Violin Sonata No. 1 (Schumann)
Encyclopedia
The violin sonata no. 1 in A minor, opus
105 of Robert Schumann
was written the week of September 12– 16 September 1851. Schumann was reported to have expressed displeasure with the work ("I did not like the first Sonata for Violin and Piano; so I wrote a second one, which I hope has turned out better"). This was also the year of the premiere of the Rhenish symphony
http://www.robertaonthearts.com/id105.html, and among compositions the substantial revision of the fourth symphony
, the third piano trio
, the oratorio Der Rose Pilgerfahrt, a number of piano works and two of his concert overtures, Julius Caesar and Hermann und Dorothea after Goethe
. (http://www.classical.net/music/composer/works/schumann/)
It was given its official premiere by Clara Schumann
and Ferdinand David
in March 1852 .
The sonata has three movements:
treatment. (Schumann once remarked on this fact himself. http://www.fuguemasters.com/schumann.html) This theme serves to introduce a compact, driven sonata form pushed ahead by economical use of rhythms (new themes often are based on some of the same rhythms as older ones, and overlap with them as well), by the intensity added by canonic treatment of themes, centering around, pushing towards, a small number of climaxes one of which is the reappearance of that opening theme in a much-slowed-down form just preceding (and followed without pause by) the recapitulation.
The coda is in two parts — quiet sustained over an F-E pedal with several recurrences of the main theme, gaining intensity and leading to a section — most of a page — in which the violin has running sixteenth notes, the piano mostly chords, until the final harmonies A major - A minor - F major - A minor.
's second piano trio. The sixteenth-note motion dominates the exposition, present in all but a few bars. A group of themes in F major enters about halfway through the fifty-eight bar exposition, but is quickly diverted back to the main flow of A minor. The development introduces new themes mostly based on the exposition's material (some by augmentation and other variation) and treats them, again, canonically before gradually introducing a songful episode. This is also based on the main material of the movement, and is only a brief moment in which to relax before the scurrying sixteenths return. A transitional passage leads to the recapitulation, which is for about twenty bars the same as the equivalent passage in the exposition. The material which leads to the second group opens in C major this time rather than A minor, however, and the second group is heard in A major.
The major-mode themes are accorded slightly less space this time around before A minor returns in the form of a quiet pair of octaves, F in tremolo in the left hand and A held in the right, occasionally alternating with the scurrying sixteenths; over which the violin plays the longer version of its main theme from the first movement, twice, then, crescendo, joins in the piano's perpetual motion frenzy until a recall of the canonic theme that had opened the development is reached - now played sforzando (mit Violoncell, Schumann also writes), opening the last stage of the coda punctuating the rush to the final chords sixteen bars later.
The sonata was published, by Hofmeister in 1852 as a sonata for piano and violin, not violin and piano.
Opus number
An Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...
105 of Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
was written the week of September 12– 16 September 1851. Schumann was reported to have expressed displeasure with the work ("I did not like the first Sonata for Violin and Piano; so I wrote a second one, which I hope has turned out better"). This was also the year of the premiere of the Rhenish symphony
Symphony No. 3 (Schumann)
Composed from November 2 to December 9, 1850, the Symphony No. 3 “Rhenish” in E flat major, Op. 97, is the last symphony that Robert Schumann composed, although it was not the last symphony that he published...
http://www.robertaonthearts.com/id105.html, and among compositions the substantial revision of the fourth symphony
Symphony No. 4 (Schumann)
The Symphony No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 120, composed by Robert Schumann, was completed in 1841 . Schumann heavily revised the symphony in 1851, and it was this version that reached publication....
, the third piano trio
Piano Trio No. 3 (Schumann)
The Piano Trio No. 3 in G minor by Robert Schumann was written in 1851, and is his opus 110. It has four movements:#Bewegt, doch nicht zu rasch in G minor, in 6/8 time...
, the oratorio Der Rose Pilgerfahrt, a number of piano works and two of his concert overtures, Julius Caesar and Hermann und Dorothea after Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
. (http://www.classical.net/music/composer/works/schumann/)
It was given its official premiere by Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era...
and Ferdinand David
Ferdinand David (musician)
Ferdinand David was a German virtuoso violinist and composer.Born in the same house in Hamburg where Felix Mendelssohn had been born the previous year, David was raised Jewish but later converted to Christianity...
in March 1852 .
The sonata has three movements:
- Mit leidenschaftlichem Ausdruck (dotted quarter=68, or, 68 dotted quarter notes in each minute), 6/8 timeTime signatureThe time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
, 209 bars in A minor - Allegretto (eighth note=96), 2/4 time, 79 bars in F major
- Lebhaft (quarter note=94), 2/4 time, 213 bars in A minor
Mit leidenschaftlichem Ausdruck
The first movement begins passionately, with the theme first played by the violin and amenable like so many of Schumann's themes to canonicCanon (music)
In music, a canon is a contrapuntal composition that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration . The initial melody is called the leader , while the imitative melody, which is played in a different voice, is called the follower...
treatment. (Schumann once remarked on this fact himself. http://www.fuguemasters.com/schumann.html) This theme serves to introduce a compact, driven sonata form pushed ahead by economical use of rhythms (new themes often are based on some of the same rhythms as older ones, and overlap with them as well), by the intensity added by canonic treatment of themes, centering around, pushing towards, a small number of climaxes one of which is the reappearance of that opening theme in a much-slowed-down form just preceding (and followed without pause by) the recapitulation.
The coda is in two parts — quiet sustained over an F-E pedal with several recurrences of the main theme, gaining intensity and leading to a section — most of a page — in which the violin has running sixteenth notes, the piano mostly chords, until the final harmonies A major - A minor - F major - A minor.
Allegretto
An intermezzo at a brisk pace somewhere between a slow movement and a scherzo, in the form of a rondo with two episodes (in F minor and D minor, the latter Bewegter).Lebhaft
The finale begins with a theme similar to that which opens Felix MendelssohnFelix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
's second piano trio. The sixteenth-note motion dominates the exposition, present in all but a few bars. A group of themes in F major enters about halfway through the fifty-eight bar exposition, but is quickly diverted back to the main flow of A minor. The development introduces new themes mostly based on the exposition's material (some by augmentation and other variation) and treats them, again, canonically before gradually introducing a songful episode. This is also based on the main material of the movement, and is only a brief moment in which to relax before the scurrying sixteenths return. A transitional passage leads to the recapitulation, which is for about twenty bars the same as the equivalent passage in the exposition. The material which leads to the second group opens in C major this time rather than A minor, however, and the second group is heard in A major.
The major-mode themes are accorded slightly less space this time around before A minor returns in the form of a quiet pair of octaves, F in tremolo in the left hand and A held in the right, occasionally alternating with the scurrying sixteenths; over which the violin plays the longer version of its main theme from the first movement, twice, then, crescendo, joins in the piano's perpetual motion frenzy until a recall of the canonic theme that had opened the development is reached - now played sforzando (mit Violoncell, Schumann also writes), opening the last stage of the coda punctuating the rush to the final chords sixteen bars later.
The sonata was published, by Hofmeister in 1852 as a sonata for piano and violin, not violin and piano.
External links
- Performance by Susie Park (violin) and Dina Vainshtein (piano) from the Isabella Stewart Gardner MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner MuseumThe Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum or Fenway Court, as the museum was known during Isabella Stewart Gardner's lifetime, is a museum in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located within walking distance of the Museum of Fine Arts and near the Back Bay Fens...
in MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format - Notes by Midori on the sonata
- More on the chronology of the sonata and more description
- Schumann's Violin Sonata No. 1 on Classical Connect