violin Archive

Schubert composed his violin sonata in in A major in 1851. While the Sonata’s mood is predominantly relaxed and genial, the violin writing is more challenging than in the three sonatas of 1816. Schubert’s opening …

Schumann’s Piano Quartet dates from the autumn of 1842, known as “the year of chamber music.” In this year, he composed not only this work, but also three string quartets, a piano quintet, and a …

When you listen to Jean Sibelius’ violin concerto, you hear a dark, wintry night; a pure, crystalline melody above a cushion of pianissimo strings; brooding motifs; a violin that laments but never stops singing. In …

Whenever I hear Paganini’s Moto Perpetuo (perpetual motion) I experience a sense of nostalgia. Back in 1950, I spent a year in Vienna, and I studied violin with Professor Aurel Nemesz. I can look back …

Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Gavotte en rondeau” is a comical and playful composition, and these two Minuets evoke associations with the fiddlers who played dance music at village parties in Bach’s day. Here is a master …