Joseph Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)  

Sonata no. 2 in G major

1. Allegretto
2. Blues. Moderato
3. Perpetuum mobile. Allegro

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
    Sonata no.2 in A major, Op.100

1. Allegro amabile
2. Andante tranquillo – Vivace – Andante – Vivace di più – Andante – Vivace
3. Allegretto grazioso (quasi andante)

Interval (20 minutes)

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
    Sonata no.9 in A major, Op.47 – The Kreutzer. 

1. Adagio sostenuto – Presto
2. Andante con variazioni
3. Presto
    

Aside from his large-scale orchestral works (4 Symphonies) and concerti (for Violin, Double Concerto and 2 Piano concerti), Brahms was a prolific composer in all other genres except opera, which he avoided.  His instrumental works include string quartets and sextets, piano quintets and trios, cello sonatas, 2 clarinet sonatas and 3 violin sonatas, the second of which we will hear this evening.  There are numerous songs (lieder) and choral works including “Ein Deutsches Requiem” which achieved great success during the composer’s lifetime.  
Brahms’s 2nd Violin Sonata was written during the summer of 1886 while staying in Thun in Switzerland.  It was a particularly relaxing time for the composer, enjoying the company of friends in wonderful countryside; he was noted to say, “life is so full of melodies, one has to be careful not to step on any.”  In addition to the 2nd Violin Sonata, he wrote the Cello Sonata in F, his 3rd Piano Trio and a number of songs.  The Violin Sonata is a mixture of melody and technical demands; it is the shortest of Brahms’s 3 sonatas and considered to the most difficult to play.  It is in 3 movements, with the 2nd, with is tempo changers, taking the form of both the slow movement and the Scherzo.  

Ravel’s 2nd Violin Sonata was written between 1923-27, while living in Montfort-l’Amaury with his violinist friend, Hélène Jourdan-Morhange.  The 3 movements betray the influence of jazz which was popular in Paris at this time, particular in the playing of the classic blues band of W.C.Handy in Paris between 1937-27.  This influence can also be found in Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand.

In the composer’s 1803 sketchbook, this sonata has the lengthy Italian title, here translated: “Sonata for the Piano and one obligatory violin in a highly concertante style like a concerto.”  It is usually known as “The Kreutzer Sonata”, named after the violinist Rodolphe Kreutzer to whom Beethoven dedicated it.  Herr Kreutzer hated the piece and never played it.  It has been pointed that, in the title, Beethoven puts the piano first, indicating its importance in the work.  The first performance was given by Beethoven and the violinist “Il mulatto Brischdauer” (Bridgetower) on May24, 1803 at a concert that began at 8.00am.  There had been no rehearsal time and Brischdauer read the sonata at sight!  Drinking after the concert, the 2 men fell out and Beethoven removed his companion’s name from the dedication and gave it to Kreutzer, the pre-eminent violinist of the day, who as we now know, hated the piece and never played it.  He described it as “outrageously unintelligible”. 

As a work for 2 solo instrumentalists, this sonata is on a grand scale, lasting about 40 minutes.  The dramatic 1st movement begins in A major but continues to the end in A minor.   The 2nd movement is a set of variations and the finale, a fast Tarantella in 6/8 back in the home key of A major.   The sonata’s premiere was a great success, even with the violinist sight reading the work with the composer at the piano.  It was published with the new dedication in 1805.
 

Programme Notes Copywrite Alistair Jones, 2025