Johannes Brahms composed his Sonata #2 in A-Major for violin and piano in 1886.
Actually all three of Brahms’ sonatas were written for Brahms’ good friend, the violinist, Joseph Joachim, the most influential violinist of the second half of the nineteenth century.
This sonata is one of my great favorites, likely because I heard it played at home when I was a child.
The second Violin Sonata is the shortest of the three sonatas that Brahms composed, and it is considered the most lyrical of the three violin sonatas. It is also considered the most difficult of the three to bring off successfully, and to exhibit its balance of lyricism and virtuosity.
Here are two wonderful performers: Yuja wang and Leonidas Kavakos to show you the great lyrical interplay between the two instuments:
