Comparison of Britten and Shostakovich cello concertos

This study, involving the cello concertos of Benjamin Britten and Dmitri Shostakovic, who are widely recognized as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, contains chapters which tackle themes such as the biography of the composers, their understandings of music, musical analysis of the above mentioned concertos, as well as the similarities and differences of the works. In the first chapter of the study, the importances of Britten and Shostakovic in the history of music, the effects of their lifes and personalities upon their musics, the cello concertos they wrote and dedicated to the cellist Rosropovic were discussed. Although there are various studies about two composers in our country, the fact that there is no study that deals with the mentioned concertos from this point of view is the most important factor in the preparation of this study. For this reason, researches written in a foreign languages were used rather than Turkish sources. In the second chapter of the study, the works subject to the study were examined separately, and in the last part, the relationship between the composers and Rostropovic was examined, and their similarities and differences were given. For this reason, it is thought that the study can be a resource that cello artist sor educators and students can benefit from. Key Words: Britten, Shostakovich, cello, concerto