Suffused with lyricism and expressive ardor, Brahms’ Cello Sonata, op. 38 is one of his most popular chamber works. Composed twenty-one years later, the Cello Sonata, op. 99, more sober and succinct than the earlier work, is strikingly original not least for the wide range required of the cellist to reach unusually high notes from the very low register. Chosen to suit the cello’s particular color and articulation, the idiomatic and sensitively arranged six songs, accomplished by Schwabe and Rimmer, staying as close as possible to the originals, are heard in their world première recordings.
