G. Ruzitska: Adagio and Rondo concertant for cello and orchestra

Abstract

A young music teacher from Vienna, G. Ruzitska, arrives in Transylvania in 1810. Years later, he settles in Cluj and becomes deeply involved in the city’s music life. As a teacher, instrumentalist, and composer, he becomes established as one of Transylvania’s most important musicians. His compositions reflect characteristics of the transitional period between the classic and romantic eras. The Adagio and Rondo concertante for cello and orchestra is one of his least-known, unpublished compositions, and yet, one of the only cello solos of its caliber in the history of the region. The following article provides a technical, historical analysis of the work, from the perspective of the West European cello compositional precedent.