Violin Sonata No.2 in G major Op.13 (1867)

Writing about his three violin sonatas, Grieg referred to the first as “naive,” the second as “national,” and the third as reflecting “wider horizons.” He did not mean to suggest that the Sonata in G major is aggressively nationalistic. On the contrary, it is an essentially lyrical work, written shortly after his marriage to his cousin Nina Hagerup in what he described as “the euphoria of my honeymoon.” Its material does, however, derive from Norwegian folk sources, not from any specific songs or dances but from their language – not least a descending three-note motif (a minor second followed by a major third) which the composer found particularly characteristic and which he used so much himself that it has come to be known as the “Grieg formula.”

The G minor Lento doloroso opening section is abundant in examples of the “Grieg formula” and close variants of it. While it is a curiously morose introduction to such a happy work, it usefully anticipates the main theme of the Allegro vivace on the cadenza-like entry of the violin and it is certainly effective in offsetting the joyful effect of the first definitive appearance of that theme on the piano in G major. Clearly inspired by the Norwegian folk-dance or springar idiom, it is immediately taken up by the violin in Hardanger-fiddle style and it remains the motivating force of the movement. It is true that the violin brings activity to a halt with two multi-stopped chord supported by the piano to make way for the tranquillo ed espressivo second subject, but before the end of the exposition that tender minor-key melody assumes a more vigorous character in the major. It plays its part in the development but the energising influence of the main theme allows it to resume its tranquillo character only once more, and only briefly, in the recapitulation.

The Allegretto tranquillo is ternary form with such distinct cadences at the end of each section that it seems to be held together only by will power and, of course, the kinship of E minor and E major. It is such a spontaneous inspiration, however – the E minor section taking the form of an improvisation on the cantabile opening theme, the middle section based on an irresistibly exquisite melody in E major - that it is entirely convincing. The coda, incidentally, indulges in more Hardanger-fiddle colouring.

Deliberately or not - it might just be a matter of the ubiquity of the “Grieg formula” - the melodic material of the last movement has much in common with that of the first two. It takes the form of a sonata rondo, the exposition beginning with a springar over drone harmonies and including a near-waltz tune too. The central episode is a complete contrast based on a lovely melody in E flat major which, although it retains its individuality longer than the second subject of the first movement, is finally swept by the momentum of the work into to a joyous G major in the triumphant coda.