Robert Schumann was able to meet some great violinists in the course of his life, among them Paganini and Joachim, but it was only in the final years of his creative life that he turned to compositions for the violin. As always in such cases, Schumann did not limit himself to just one work, instead writing an entire serious. In the autumn of 1851 he produced two consecutive Violin Sonatas (Op. 105 in A Minor and the grand Sonata in D Minor, Op. 121), and following a brief interval these were followed by the Third Sonata, a Fantaisie and a Concerto.
The violin in these pieces embodies a Romantic hero, and the Second Sonata is no exception. The impulsive and impetuous first section is dedicated to the passions of a broken soul. The scherzo is reminiscent of several of Brahms’ as yet unwritten works and the third section comes in the form of variations on a simple song theme. The finale was written in almost symphonic proportions and contains Beethoven’s idea of overcoming: “from darkness into light”.
The sonata is dedicated to Ferdinand David, Schumann’s contemporary and friend. He was the first performer of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, and as a composer he left a considerable number of works for the violin.
On 24 August 1787 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed his last Piano and Violin Sonata – in A Major (No 39, K. 526). The intended addressees of his sonatas were typically countless amateur musicians, though the Sonata in A Major is suitable for only the most brilliant virtuosos. The first section (Molto allegro) and particularly the third (Presto) are exceptionally virtuoso in character, as if when composing them Mozart was secretly thinking of the concert stage.
When performing violin sonatas in the great salons, Mozart preferred to be seated at the keyboard and in the titles of the works the piano always came first, but in his late works the two came to achieve an ideal balance. The instruments compete, now performing the solo, now performing the accompaniment and going “backstage”, which is what creates the main lure of the work.
At the centre of the piece there is an Andante that is adorned with enchanting “breaths of Mannheim”. It is unknown whether the considerable length of the work springs from an idea of the composer or whether ideas about the tempo of an Andante have changed drastically. The impetuous final rondo is in the rhythm of a gavotte is a veritable riot of the imagination. The musical themes appear as from a horn of plenty – a real apotheosis of creative energy.
The reason behind the composition of Béla Bartók’s two Violin Sonatas Nos 1 and 2 was his acquaintanceship with the Hungarian violinist Jelly d’Aranyi. Long before this, the composer had worked on another two violin sonatas, but did not think them worthy of having numbers.
In the early 1920s, when Sonata No 1 appeared, Bartók’s professional life was successful as never before. His music was widely published, he began to perform concerts again and toured a great deal. The premiere of the Violin Sonatas took place in London, then the home of d’Aranyi. She was not remotely afraid of new music, and many composers, among them Ravel, wrote music for her. Bartók’s Sonatas, which are dedicated to her, are among his most radical works. The sonata form is blurred and its contours can barely be picked out. The parts of the violin and the piano exist as if apart from one another, each of them depicting its own musical material. The music develops outside tonality, the fabric of sound is rarefied and one has a sensation of being lost in time and space. Nevertheless, the Sonata is very beautiful – the delicate, changeable and ethereal material of the initial two sections and the wild, barbaric Romanian dance of the finale.
Anna Bulycheva |
