Grieg composed his Third Violin Sonata 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. Everything is relative, however, and if the composition evolves as a more dramatic piece than either of the earlier violin sonatas, it still betrays its Norwegian origin rather clearly.
The first movement begins with an urgent C-minor main theme in the violin set against granitic 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 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 adept.
Here is Julia Fischer to play this sonata for you:
