![]() Rostropovich will be remembered for his friendship with them, while other composers will be remembered only for their friendship with him. Rostropovich, who knew many composers and listened a practiced and prepared without prejudice said there were three musical giants in his life- Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Britten. Others pieces written for him are working their way into the repertoire of the new generation of cellists, while others may, sadly fade into history. ![]() No other performer I can think of nurtured so many works from premieres to repertoire works. Many of the works he sought out and championed have already become classics- the Shostakovich concerti, the Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante, the Britten Suites. ![]() For those not so privileged, we all have something to learn from all great music, past and present. I can’t imagine how we could take seriously a composer who doesn’t understand and love the music of Haydn or Beethoven or Debussy or _ (you pick), (though there are those who don’t, who we still take seriously- such is the privilege of genius). I believe all composers and performers ought to learn all they can from the masters of today and of yesterday. Rostropovich showed us that one could, and should, embrace the old and new with equal passion- musicians should serve music, not just old music or just new music. ![]() It is a personal frustration to often hear programs debated as a series of choices between old and new works, as if Beethoven and Berio were rivals. On the other hand, nobody ever played the Dvorak Concerto as well as he did, nor the Schumann nor the Beethoven Sonatas- he was a friend to the warhorse and the avante-garde. It is worth remembering that Rostropovich commissioned and performed new works in every conceivable style, and approached them all with the same passionate commitment. Were it not for Rostropovich’s friendship with Sacher, were it not for all of these composers’ willingness to collaborate and give of their time and talent to this project, we would not have any of these pieces, several of which are genuine masterpieces. This was a project built on friendship, on open-mindedness, on cooperation and on personality. Taken as a whole, the “Sacher” pieces represent the most important single contribution to the solo cello repertoire since the Bach Suites, and represent an astounding compendium of 20 th Century styles. All wrote works were for solo cello, except for Boulez, who wrote his work (Messagesquisse) for solo cello and six cellos. Rostropovich went on to commission variations from composers as diverse as Lutoslawski, Berio, Halffter, Dutilleux and Boulez, among others (complete list below). Rostropovich’s dear friend Benjamin Britten was already on his deathbed and felt too frail to write a variation, and so offered to write the theme, Thema SACHER for cello solo. He had the rather brilliant idea of commissioning a set of variations based on theme constructed from the letters of Sacher’s name SACHER, or, Es (Eb), A, C, H (B), E, and Re (D). In 1976, Rostropovich hatched a plan to celebrate the birthday of his friend, the conductor Paul Sacher. We’ll save his storied conducting career for later discussion. Instead, I’d like to talk about one project in Slava’s long and amazing career as a cellist that highlights both the kind of musician he was and the sort of legacy he leaves. Almost any of us can pick his sound out from a couple of notes of any recording. I’m also not entirely comfortable with trying to summarize the impact of his playing on my development as a cellist- I think it’s more or less a given that most cellists today are consciously aware of what we’ve learned from him. I’ve felt rather intimidated by the prospect of writing something meaningful about the passing of Rostropovich- so many have already said so much, and his career and life are already so celebrated that there is not a need for another summary of his accomplishments.
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