Sentiment and Virtuosity Works for Violin and Piano
Paul Thomason
In the 19th century, the violin-piano sonata came into its own, moving from its earliest beginnings—where the emphasis was almost exclusively on the keyboard instrument with the violin merely providing bits of often-disposable decoration—to a partnership of equals. Brahms’s three violin-piano sonatas, gems of the repertoire, celebrate the unique strengths of both instruments. Typical for the composer, he destroyed the manuscripts of at least three other violin sonatas before embarking on what we know today as the Sonata in G major for Violin and Piano Op. 78. It was written during the summers of 1878 and 1879 while he relaxed in the southern Austrian countryside on Lake Wörth at Pörtschach, a place where he said inspiration came easily. Brahms was a master at the piano. According to biographer Jan Swafford, Clara Schumann, herself a famous pianist, “once came indoors thinking someone was playing fourhand duets and discovered Brahms alone at the piano, his hands flashing all over the keyboard. He loved drawing great handfuls of sound from the instrument.” Nonetheless, in writing his First Sonata for Violin and Piano Brahms took care to not swamp the more delicate violin with the sound of the piano. In fact, the string instrument often takes the lead in presenting musical material—singing from beginning to end—with the piano providing rhythmic crosscurrents and intriguing comments. 13
