Violin Sonata in A major, Op.12, No.2

“Learned, learned and always learned - nothing natural, no song,” said the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung of the three Violin Sonatas Op.12 on their publication in 1799. It must have seemed an extraordinary judgement to a composer who had had little ambition to be other than conformist in these works: they are, after all, dedicated to no less an establishment figure than Imperial Kapellmeister Antonio Salieri.

The offending critic was right in one respect, however: there is not much song in the opening Allegro vivace of the Sonata in A major. Although there are modest examples of contrasting material, in the second subject and the closing theme of the exposition, the movement is built for the most part on the multifarious exchanges of a two-note motif between violin and piano. It is, on the other hand, a demonstration of wit rather than learning. The main theme of the slow movement is a little severe perhaps but that is partly a consequence of its A-minor tonality and, besides, the F-major middle dialogue in the middle section seems all the more expressive in comparison. As for the last movement, an ingenious combination of minuet and rondo finale, while Beethoven’s contemporaries might have been baffled by his teasing modulations they should have found ample consolation in the song element here, if not in the main theme then surely in the two sustained melodies later introduced by the violin.