Romberg - Cello Concerto No. 8, Op. 48 (Urtext Edition, Piano Version)

Bernhard Romberg is best known among cellists for works such as the Three Sonatas for Two Cellos, Op. 43, and the Three Trios for Solo Cello, Viola, and Cello, Op. 38, originally composed as student works and later adapted with piano accompaniment by Friedrich Gustav Jansen. Unfortunately, much of Romberg’s music has long been treated primarily as student repertoire, partly because of the highly abbreviated and altered concerto editions by Carl Schroeder and Friedrich Grützmacher. While those adaptations kept the concertos in circulation as teaching material, they also contributed to their dismissal by many musicians. In their original form, however, Romberg’s ten cello concertos reveal impressive craftsmanship, with well-developed tuttis, elegant orchestration, and considerable melodic invention.

The Cello Concerto No. 8 in A major, published as VIII Grand Concert Brilliant, stands among Romberg’s finest achievements. The concerto is cast in three movements: a sonata-form first movement, a slow movement that combines elements of sonata and ternary form, and a five-part rondo finale. Brilliant, elegant, and substantial, the work offers a fuller picture of Romberg’s achievement as both a cellist-composer and a major figure in the early nineteenth-century cello tradition.

This edition is based on the autograph parts held at the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, shelf mark 16730. These manuscript parts were used to create the first edition published by Tobias Haslinger in Vienna, plate T.H. 5215.

This package includes only the solo cello part and piano reduction. The orchestra score and parts are sold separately.

Best suited for advanced cellists, this concerto offers substantial material for lessons, recitals, concerto study, auditions, and historically informed exploration of early Romantic cello repertoire. It gives players opportunities to develop Classical and early Romantic style, brilliant passagework, elegant phrasing, formal awareness, and a more complete understanding of Romberg beyond the familiar student pieces.

ASTA level: 5