Edvard Grieg’s Third Violin Sonata was composed in 1887, a time when he was on the threshold of his largest fame, a circumstance that may explain his view of the Sonata as representing a wider horizon.
The first movement begins with an urgent C-minor main theme in the violin set against keyboard chords. A second idea, anxiously wanting to come out of the minor mode and into the major, serves as an episode leading to an abridged version of the main theme in the piano, which in turn acts as a transition to the second subject – a tranquil melody the maker of which would never be mistaken.
The theme is eventually developed in surprisingly dramatic fashion and, after some of Grieg’s favored sequences, another, even more tender, melody is introduced, this one derived somewhat from the main theme.
The second movement’s lyrical main theme flanks a spirited dance section in which a syncopated accompaniment provides tensile vigor.
The dance mood carries over into the final movement, which is made of two parts rustic muscularity and one part sweet songfulness, a mix in which Grieg was particularly capable.
Here are violinist Renauld Capucon and pianist Khatia Buniatishvili to play this music for you:
