Sergey and Lusine Khachatryan perform Brahms

The programme includes:
Johannes Brahms
Violin and Piano Sonata No 1 in G Major, Op. 78
Violin and Piano Sonata No 2 in A Major, Op. 100
Violin and Piano Sonata No 3 in D Minor, Op. 108

Johannes Brahms’ Sonata for Violin and Piano No 1 in G Major (Op. 78) was written while under the impression of the death of Felix Schumann, son of the composer Robert Schumann to whose family Brahms had been bound by the bonds of friendship for many years. The Sonata’s autobiographical tendency is highlighted by the induction of themes from Brahms’ songs, written to words by Felix Schumann and Klaus Groth – a poet whose verse best suited the composer’s view of the world. The essence of the idea of the work is the collision of young life and death. The content of the songs defines the work’s “programme”: Brahms quotes motifs from the cycle Songs of Youth; the theme of Rain Song, linked with recollections of a forever-gone childhood of the drops of rain lashing provocatively at the window – in the song Echo these drops are likened to tears… The “tearful” symbolism harmonises with the movement of a funeral procession in the first section, contrasted with the state of enlightened peace in the second. The theme of the second section also appears in the conclusion of the unusual – for a sonata in major key – finale, which brings reconciliation.
Nadezhda Kulygina

Brahms’ Violin Sonata No 2 in A Major is a lyrical piece from start to finish. The first movement (Allegro amabile – Allegro) opens with a dark piano theme and, echoing it, the violin repeats the final motif, continuing the flow of the melody. The instruments then swap roles. The secondary theme (indicated as teneramente, “tenderly”) has two voices. It begins with the piano and gradually the violin joins in. It is accord and not rivalry that reigns between the two instruments.
In this sonata, Brahms combined the slow section and the scherzo into one. The second movement opens with a tranquil and contemplative theme that cedes to a dashing episode in the spirit of a Norwegian Halling dance. The music could have been composed by Edvard Grieg, whom Brahms was soon to meet in person.
Up until the very finale, the music of the sonata contains not a trace of nostalgia or fantastical visions. These appear in the final rondo, though only episodically; the principal theme of the finale is more in the spirit of the first movement.

Johannes Brahms began to compose his Sonata No 3 in D Minor in 1886, the same year that he wrote his Second Sonata, though it was only completed two years later and it was entirely different to its “elder sister.” It is like a four-movement symphony in miniature. Every single note has weight and it is as if each has a free will of its own. In the dramatic first movement Brahms uses very low notes from the piano together with incredibly high notes from the violin, expanding as much as possible the range of the ensemble. In the second movement, it is only twice – in the culminations – that the violin is permitted to depart from the lower register. Correspondingly, the piano sounds muffled and restrained. The third movement is a carefree scherzo. Were it not for the composer’s remark “con sentimento,” this capricious music could have been considered fantastical.
The sonata’s powerful finale goes far beyond the realms of chamber music, and this can be sensed in the very scale of its principal theme. The secondary theme is a chorale and it is led by the piano. The peaceful flow does not last long. The Third Sonata is one of strong passions, and even its chorale is filled with lyrical emotions by the time it reaches the tenth bar.
Anna Bulycheva