This month, the Cello Museum is thrilled to bring you an in-depth interview with multi-talented cellist, composer, and music editor, Dr. Yuriy Leonovich. In this conversation, Dr. Leonovich shares exciting updates on his recent projects, including his work on Victoria Yagling’s Suite for Cello and String Orchestra, Nicholas Van Slyck’s solo sonata’s premiere, and his Varna International Festival performances.

Dr. Yuriy Leonovich. Photo courtesy Dr. Leonovich.

I am delighted to bring you another interview with the incredibly talented cellist, composer, and music editor, Dr. Yuriy Leonovich. Known for his extensive research and dedication to unearthing and performing lesser-known works, Dr. Leonovich continues to enrich the classical music community with his discoveries, editions, compositions, and performances.

In this interview, Dr. Leonovich shares his latest projects, including new editions, exciting performances, and collaborations with prestigious publishers. Read on to learn more about his journey, influences, and what lies ahead in his musical endeavors.

The following interview transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Interview with Dr. Yuriy Leonovich

Yagling Videos and Edition

Brenda Neece, Cello Museum Curator (BN)

Please tell us about your ongoing work on Victoria Yagling’s music. In our last conversation, you were working on a new piano and cello reduction of her Suite for Cello and String Orchestra. Please tell us more about that. You have also posted some videos of Yagling and her music.

Dr. Yuriy Leonovich (YL)

Yagling has become my favorite cellist composer, along with Cassadó (I don’t know if we’re allowed to have two favorites). Her music really speaks to our times. It is not as militaristic or sarcastic as Shostakovich’s but not as tragic as Schnittke’s. I enjoy both listening to and playing her music. Fennica Gehrman published my piano reduction of the Suite. They allowed me to add to the preface, which is now available. I played the “Aria” from the Suite on March 9 and plan to play the “Aria” and “Humoresque” on June 27 as part of the Varna Festival.

Nicholas Van Slyck’s Solo Sonata Premiere

BN

The premiere of Nicholas Van Slyck’s solo sonata was a significant event. Last time, you mentioned that you were going to create a first edition of this work. Please tell us about your project and this piece. What was the experience like premiering this work?

YL

Van Slyck’s Sonata premiere went very well. I was happy with it. Since I started researching this genre in 2019, I feel like I’ve grown in my understanding of unaccompanied mid-20th-century works. You can hear the premiere here:

Trudi Van Slyck was very happy with the performance as well. Playing unaccompanied is a challenge. Performing the Kodaly sonata and Britten suites may seem like a Herculean task, but we have Starker and Rostropovich as role models for those works. My research-related performances rarely have a role model. I can only hope to become other cellists’ role model in this regard.

Upcoming Performances

BN

Along with your usual teaching duties, you always have an exciting series of performances in the works. Please tell us more about these events and the pieces you’ll be performing. How do you choose your repertoire?

YL

I have a performance on June 27 for the Varna Festival. Kalin Tchonev, the festival’s president, invited Kristin and me to play for their annual South Carolina stint.

We’re going to play mostly cellist-composers like Brandukov, Cassadó, Casarrubios, Servais, Yagling, and one of my works called Freilach based on Avinu Malkeinu that I wrote when I was 17. I’m always hesitant to play my own works because others have composed much better than me. I choose my repertoire based on the music that most currently speaks to me. I have an email draft with ideas. My recitals include works that you can’t hear anywhere else. This makes them unique events.

I will have a few performances in the fall. In September, Brent Wissick graciously invited me to play an all-Servais lecture recital at UNC-Chapel Hill. I plan to play the Fantasy based on Lafont’s themes, Op. 8 and Souvenir d’Anvers, along with some short works and arrangements. In October, I have a performance of the Mysliveček Concerto with my string orchestra and a faculty recital at BJU. For the BJU recital, I might play Souvenir d’Anvers, but I also want to shift my focus to Casals and his circle. I’m thinking of doing a US premiere of Cassadó’s Rapsodia del Sur, Hillemacher’s Suite in Ancient Style (the “Gavotte Tendre” movement has been played by Lynn Harrell in the US and championed by Casals) and hopefully reviving the Alexanian version of Breval’s G-major Sonata.

Servais Talk and Article

BN

You gave a fascinating talk about Servais to the NC Cello Society. What are some key points from this talk, and why is Servais an important figure for cellists to study?

