Violoncello Concerto No. 2 in G major, Op. 126

Written in 1966 for Rostropovich and premiered on 25 September that year, the composer's sixtieth birthday. Where the First Concerto is extrovert, this one opens with a slow movement in which the soloist unfolds almost as a monologue. The second movement quotes an Odessa street song, and the horn calls of the third are the work's most striking signature. The second and third movements run without a break.