VIOLIN SONATA NO. 3, IN D MINOR, OP. 108

Johannes Brahms
(b. Hamburg, Germany, May 7, 1833; d. Vienna, Austria, April 3, 1897)

In his Third and final Violin Sonata, Brahms structures the music meticulously, bar by bar, phrase by phrase. He works within the traditional four-movement sonata structure, building in recurring themes and motifs, bringing a feeling of unity and wholeness to the score. Tension underscores the first movement – a repressed tension that builds as the movement progresses, fueled by sonorous, restless piano writing, only partly offset by a radiant second theme, and by the soaring violin writing. The two middle movements bring some release. The violin sings in unbroken song in the slow movement, its thoughts contemplative and personal, until released in a burst of joy and double-stopping at the climax of the melody. A brief scherzo has an enigmatic quality, perhaps even a touch of irony. With the finale, marked agitato, the restlessness of the opening movement returns, now more assertive and goal oriented. Even a broad, chorale-like second theme cannot dislodge the progression of the music as it drives forward to a determined D minor conclusion