YL

Servais was a giant who influenced the next generation of cellists, who inspired composers like Tchaikovsky, Dvořák, Volkmann, Schumann, and so on. In the lecture, I demonstrated techniques used in passages of our standard concerto repertoire that unequivocally were influenced by Servais. Servais is our silent hero. His son Joseph took up his father’s baton (bow?) and kept his father’s legacy alive until his early death at age 34. My most recent publication for the Servais Society is the first edition of Joseph’s works for cello and piano. You may read about them. His A-minor Romance and Prelude deserve special attention.

Other Cellist-Composers

BN

You have been doing wonderful work on cellist composers, including Anatoly Brandukov and Jascha Bernstein. What discoveries have you made, and why do you find their work compelling?

YL

The only way we can learn about our history is to study what our cello ancestors did. There is no Beethoven without Duport, Schumann without Bockmühl, Brahms without Popper or Hausmann, etc. Our ancestors need a voice outside of archive shelves. I recently published six sonatas by Johann Konrad Gretsch, a cellist-composer from the same generation as C.P.E. Bach and G.B. Costanzi. Very little has been written about him.

Brandukov has always been associated with Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. Brandukov composed some very nice short works and at least four cello concertos. He is important enough that Lev Ginzburg wrote a 50-page chapter about him in his History of the Art of the Cello, Volume 3, and a separate biography (available only in Russian).

Jascha Bernstein published several nice arrangements for cello and piano and a book of cadenzas for standard cello concertos. While many are out of print, interlibrary loans allow us to easily obtain these books through local or academic libraries.

Mysliveček Cello Concerto

BN

Your Urtext edition of Josef Mysliveček’s Cello Concerto in C Major is an important project. What challenges did you face in creating this edition, and what do you hope musicians will take away from playing this concerto?

YL

Mysliveček was a wonderful, tuneful composer. Along with other composers like Joseph and Anton Reicha and Jan Křtitel Vaňhal from modern-day Czechia, his music uses beautiful melodies and idiomatic cello writing that we might often miss in Haydn and Beethoven. Mysliveček’s only Cello Concerto is great for students who are just about ready for Haydn C. This piece is not easy, but more comfortably written than Haydn’s. You can read the preface.

Recent Pranks and Projects

BN

You hinted at a bit of a prank related to a new edition you released in April. Can you tell us more about this edition and the story behind it?

YL

Hanuš Wihan is the reason we have Dvořák’s B-minor Concerto, but Wihan was a bit of a nuisance to work with. The cadenza for the Concerto, which I published, was proposed by Wihan but rejected by Dvořák. I think it would make a nice (but fiendishly difficult) encore. However, it has no place in the Concerto.

Future Research and Editions

BN

Looking ahead, what other research projects and editions are you excited about? Are there any specific works or composers you’re eager to explore next?

YL

Summers are for preparation for the next school year and passion projects. I’ve made some easier arrangements for the cello choir of pieces by Monteverdi (L’Orfeo ritornellos), Tárrega (Gran Vals, a.k.a.: the Nokia ringtone), and Schumann (Abendlied). I’m also arranging works for my Homage to Cassadó series, where I take pieces that he arranged (unpublished) and make my own arrangements, mainly because the Tamagawa University Museum has limited-to-restricted access. You can read about the project here.

I’m really excited to publish Jan Křtitel Vaňhal’s cello works. He is mainly known for his Double Bass Concerto, but he also wrote four cello concertos and a cello sonata. I’m working with a Vaňhal scholar named Halvor Hosar. The cellist who wrote the cadenzas for two of Vaňhal’s concertos and addenda to the cello sonata is also the composer of the famous Haydn C cadenzas. More on this in future updates. I would love to go to Prague to research this topic further—maybe in another decade!

Conclusion

Dr. Yuriy Leonovich’s passion for unearthing and reviving lesser-known works continues to enrich the classical music landscape. His dedication to both performance and scholarship provides invaluable insights into the works of past cellist-composers and inspires future generations of musicians. We look forward to seeing the results of his upcoming projects and research. Stay tuned for more updates from this remarkable musician and scholar.

Dr. Leonovich’s Recent Editions and Articles

Enter for a Chance to Win a Servais Edition by Dr. Yuriy Leonovich

Servais Giveaway

Over the summer, we offered a chance to win a PDF copy of Dr. Yuriy Leonovich’s first edition of Servais’s Six Romances and Prelude and a Cello Museum T-shirt. Congratulations to our giveaway winner, Janice H. from Pennsylvania, USA!

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The Latest Discoveries of Dr. Yuriy Leonovich