Cello Concerto No 2. Op. 126. Score.

Form:

Concerto for cello and orchestra (with 2 harps and brass reduced to 2 horns) in three movements:

1. Largo
2. Allegretto attacca
3. Allegretto

Instrumentation:

Piccolo, Flute, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets (B flat and A), 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon (= Bassoon III)
2 French Horns
Timpani, Tambourine, Side drum, Tom-tom, Side drum di legno, Whip, Bass drum
Xylophone, Harp (minimum of 2 specified)
1st Violins (16), 2nd Violins (14), Violas (12), Cellos (12), Double-basses (10).

Composed:

Begun in spring 1966 at Moscow and completed on 27 April 1966 at the Oreanda Sanatorium, Yalta.

Dedication:

Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich

The Concerto score was first published by Muzfond in 1967 and by Sovetsky kompozitor Publishers in 1970. The piano score done by the composer himself was first published by Sovetsky kompozitor Publishers in Moscow in 1969 in 1,630 copies. A copy of the original manuscript of the score is kept in Dmitri Shostakovich’s Archive in Moscow: 77 pages of score with the author’s pagination, plus a title page and page indicating the orchestral instruments.

This publication is based on the 1985 edition of the score (Collected Works, Vol. 16, Muzyka Publishers, Moscow) collated with the author’s manuscript (Dmitri Shostakovich's Archive, rec. gr. 1, section 1, f. 106) and 1970 lifetime edition (Sovetsky Kompozitor Publishers, Moscow). When necessary, the piano score of the Concerto was also used—three of its editions (1969, 1976, and 1986).