performed by Gidon Kremer and Martha Argerich (cover image by Annie Spratt) As discussed in Monday’s post, these three violin sonatas are Beethoven’s first, dating from 1798, and dedicated to Antonio Salieri, the supposed antagonist of that Mozart film. These … Continue reading Beethoven Violin Sonata no. 2 in A, op. 12 no. 2
performed by Gidon Kremer and Martha Argerich (cover image by Annie Spratt) Do you think there could be anything challenging about this work? Well, you’d probably not have agreed with the critics of Beethoven’s time. As this is the first … Continue reading Beethoven Violin Sonata no. 1 in D, op. 12 no. 1
performed by Yo-Yo Ma and Emmanuel Ax, or below by Rostropovich and Richter (cover photo by Aaron Burden) Prokofiev’s cello sonata in C major is not to be confused with the sonata for solo cello in C# minor. That’s a … Continue reading Prokofiev Cello Sonata in C major, op. 119
performed by Shlomo Mintz and Yefim Bronfman, or below by Oistrakh and Oborin (cover photo by Jace Grandinetti) Confusingly, Prokofiev’s violin sonata no. 1 was completed two years after his violin sonata no. 2, which originates from his flute sonata … Continue reading Prokofiev Violin Sonata no. 1 In F minor, op. 80
performed by Dmitry Yablonsky and Hsin-Ni Liu (cover image by Toa Heftiba) We’re continuing our discussion of some of Weinberg’s earliest chamber works. If you haven’t yet read the articles on his string quartet or violin sonata, I suggest you … Continue reading Weinberg Sonata no. 1 for Cello and Piano in C, op. 21
performed by Linus Roth and Jose Gallardo, or below by Yuri Kalnits, violin and Michael Csányi-Wills, piano (cover image by Thomas Cigolla) I used to record a podcast. And one of the people on my radar I’d intended to interview before … Continue reading Weinberg Violin Sonata no. 1
performed by János Starker and Rudolf Firkušný, or below by John Walz, cello; Edith Orloff, piano Imagine being in a foreign country and hearing news of the Nazi invasion of the country your family still inhabits. What kind of music would … Continue reading Martinů Cello Sonata No. 1, H. 277
performed by the late Fredell Lack and Timothy Hester, or below by Markéta Janoušková, violin; Václav Mácha, piano (Before we begin this article, I’d like to take a moment to discuss Fredell Lack. This article had been scheduled for months, … Continue reading Martinů Violin Sonata no. 1, H. 182
performed by Torleif Thedéen and Roland Pöntinen, or below by Kevin Kunkel, cello, Yejin Noh, piano (cover image by Elias Schupmann) I hope you read Tuesday’s article. Hindemith’s op. 11 is a set of six (some places incorrectly list it as five) … Continue reading Hindemith Cello Sonata, op. 11 no. 3
performed by Oleg Kagan & Sviatoslav Richter, or below by David Oistrakh and Vladimir Yampolski (cover image by Sergei Akulich) As you may have read from this past weekend’s article on Hindemith’s early first (posthumously published) string quartet, its composition straddled … Continue reading Hindemith Violin Sonata in E flat, op. 11, no. 1
performed by Augustin Dumay and Maria João Pires, or below by Julia Fischer and Milana Chernyavska (cover image by Ravi Roshan) Today we discuss the first (and I think only) work of this little stretch of sonatas that isn’t a “no. 1” … Continue reading Grieg Violin Sonata no. 3 in Cm, op. 45
performed by Steven Isserlis and Stephen Hough, or below by Natalia Gutman and Viacheslav Poprugin I am both spiritually and bodily unwell and decide every other day not to compose another note, because I satisfy myself less and less. Grieg, … Continue reading Grieg Cello Sonata in A minor, op. 36
performed by Pinchas Zukerman & Daniel Barenboim (cover image by Ian Baldwin) Maybe I shouldn’t be discussing the first sonata before I address the violin concerto. The op. 78 sonata is only Brahms’ second work for the violin as a solo … Continue reading Brahms Violin Sonata No. 1 in G, Op. 78, ‘Regensonate’
performed by Mstislav Rostropovich and Rudolf Serkin, or below with Jacqueline du Pré and Barenboim (The work is officially titled ‘Sonate für Klavier und Violoncello‘; we will discuss this shortly.) (cover image by Miguel Mateo) Brahms completed his first sonata … Continue reading Brahms Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, op. 38
performed by Paavali Jumppanen (from his outstanding release of the three Boulez sonatas), or in an (at least) equally superb reading from the wonderful Maurizio Pollini Boulez and tradition. L’enfant terrible. A polemic. A rebel. A radical. The guy who said … Continue reading Boulez Piano Sonata no. 2
performed by Jean Efflam-Bavouzet, or below by Annie Fischer In the two posts from earlier this week, we discussed the other two sonatas from Beethoven’s op. 10, the fifth sonata, in Cm, as well as the sixth, in F. These … Continue reading Beethoven Piano Sonata no. 7 in D, op. 10 no. 3
performed by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, or below by Annie Fischer In today’s work, as with all previous Beethoven sonatas, and likely with all future ones as well, we turn to the wealth of knowledge to be found in the lecture series … Continue reading Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 6 in F, Op. 10, No. 2
performed by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, or below by Annie Fischer I cannot overstate the wonderfulness of Sir András Schiff’s series of lectures about the Beethoven sonatas. They make me feel like I know these works so well, and even after having listened … Continue reading Beethoven Piano Sonata no. 5 in Cm, op. 10 no. 1
performed by Christoph Eschenbach, or below by Sir András Schiff second and third movements We have now reached somewhat of a (very insignificant) milestone in our coverage of Mozart’s piano sonatas. For one, this puts us a third of the … Continue reading Mozart Piano Sonata No. 6 in D, K. 284 / 205b
performed by Christoph Eschenbach, or below by the also spectacular Mitsuko Uchida Here we are with Mozart’s fifth piano sonata, and per yesterday’s article, the two Köchel numbers reflect its original and incorrect ordering, later being given the lower number to reflect … Continue reading Mozart Piano Sonata No. 5 in G, K. 283 / 189h
performed by Christoph Eschenbach, or below by the also outstanding Mitsuko Uchida We haven’t seen Mozart in a while. Actually it hasn’t been that long. We featured him more than once or twice during the horn series and a few … Continue reading Mozart Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-flat, K. 282 /189g
Fugue for Thought 