Brahms, Johannes - Violin Sonata in A major

Brahms composed his “Violin Sonata in A major” during the summer of 1886. The work quickly became part of the standard repertoire and has remained so until today. It is presented here in a fine Bärenreiter Urtext edition and comes with an unmarked Urtext part as well as a second part marked with fingering and bowing by Clive Brown which are based on the practices of Brahms‘ contemporaries.

An important part of this edition is the extensive preface. Firstly it informs about the works‘ origins, its compositional process, pre-publication performances, its publication history as well as early reception. Truly remarkable is the unique Performance Practice Commentary. Here the editors take the premise that already a few decades after Brahms‘ death a widening gulf developed between the composer’s expectations and the performance practices of the early 20th century. In a very concrete and practical way, the editors summarize some of the key issues in understanding Brahms‘ notation with regard to rhythm and timing, dynamics and accentuation, dots and strokes, slurring and non legato, piano pedalling and overholding, piano arpeggiation and dislocation, string instrument fingering, string instrument harmonics and vibrato. In this way, the edition offers an exciting and often surprising insight in Romantic musical interpretation.