Sonata in D minor, Op. 108 played by Raymond Cohen (violin) and Franz Reisenstein (piano)
The last of Brahms' three violin sonatas was written in 188S, during a holiday spent by the Lake of Thun in Switzerland. He was fifty-five, and had already completed the fourth symphony and the double concerto; from now on, until his death nine years later, he turned away from orchestral composition to write some of his finest chamber works and piano pieces. The Sonata is full of that spirit of resignation which was so characteristic of Brahms in his last years.
Deryck Cooke