Classical Music | Violin Music

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

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Sonata In F Major (without Op. No.)           Felix Mendelssohn

I. Allegro Vivace;  II. Adagio;  III.  Assai Vivace   

Mendelssohn completed his Violin Sonata in F majoron 15th June 1838, but withheld it from publication, leaving its rediscovery to Yehudi Menuhin, who published the work in 1953. It is an example of music of the composer's maturity.

The first movement starts with the principal subject stated initially by the piano and extended by the violin. This leads to secondary material, appearing first with a shift into the minor key. The central development ends with a passage accompanied by violin arpeggios which continue into the start of the recapitulation, as the principal subject makes its return.

The moving A Major Adagio again allows the piano to introduce the main theme, then taken up by the violin in a movement of simplicity that still finds a place for outbursts of passionate feeling. The sonata ends with a movement in the familiar style of a Mendelssohn scherzo in which the writing for the two instruments remains perfectly balanced.       Sergey Ostrovsky