Tema 'Sacher,' for solo cello

The Tema "Sacher" is a composition for solo cello by Benjamin Britten. He composed it between December 1975 and January 1976. It resulted from a request by the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who sought to assemble a collaborative musical work from various composers to commemorate the seventieth birthday of the music patron Paul Sacher. Rostropovich premiered the work at the Tonhalle in Zurich, Switzerland, on May 2, 1976. It was the last of Britten's works to be premiered in his lifetime.