms

Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor

Op. 38

Brahms's first cello sonata, composed between 1862 and 1865, is a work of grave beauty in three movements. The opening Allegro non troppo fe...

CelloPiano Romantic 2 editions

Dmitri Shostakovich

1 piece

Dmitri Shostakovich

Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major

Op. 107

Written in 1959 for Mstislav Rostropovich, this concerto is a tour de force of modern cello writing. The four-note motto theme (D-S-C-H, the...

Cello 20th Century 2 editions

Sergei Prokofiev

1 piece

Sergei Prokofiev

Sinfonia Concertante for Cello and Orchestra

Op. 125

Prokofiev's last major completed work, extensively revised with input from Rostropovich. It is a thorough reworking of the earlier Cello Con...

Cello 20th Century 2 editions

Zoltán Kodály

1 piece

Zoltán Kodály

Sonata for Solo Cello

Op. 8

One of the most important works for unaccompanied cello since Bach. Composed in 1915, it requires scordatura tuning (both lower strings tune...

Cello 20th Century 2 editions

Ludwig van Beethoven

1 piece

Ludwig van Beethoven

Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major

Op. 69

The finest of Beethoven's five cello sonatas and a landmark in the chamber music repertoire. Composed in 1808 during the same fertile period...

CelloPiano Classical 3 editions

Gabriel Fauré

1 piece

Gabriel Fauré

Élégie in C minor

Op. 24

Originally the slow movement of an abandoned cello sonata, this standalone piece has become one of the most beloved works in the cello reper...

CelloPiano Romantic 3 editions

David Popper

1 piece

David Popper

Hungarian Rhapsody

Op. 68

A dazzling showpiece by the great cellist-composer, showcasing the full virtuosic potential of the instrument in a Hungarian-flavored rhapso...

CelloPiano Romantic 2 editions

Luigi Boccherini

1 piece

Luigi Boccherini

Cello Concerto No. 9 in B-flat major

G. 482

Long known in Grützmacher's heavily rearranged edition, this concerto has been restored to its original form by modern scholarship. Boccheri...

Cello Classical 3 editions

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

1 piece

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Variations on a Rococo Theme

Op. 33

Tchaikovsky's elegant homage to Mozart, written for cellist Wilhelm Fitzenhagen. Seven variations on a graceful Rococo-style theme showcase ...

Cello Romantic 2 editions

Alfredo Piatti

1 piece

Alfredo Piatti

12 Caprices for Solo Cello: No. 1 in B minor

Op. 25 No. 1

The first of Piatti's twelve caprices, the cello equivalent of Paganini's violin caprices. These works are essential study material for adva...

Cello Romantic 2 editions

Max Bruch

1 piece

Max Bruch

Kol Nidrei

Op. 47

An adagio on two Hebrew melodies for cello and orchestra. Despite Bruch being Protestant, this work captures the devotional intensity of the...

Cello Romantic 2 editions

Gaspar Cassadó

1 piece

Gaspar Cassadó

Suite for Solo Cello

Written in 1926 by the great Catalan cellist and student of Casals, this three-movement suite is the most important solo cello work between ...

Cello 20th Century 2 editions