Montague Brearley (violin)
Esther Fisher (pianoforte)
It was owing to the interest of Ole Bull, the famous Norwegian violinist, that Grieg was sent to study at the Leipzig Conservatorium. It was no doubt also due to the influence of Ole Bull that Grieg wrote with such understanding and sympathy for stringed instruments. Among Grieg's small output of chamber music there are three sonatas for violin and piano. The third, in C minor, Op. 45, was published in 1887. A Norwegian critic has summed up the work as follows: ' The Third Violin Sonata may be described as a dramatic sonata. It is classical in form, and with its simple lines and clearly defined formation, imbued with the spirit of conflict and melancholy, it stands as a monumental work in the sonata literature of the North.'