Many of Schumann’s later works are distinguished by their tendency to focus on single themes or motives. That’s particularly true of the A minor Sonata in its outer movements, which display a finely sustained and powerful affect throughout via sharply limited thematic contrast.
The first movement, marked in vintage Schumann style to be played “with passionate expression,” surges along with its low violin tessitura invoking the sound of the viola while the piano thrums along in a similar register. To be sure, that creates balance problems between the two instruments, but in the service of an extraordinarily cohesive overall sonority.
The second-place Allegretto returns in some ways to Schumann’s earlier piano music in its short phrases, frequent tempo changes, metric ambiguity, and its subtle aura of emotional inquietude made all the more vivid by an animated gypsy-like episode that comes and goes, almost as a furtive smile through tears.
The finale begins as a perpetual motion affair that bears a distant resemblance to Schumann’s virtuoso early Toccata for Piano. Here the two instruments lob ideas back and forth amid a shower of rapid notes, but broken by an amorously lyrical passage in major mode that provides a glimpse of light amid the prevailing minor-key darkness. A momentary reference to the opening movement—really just a faint whiff of a recollection—leads to the impassioned, driving final statements.
Here is violinist Leonidas Kavakos to play this great music for you:
