Sonata for Solo Cello; Adolphus Hailstork (Theodore Presser)

Adolphus Hailstork's (b 1941) is one of the foremost African-American composers working today. His style and output cannot be pigeonholed as one type of music--he has written in all classical genres and finds as much inspiration in European models as he does in African-American culture.

Hailstork's Sonata for Solo Cello is a 17-minute journey through musical depths. Each of its three movements explores a spectrum of moods and tempi, with thoroughly braided paths of interrelated themes. While the sonata starts with a wink at Bach as a diving-in point, its development and overall profundity are more akin to the monuments of later musical literature. For advanced players.