BRAHMS' SONATAS FOR VIOLIN AND PIANOFORTE
Played by ADILA FACHIRI and KATHLEEN LONG
Sonata in D Minor, Op. 108
Dedicated by Brahms to his friend, Hans von Bulow, the D minor Sonata is the favourite of the three with a great many players and listeners. It begins at once with a big, broad tune on the violin, the pianoforte accompanying with his right hand half a beat after the left. A little transition passage is made up from the first big tune, and then the pianoforte plays a second subject, another noble melody, and after that the course of the movement is perfectly clear. Towards the end there is a fine section built up on a pedal bass. The slow movement, quite short, is among the most beautiful of all Brahms' big conceptions. The tune itself has all the simple dignity of a fine old song. The third movement has been called fairy-like, and is indeed delicate and nimble, with movements of vigour and crisp energy. It is practically in the scherzo and trio form, a first section with a contrasting middle part, after which the first returns. The last movement is bold and strong, beginning with a theme of quick, restless energy, on which a calmer mood breaks in more than once.