Classical Music | Violin Music

Recorded on 12/16/2009, uploaded on 03/16/2010

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Violin Sonata in A minor, Op. 105       Robert Schumann

I.      Mit leidenschaftlichem Ausdruck; II.  Allegretto; III.   Lebhaft

The violin sonata no. 1 of Robert Schumann was written the week of 12 - 16 September, 1851.  It was given its official premiere by Clara Schumann and Ferdinand David in March 1852.

The first movement begins passionately, with the theme first played by the violin. This theme serves to introduce a compact, driven sonata form movement with an economical use of rhythms.  New themes often are based on some of the same rhythms as older ones, and overlap with them as well. Intensity is added by treatment of themes in canon. The coda of the first movement is in two parts - quietly sustained at first, then gaining intensity and leading to a section in which the violin has running sixteenth notes over the piano's chordal accompaniment.

The second movement serves as an intermezzo at a brisk pace somewhere between a slow movement and a scherzo, in the form of a rondo.

In the finale, sixteenth-note motion dominates the exposition, present in all but a few bars. A group of themes enters about halfway through the exposition. The development introduces additional new themes mostly based on the exposition's material and treats them, again, canonically before gradually introducing a songful episode. This is only a brief moment before the scurrying sixteenth-notes return. A transitional passage leads to the recapitulation of the main theme and a lively conclusion.    Sergey Ostrovsky

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Violin Sonata in A minor       Robert Schumann

Schumann's three violin sonatas (of which only two were published) come from the last years of his career—the first two in 1851 and the third in 1853. By 1850, mental illness began to take its toll on Schumann and those around him. Suffering from violent mood swings, he believed he was ordered by Heaven to compose certain melodies and, subsequently, tormented by demons. Not surprisingly, an altered mental state produced stylistic changes in Schumann's output and it is unclear whether they were the result of mental breakdowns or purposeful experimentation. Regardless, Schumann's feverish pace of composition did not wane and the first Violin Sonata was composed in less than a week in September 1851. Schumann, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the work which, consequently, prompted him to make a second attempt at a sonata for the violin. Nevertheless, the first Violin Sonata received a premier the following March performed by his wife Clara and the violinist Ferdinand David. 

The first movement is intensely passionate and gives a clear view into the inner torment Schumann must have endured during his final years. A lyrical 6/8 theme in A minor, offset by a restless piano accompaniment, opens the work. The second theme follows in C major, giving a brief moment of warmth and consolation but it is not enough to lift the gloomy atmosphere of the whole movement.

The second movement, an Intermezzo in F major, begins haltingly with a melodic line that struggles to maintain its forward momentum. Before the graceful first melody can even lift itself from the ashes of the first movement, it is interrupted by a brief episode in the tonic minor. Once again, the melody attempts its hesitant start again this time giving way to a more resolute episode beginning in D minor. Finally, the opening F major melody returns before fading away into quiet concluding chords.

Beginning with repressed agitation, the final movement's repetitive sixteenth-note passages have an almost demonic sound to them. Hardly a measure goes by, even in the more lyrical sections, in which the sixteenth-notes are not heard. Before the coda, a brief echo of the first movement's opening theme is heard. However, it is quickly swept aside by the vigorous sixteenth-note motif and the sonata comes to a tragic ending.        Joseph DuBose