Violin Sonata No.2 in E minor Op.36a (1900)

Langsam -

Presto -

Andante, piuttosto grave

“My existence as a composer,” Busoni told his wife, “really begins only with the Violin Sonata” - by which, having forgivably forgotten the First, he meant the Second Violin Sonata in E minor. Although he later changed his mind and declared that he found his true personality “at last and for the first time” with the piano Elegies, the Second Violin Sonata is an indisputably mature and distinctive work. It is also highly original, even if its structure is based on Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in E major Op.109 and even though much of its melodic material derives (directly or indirectly) from J.S. Bach. Indeed, the very idea of matching Beethoven’s theme-and-variations last movement with a set of variations on a Bach chorale could have occured only to Busoni, who worshipped both composers.

The major difference between the Beethoven sonata and the Busoni is that the latter has a motto theme to look after. A chromatic progression of four chords heard in a low register of the piano in the opening bars, the motto is treated economically and, once established, does not clearly recur in the first movement until near the end. In the meantime, the violin introduces two lyrically expressive melodies, the second of them somewhat incongruously assuming the lilt of the habanera, before approaching a quicker middle section by way of a short cadenza.

The Presto, which follows without a break, is a tarantella equivalent to Beethoven’s Prestissimo scherzo. It has its own thematic material but, driven by irresistible rhythmic energy and tireless instrumental virtuosity, it has no inhibitions about jostling fragments of melody from the first movement as it careers towards its abrupt ending.

There are more reflective reminiscences of earlier material in the improvisatory slow introduction to the last movement. Delayed in this way though it is, the entry of “Wie wohl ist mir” from the Notenbuch für Anna Magdalena Bach - the theme of the variations that are to follow - is unmistakable as the piano introduces it, the violin repeats it and both instruments enlarge on it. The variations, including a brisk march in dotted rhythms and a brilliantly scored moto perpetuo, differ not only in tempo but also in length. Necessarily, however, as in the Beethoven, the most impressive episode is a fugue. Following an elegiac minor-key variation, it begins quietly but builds over a resourcefully sustained construction to a dramatic climax marked by broad augmentation of the chorale theme. As it dies away, the motto theme is recalled, lingeringly and poetically, for the last time.