Sonata Op. 40 for Cello and Piano

After Shostakovich's early enthusiasm for the outrageous avant-garde in the late 1920s and early 1930s, he began to feel the need to move towards a greater clarity and simplicity in his music. One of the first fruitsof this new mood was his Cello Sonata. This is nowadays considered by c ellists to be one of the key works of 20th century cello music and it israrely absent from the concert platform.