This sonata is dedicated to Chopin's friend, August Franchomme, the violoncellist.

Madame Dubois wrote: "Before playing the violoncello sonata in public , Chopin had tried it before some artists and intimate friends; the first movement, the masterpiece, was not understood. It appeared to the hearers obscure, involved by too many ideas, in short, it had no success. At the last moment Chopin dared not play the whole sonata before so worldly and elegant an audience, but confined himself to the Scherzo, Adagio, and Finale."