Violin Sonata in G minor D408 (1816)

While he took a seriously committed and long-term interest in the piano sonata, Schubert was nowhere near as ambitious as far as the violin sonata was concerned. Having written three short violin sonatas in 1816 and a rather longer one in A major in 1817, he abandoned the form. When they were first published, eight years after the composer’s death, the three 1816 scores were issued as “Sonatinas.” Slightly patronising though that description might have been, it did acknowledge to a Viennese public that would by then have been familiar with Beethoven’s violin sonatas that these are on nothing like the same scale. Indeed, although Schubert himself could have known all the Beethoven examples when he first applied himself to the violin sonata, the threee Sonatinas bypass Beethoven and revert to Mozart.

The opening gesture of the Sonata in G minor, presented by the two instruments in emphatic unison, not only gives the work a dramatic start but also makes a feature of a motif in dotted rhythms which is to play such a prominent part in the rest of the first movement. It is firmly incorporated in the first subject and is rarely absent for more than a few bars at a time – which makes the comparatively lyrical B flat major second subject in even quavers seem all the more distinctive.

There are more dotted rhythms in the lovely, hesitant main theme of the Andante in E flat major. Even more remarkable than the quality of the thematic material are the disturbing syncopations and modulations in the middle which so effectively offset the melodic and harmonic poise of the outer sections. While the Menuetto is an unambitious, though entertaining, example of its kind, it does give notice in its B flat major rather than G minor tonality that formal convention is not a priority here. The closing Allegro moderato begins in G minor but when the opening theme is recapitulated it is recalled in C minor, a situation from which Schubert extricates himself by way of a magical transition to a G major coda.

While he took a seriously committed and long-term interest in the piano sonata, Schubert was nowhere near as ambitious as far as the violin sonata was concerned. Having written three short violin sonatas in 1816 and a rather longer one in A major in 1817, he never produced another - although, ten or eleven years later, he did present the Czech virtuoso violinist Josef Slavík with a startling Rondo in B minor and a no less flamboyant Fantasy in C major.

When they were first published, eight years after the composer’s death, the three 1816 scores were issued as “Sonatinas.” Slightly patronising though that description might have been, it did acknowledge to a Viennese public that would by then have been familiar with Beethoven’s violin sonatas that these are on nothing like the same scale. Indeed, although Schubert himself could have known all the Beethoven examples when he first applied himself to the violin sonata, he was either unaware of them or unwilling to take them into account. Even so, although the three 1816 works bypass Beethoven and align themselves with Mozart – which is particularly clear in the case of the one in D major – they are all authentic and attractive examples of the form.

The opening gesture of the Sonata in G minor, presented by the two instruments in emphatic unison, not only gives the work a dramatic start but also makes a feature of a motif in dotted rhythms which is to play such a prominent part in the rest of the first movement. It is incorporated in the first subject, which is introduced by the piano and repeated by violin with the left hand of the piano an octave below, and it is rarely absent for more than a few bars at a time – which makes the comparatively lyrical B flat major second subject in even quavers seem all the more distinctive and the oddly sequential second half of the development all the more eccentric.

There are more dotted rhythms in the lovely, hesitant main theme of the Andante in E flat major. Even more remarkable than the quality of the thematic material are the disturbing syncopations and modulations in the middle which so effectively offset the melodic and harmonic poise of the outer sections. While the Menuetto is an unambitious, though entertaining, example of its kind, it does give notice in its B flat major rather than G minor tonality that formal convention is not a priority here. The closing Allegro moderato begins, conventionally enough, in G minor but when the opening theme is recapitulated it is recalled in C minor, a situation from which Schubert extricates himself by way of a magical transition to a G major coda.