Violin Sonata No. 2 (Brahms)

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| topic = Performed by Josef Suk and Julius Katchen

| audio1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2-72yflqE0 I. Allegro amabile]

| audio2 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR8nsc13hoQ II. Andante tranquillo]

| audio3 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi-S2F2Z2xo III. Allegretto grazioso (quasi andante)]

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The sonata consists of three movements, with the middle movement doing service as both a slow movement and a scherzo:

{{ordered list|list_style_type=upper-roman

| Allegro amabile – A major

| Andante tranquillo — Vivace — Andante — Vivace di più — Andante — Vivace – F major

| Allegretto grazioso (quasi andante) – A major}}

By giving the work the formal title of "Sonata for Piano and Violin", rather than the more usual "Sonata for Violin and Piano", Brahms indicated the piano part was just as important as the violin part. In keeping with this, he allowed the piano to announce the opening theme. The first three notes of the first movement are very similar in both melody and harmony{{Cite web |url=http://www.classicaltv.com/the-informer/mozart-bartok-and-brahms-three-great-sonatas-for-violin |title=Classical TV |access-date=2012-04-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125114835/http://classicaltv.com/the-informer/mozart-bartok-and-brahms-three-great-sonatas-for-violin |archive-date=2011-11-25 |url-status=dead }} to the first three notes of "Walther's Prize Song" (Morgendlich leuchtend im rosigen Schein) from Richard Wagner's opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Although they were musical rivals, Brahms was a great admirer of Wagner's music, but whether this was a deliberate quotation on Brahms's part is open to speculation. Nevertheless, the sonata has often been subtitled the "Meistersinger" Sonata.[https://archive.today/20130209080712/http://www.wolfgangdavid.com/violinist/notes/brahmsA.php WolfgangDavid.com] It is also sometimes called the "Thun" Sonata from the place of its creation.

Motifs from three of the songs Brahms wrote that summer with Hermine Spies's voice in mind appear fleetingly in the sonata: "Wie Melodien zieht es mir leise durch den Sinn", Op. 105/1 ("Like melodies it steals softly through my mind"; words by Klaus Groth) makes an appearance in the second subject of the first movement. "Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer", Op. 105/2 ("Ever gentle is my slumber"; words by Hermann Lingg) and "Auf dem Kirchhofe", Op. 105/4 (words by Detlev von Liliencron) are quoted in the final movement.[https://archive.today/20120904141454/http://www.naxosdirect.com/title/8.554828 Naxos Direct] The song "Komm bald", Op. 97/5 ("Come soon"; words by Groth) is also said have provided thematic inspiration for the sonata.[http://sites.google.com/site/edwardlein/Home/program-notes/johannes-brahms Edward Lein, Program Notes]

An outstanding quotation of Brahms' own music can also be found at bar 89 in the last movement. Lied Meine liebe ist grün ([http://imslp.org/wiki/9_Lieder_and_Songs,_Op.63_(Brahms,_Johannes) Op. 63 no 5], poem by Felix Schumann, son of Robert and Clara, died in 1879) provides the dramatic portion of its melody corresponding to die glänzt wohl herab auf den Fliederbusch lyrics ('which gleams down on the lilac bush').

For French musicologist Georges Kan, this is the location of the little phrase in Vinteuil Sonata which Swann listens to in

'In Search of Lost Time' by Marcel Proust.

The Violin Sonata No. 2 was premiered in Vienna on 2 December 1886 by the violinist Joseph Hellmesberger and Brahms himself at the piano.

Brahms's friend the poet Josef Widmann later wrote a poem to be accompanied by the sonata.[http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/September%201961/39/839159/BRAHMS.+Violin+Sonatas.+No.+1+in+G+major,+Op.+78+No.+2+in+A+major,+Op.+100.+Igor+Oistrakh+(violin),+Arthur+Ginsburg+(piano).+MK+Q+MK1547+(12+in.,+30s.+2d.+plus+10s.+10d.+P.T.). The Gramophone, September 1961]{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

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Category:Violin sonatas by Johannes Brahms

Category:1886 compositions

Category:Compositions in A major