Shostakovich?

Bach?

It definitely sounds Russian to me. Shostakovich seems like a good guess, but I will go with Prokofiev.

I haven't the foggiest, but they're very nice. Thanks Wolfdog.

It's in G Major, I think. The only work in G Major listed here that seems right (it's definitely not Pfitzner and I don't know Raff) is Cello Concerto No. 2, opus 126 in G by Shostakovich. What's the prize? Free music? Oh God, I hope it's free music.

But who's playing? It's not Yo Yo Mah.

No prize for wrong answer! Well-known composer; work is not on your wikipedia list.

The cellist:
≡ Click to see image ≡

I take that back. It is on the list.

I took another listen: I no longer think it's in G Major and Shostakovich is way off; I think it's in D and the composer is...I have no idea. Hayden and Vivaldi qualify as well-known and have concerti in D Major on the Wikipedia list but it definitely isn't Vivaldi and I listened to Hayden's No. 2 in D Major and that isn't it. So, unless it's Hayden's No. 4 (which I can't find an excerpt of) or I'm wrong, again, about the key, I'm stumped. But the cellist, from the picture, is clearly former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker so that's partial credit, right?

Thanks for the beautiful music whoever it wrote it.

Okay. So I know who the cellist is, but am totally ashamed to admit that I've never heard this concerto before. Shades of Elgar (or that may just be one of the themes that makes me think of it), and it feels rather like Boccherini. Don't think it was a cellist composer as it's not overly virtuosic.

Chuck us a bone, oh might hound!

OK, it's a bit of a ringer - it's Schoenberg, based on material of Monn. The original was a keyboard concerto; Schoenberg chucked out and rewrote large swaths of it (sequences? bah!), reharmonized, added material, and obviously entirely reorchestrated it (needs more triangle!).

If you like it, check out his quirky Concerto for String Quartet, a similar rewrite of a Handel concerto grosso.

Aha! I knew it. OK. I didn't. (Except, of course, that it's in D Major and that's Paul Volcker in the picture). I think you're right: it is a ringer. The orchestration doesn't match the composition (I'm not sure that's the word I mean - maybe I just mean melodies) which helps to explain why the guesses were all over the place.

Thanks. That was fun.

Yes, when the first two guesses offered up are Shostakovich and Bach, you might ought to suspect some little shenanigans.

Um. I coulda sworn the cellist was rostropovich.
*sigh*

I think I need to hand in my rosin and spike now :/

Oh, the cellist is Fred Sherry.

I'm finally listening to this, and it's great. Thanks wd.