Composing music for a friend can be tricky. When Brahms was rehearsing the new cello sonata he composed for cellist Josef Gansbacher the two had "words."
Gansbacher (who was only an amateur cellist) complained that Brahms was overpowering him in the piano part. "You should be glad of that!" said Brahms.
There was only sweet sounding music when David Finckel and Wu Han performed the Brahms Cello Sonata No. 1 this past January in a Schubert Club/Music in the Park Series concert. Their performance is in this week's Regional Spotlight.
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