MOZART & SCHUMANN VIOLIN SONATAS

Allegro
Tempo di Menuetto

Mozart’s visit to Paris in 1778 – fifteen years after his dazzling first appearance in the city as a child prodigy – was not a success, and the composer was irritated by the apparent indifference of both the musical public and the aristocracy. The highlight of his stay was probably the first performance of the ‘Paris’ Symphony K297 on 18 June. Among the works he composed in Paris was the Violin Sonata in E minor (a key seldom used by Mozart). It has been suggested that the desolate mood of this work – headed “Sonata IV à Paris” in Mozart’s hand on the manuscript – may reflect the tragic illness and death (on 3 July) of Mozart’s mother, who was with him in Paris. While this may be an unduly Romantic interpretation, it is certainly one of Mozart’s bleakest works from this period, and also one of remarkable concentration – in just two movements, the second of which is a melancholy, restrained Minuet in which both players are directed to play sotto voce at several points in the score.

Nigel Simeone © 2012

The F-A-E Sonata was created in 1853, as a gift for violinist Joseph Joachim. Written for violin and piano, and made up of four movements, the sonata was actually composed by 3 individuals; Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahams, and Albert Dietrich, who was a pupil of Schumann’s. The three composers had recently befriended the violinist and challenged Joachim to work out who had composed which movement. Schumann was responsible for movements 2 and 4, the 2nd movement being a short Intermezzo. The Sonata’s movements are all based on the musical notes of F, A and E, and are taken from the first letters of Joachim’s adopted motto “Frei aber einsam”, meaning “free, but lonely”. Schumann would later add two more movements to the ones written for Joachim, to make his Violin Sonata No.3 in A minor. The F-A-E Sonata wasn’t published in its entirety until 1935, 82 years after it was first written. 

Allegretto con spirito 

Allegro 
The G Major Sonata for Violin and Piano is the first of a group of six for piano and violin composed in Mannheim and Paris during the course of the tour undertaken by Mozart and his mother during 1777 and 1778. Mozart seems to have been inspired to write these works after a chance discovery. On October 6, 1777, he wrote a letter to his father about a set of sonatas by the Dresden musician Joseph Schuster (1748–1812): “I send my sister herewith six duets for harpsichord and violin by Schuster, which I have often played here. They are not bad. If I stay on I shall write six myself in the same style, as they are very popular here.” What seems to have struck Mozart about Schuster’s sonatas is the independence of the two instrumental parts – with much more prominent writing for violin than in Mozart’s earlier sonatas for this combination. These six sonatas were published in Paris in as Mozart’s “Opus 1”, dedicated to Maria Elisabeth, Electress of the Palatinate. The first movement is a variant of sonata form (without a significant development of the ideas), and the second suggests a bucolic dance, with a minor-key episode at its centre providing a contrast to the sunnier outer sections. 

Nigel Simeone 2013 

Mit leidenschaftlichem Ausdruck [With passionate expression]
Allegretto
Lebhaft [Lively]

Schumann often composed in bursts of creative speed, and his Violin Sonata No.1 Op.105 was written in less than a week in September 1851 – starting on his wedding anniversary (12 September) and finishing five days later. Originally he described the work as a ‘Duo for piano and violin’ and it was the first of what Linda Correll Roesner has described as ‘an exceptional group of three chamber works’ written within a couple of months – along with the Piano Trio in G minor Op.110 and the Violin Sonata No.2 Op.121. In his articles, Schumann often wrote about the challenges of musical form for any composer after Beethoven. In this sonata, Schumann uses great economy of means, evident right from the start: the themes of the first movement are based on a limited range of notes, characterised by a falling semitone figure that is heavy with melancholy. The central movement is less anguished – a kind of quirky intermezzo in F major –while the finale is urgent and uncompromising. Near the close, a recollection of the sonata’s opening theme is undermined by the restless, rapid semiquavers that dominate the movement.

The sonata was first played by Joseph von Wasilewski (leader of Schumann’s orchestra in Düsseldorf) and Clara Schumann, at a private run-through on 16 October 1851. The public premiere was given a few months later in Leipzig on 21 March 1852, performed by Ferdinand David with Clara Schumann. Both Clara and Wasilewski recalled playing the piece through for Schumann. According to Clara, ‘I was so restless, I had to try Robert’s new sonata this very day. We played it, and were particularly moved by the very elegiac first movement and the lovely second movement. Only the somewhat less charming third movement caused us some difficulty.’ Wasilewski recalled that ‘on the whole Schumann was satisfied with my performance. Only my playing of the finale failed to please him. We went through it three more times, but Schumann said that he had expected the violin part to have a different effect. I was unable to convey the unyielding, brusque tone of the piece to his satisfaction.’ The finale clearly proved troublesome for both pianist and violinist. Clara’s suggestion that it is ‘less charming’ is puzzling. While the music is indeed brusque (as Wasilewski says) – Schumann resists any hint of easy allure by interrupting its more tender moments with abrupt chords – it is strong and intense, bringing this highly original piece to an impassioned conclusion.

Nigel Simeone ©2014

i. Allegro di molto
ii. Andante grazioso 

Sonata in A was inspired by Joseph Schuster’s piano and violin duets, which Mozart first played whilst looking for jobs in Mannheim, Germany. The sonata is made of 2 movements. The first is in sonata form, which follows the structure of introducing a musical idea or ideas, exploring it and then returning to the main themes at the end. It is one of Mozart’s most joyous melodies of all his violin sonatas. The second movement is a theme–and–variation form and completely contrasts with the tone of the first. It has a slower tempo and a much more subdued melody and is followed by six variations on the main theme. Typical of theme-and-variation pieces of the time, the penultimate variation is very stark, and in a minor mode. The set ends with an up-tempo dance and is the only piece of the lot that is in triple metre instead of duple.