Johannes Brahms
Violin Sonata No. 2 (Brahms)
The Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100 ("Thun" or "Meistersinger"), by Johannes Brahms, the second of three such works for violin and piano, was written while spending the summer of 1886 in Thun
Movements#
The sonata consists of three movements, with the middle movement doing service as both a slow movement and a scherzo:
Commentary#
By giving the work the formal title of “Sonata for Piano and Violin”, rather than the more usual “Sonata for Violin and Piano”, Brahms indicated the piano part was just as important as the violin part. to the first three notes of “Walther’s Prize Song” (Morgenlich leuchtend im rosigen Schein) from Richard Wagner’s opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Although they were musical rivals, Brahms was a great admirer of Wagner’s music, It is also sometimes called the “Thun” Sonata from the place of its creation. Motifs from three of the songs Brahms wrote that summer with Hermine Spies’s voice in mind The song “Komm bald”, Op. 97/5 (“Come soon”; words by Groth) is also said have provided thematic inspiration for the sonata. An outstanding quotation of Brahms’ own music can also be found at bar 89 in the last movement. Lied Meine liebe ist grün (Op. 63 no 5, poem by Felix Schumann, son of Robert and Clara, died in 1879) provides the dramatic portion of its melody corresponding to die glänzt wohl herab auf den Fliederbusch lyrics (‘which gleams down on the lilac bush’). For French musicologist Georges Kan, this is the location of the little phrase in Vinteuil Sonata which Swann listens to in ‘In Search of Lost Time’ by Marcel Proust. The Violin Sonata No. 2 was premiered in Vienna on 2 December 1886 by the violinist Joseph Hellmesberger and Brahms himself at the piano.
- Composer
- Johannes Brahms