William Hurlstone Cello Sonata in D major (c.1899)

William Hurlstone (1876-1906 ) wrote many pieces of chamber music, including his Phantasy String Quartet which won the first W.W. Cobbett Chamber Music Prizes in 1905. The runners up in this competition were Frank Bridge and James Friskin. There was a Piano Quartet published in 1906, a Trio for violin, cello and piano as well as a Wind Quartet for flute, oboe, horn and bassoon.  Hurlstone wrote a number of sonatas – including one each for bassoon, violin, piano solo and cello.

The Cello Sonata in D major was probably composed around 1899, the year after he graduated from the Royal College of Music where Hurlstone had studied piano with Algernon Ashton (1859-1937) and Edward Dannreuther (1844-1905) and composition with Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924).

The Sonata is dedicated to the British cellist May Mukle (1880-1963) who ‘by the turn of the century…was fully recognized not only as an outstanding musician, but as one of the most remarkable cellists this country had produced.’ (The Times, 1 March 1963) She often played the Cello Sonata with Hurlstone and continued to promote this work in the years after the composer’s early death.

The premiere of the Sonata was on 5 December 1899 at a British Chamber Music Concert in the recital room attached to the Queen’s Hall. The soloists were Herbert Walenn, cello and Ethel Bauer, piano. May Mukle did not perform the sonata until 29 October 1900, when she was accompanied by William Hurlstone at the Pembroke Hall, West Croydon.

The Cello Sonata is presented in four classically balanced movements, with the scherzo being placed third.  The opening ‘allegro ma non troppo’ begins with a striking theme, displaying ‘neat precision’ which is followed by a more reflective and folk-like melody. This movement is unusual in having the second subject precede the first in the recapitulation. It was a device that Hurlstone would use again in his Trio in G major. The ‘adagio lamentoso’ owes a debt to Brahms and Schumann with its serenity and subtle interplay between the piano and cello. Sometimes there are hints of Elgar. The ‘scherzo’ is quite short: it is characterised by incisive playing in the outer sections, whilst the ‘trio’ is relatively gentle and straightforward. The finale, ‘allegretto moderato’ is in rondo form and is bursting with ‘fresh air and sunshine.’

In 1944, May Mukle sent a letter to the composer’s sister Katherine, who was gathering material for a memorial volume. (William Hurlstone, Musician: Memories and Records by his Friends, London, Cary & Co.,1947)  Mukle wrote: ‘Hurlstone’s Sonata for cello and piano is…one of his best works, and I am very proud to think that it was dedicated to me, and that I had the happiness of playing it with the composer many times, when it was still in manuscript.’

May Mukle has suggested that the work has ‘a freshness than can never be dated.’ Interestingly, Hurlstone suggested to the critic and composer Marion Scott that he felt it was ‘a bit too sugary’ however Scott insisted that this was just a reflection of his innate modesty and being ‘progressively self-critical.’ In fact, William Hurlstone has created a truly amiable work for cello and piano. 

Listen to William Hurlstone’s Cello Sonata in D major on YouTube, here. The performers are Andrew Fuller, cello and Michael Dussek, piano.

With thanks to the English Music Festival, where this essay first appeared.