Sonata No.1 in G major for violin and piano Op.78 (1878)

Although it was Joseph Hellmesberger who gave the first performance of the Violin Sonata in G major, the violinist the composer had in mind when he wrote it was his old friend Joseph Joachim. The work was completed just a few months after Joachim had given the first performance of the Violin Concerto Brahms had dedicated to him a year earlier and it was written in the same idyllic surroundings of Pörtschach on the Wörthersee where most of the work on the Concerto had been done too.

Even so, the two works are very different from each other, and not only because of the difference between the orchestral and chamber media. Brahms seems to have been experimenting here with a more elusive style, a more fluent kind of continuity, a less formal kind of structure. The 6/4 metre of the first movement, for example, enables him to extend melodic lines with comparatively unemphatic and not too predictable rhythms. Structurally, there seems to be an element of improvisation – as when the first subject returns in the tonic key in the middle of the movement, apparently signaling the start of the recapitulation, an event which is actually held in reserve for a discreet moment some time later.

The Adagio is in every sense the central movement of the work. Its heavily nostalgic main theme, introduced by the piano in the opening bars, is much the most substantial, much the most expressive and much the most pervasive melody of the whole Sonata. The echoes of that melody towards the end of the Adagio are not the last we hear of it. The opening of the Allegro molto moderato which refers to a song (“Regenlied”) written six years earlier, seems to have no relation at all to the Adagio. The second subject is equally distant from the emotional issues of the slow movement. And yet, after a subtly achieved modulation, the reappearance of the nostalgic melody of the Adagio in its distinctive double-stopped harmonies is the most spontaneous and most natural inspiration in the whole work. Indeed, it is partly through its benign influence that the long withheld return to G major is so serenely accomplished.   

Brahms didn’t play the violin himself but he knew several distinguished musicians who did, Joseph Joachim foremost among them. Although it was actually Joseph Hellmesberger who introduced the Violin Sonata in G major to the world in November 1879, it was Joachim’s advocacy which established it in the repertoire and it must have been his playing Brahms had in mind when he wrote it. The Sonata was completed only a few months after Joachim had given the first performance of the Violin Concerto Brahms had dedicated to him and it was written in the same idyllic surroundings of Pörtschach on the Wörthersee where most of the work on the Concerto had been done too.

Even so, the two works are very different from each other, and not only because of the difference between the orchestral and chamber media. Brahms seems to have been experimenting here with a more elusive style, a more fluent kind of continuity, a less formal kind of structure. The 6/4 metre of the first movement, for example, enables him to extend melodic lines with comparatively unemphatic and not too predictable rhythms. Indeed, the rhythm of the first subject, introduced by the violin over the opening G major harmonies on the piano is almost hesitant, as though taking shape spontaneously. Structurally, too, there seems to be an element of improvisation - as when the first subject returns in the tonic key in the middle of the movement (this time with the melody on the piano and the harmonies on the violin) apparently signalling the start of the recapitulation, an event which is actually held in reserve for discreet moment some time later.

The Adagio is the central movement of the work in a more profound sense than that it comes between the other two. Its heavily nostalgic main theme, introduced by the piano in the opening bars, is much the most substanital, much the most expressive and much the most pervasive melody of the whole Sonata. It is also beautifully conceived not only for the piano but also for the violin, which instrument reintroduces it after an uneasy middle section in deeply reassuring double-stopped sixths and thirds.

The echoes of that melody towards the end of the Adagio are not the last we hear of it. The opening of the Allegro molto moderato which refers to a song (“Regenlied”) written six years earlier, seems to have no relation at all to the Adagio. The second subject, a theme for the right hand of the piano in octaves over a rhythmic accompaniment on the violin, is equally distant from the emotional issues of the slow movement. And yet after a subtly achieved modulation to E flat major, the reappearance of the nostalgic melody of the Adagio in its distinctive double-stopped harmonies on the violin is the most spontaneous and most natural inspiration in the whole work. Indeed, it is partly through its benign influence that the long withheld return to G major is so serenly accomplished.

arranged in D major for cello and piano by Paul Klengel

Vivace ma non troppo

Adagio

Allegro molto moderato

Where appropriate, and perhaps even where it wasn’t, Brahms had no objection to issuing alternative versions of his chamber pieces. He made no alternative version, however, of he Violin Sonata No.1 in G major. Although it was Joseph Hellmesberger who gave the first performance, the violinist Brahms had in mind when he wrote it was his old friend Joseph Joachim. It was written while composer and soloist were working out the fingering of the Violin Concerto Brahms had written for him and completed just a few months after Joachim had given the first performance of that work. The Sonata was written moreover in the same idyllic surroundings of Pörtschach on the Wörthersee where most of the work on the Concerto had been done. Perhaps with the sound of Joachim’s violin still echoing in his mind he couldn’t think in terms of any other instrument, although, as Paul Klengel’s cello arrangement shows – it is transposed down a fourth to D major and largely avoids the lowest register of the instrument –    the cello does not intrude too seriously on the intimacy of the work.

The concerto and the sonata are actually very different from each other, and not only because of the difference between the orchestral and chamber media. Brahms seems to have been experimenting in the sonata with a more elusive style, a more fluent kind of continuity, a less formal kind of structure. The 6/4 metre of the first movement enables him to extend melodic lines with comparatively unemphatic and not too predictable rhythms. Structurally, there seems to be an element of improvisation. The first movement begins with a reference    (on the cello in this case) to Brahms’s song Regenlied written five years earlier but it is not treated as    the main theme, even though it is to be heard more than any other idea. The status of main theme is is actualy occupied by the melody that follows a few bars later on the cello. If the Regenlied reference were the main theme it could not be recalled in the tonic key in the middle of the movement as it is here without signalling the start of the recapitulation – an event which is actually held in reserve for the main theme at a discreet moment some time later.

The Adagio is in every sense the central movement of the work. Its passionately nostalgic, gently syncopated main theme, introduced by the piano in the opening bars, is much the most substantial and much the most expressive melody of the whole Sonata. There is no trace of Regenlied unless there is a brief reference on piano just before a central section which develops into something not unlike a funeral march. The nostalgic melody is duly recalled and the movement ends in perfect peace.

The Allegro molto moderato opens in D minor with an overt reference to Regenlied, which is now treated as a main theme. The second subject aso seems to keep its distance from the emotional issues of the slow movement. Even so, after an artfully achieved modulation, the reappearance of the nostalgic melody of the Adagio its distinctive double-stopped thirds and sixths now in B flat major is the most spontaneous and most natural inspiration in the whole work. Indeed, it is partly through its benign influence as it is finally integrated with the Regenlied melody, that the long withheld return to D major is so serenely accomplished.