FAE sonata

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FAE sonata, beginning of the 2nd movement, intermezzo , autograph by Robert Schumann

The so-called FAE Sonata (spelling also FAE Sonata and similar variants) for violin and piano is a joint composition by Albert Dietrich , Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms , which was composed in 1853 for the violinist Joseph Joachim .

Origin and premiere

The presence of the violinist Joseph Joachim in Düsseldorf , who was to premiere Robert Schumann's Fantasia for Violin and Orchestra Op. 131 there on October 27, 1853 , was the reason for Schumann's suggestion to compose a violin sonata in honor of Joachim. Schumann himself took over two sentences . The Schumann student Albert Dietrich and the twenty-year-old Johannes Brahms, who was a guest of the Schumann family in Düsseldorf, composed one movement each:

  1. Allegro (Albert Dietrich)
  2. Intermezzo . Moved, but not too fast (Robert Schumann)
  3. Scherzo . Allegro (Johannes Brahms)
  4. Finale . Marked, fairly lively pace (Robert Schumann)

The sonata manuscript from October 1853 was presented to Joseph Joachim on October 28th as part of an evening party in Schumann's house by Gisela von Arnim, disguised as a gardener, in a flower basket and then played with Clara Schumann as pianist. Joachim could easily assign the composers to the respective movements.

Surname

The motto FAE arose as an abbreviation for "Free but lonely", Joseph Joachim's motto at the time. The sonata manuscript had the following title on the cover:

FAE
In E the rwartung A nkunft the revered and beloved F reundes
Joseph Joachim
wrote this sonata
Robert Schumann, Albert Dietrich and Johannes Brahms

Implemented in notes, the motto FAE also served as the musical source material for the thematic formations, as well as the reversal indicated in the appropriation . The tone sequence FAE appears in the four movements, also in a different order, partly as a clear motif, partly it goes into themes and accompanying figures. It comes to light most clearly in the sentences of Albert Dietrich and Robert Schumann, rather hidden in Johannes Brahms'. There seems to have been agreements between Dietrich and Brahms regarding the topic formation.

Publications

Immediately after completion, Schumann added a first movement and a scherzo to his two movements, which he contributed to the FAE Sonata, so that these four movements were added to his 3rd Violin Sonata in A minor. Although this was still played privately on various occasions during his lifetime, it was not published until 1956.

The FAE sonata remained in Joachim's possession and also remained unprinted for a long time. In 1906 the Scherzo in C minor, composed by Brahms, without opus number (later also referred to as WoO 2) was published as an independent instrumental piece by the German Brahms Society at N. Simrock (Berlin). The first complete edition of all four movements was not published until 1935.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ LP Beitext FSM 53 555 Aulos by Wolfgang Stockmeier (FAE sonata, among others, Adelina Oprean, Justin Oprean)
  2. ↑ Information on Schumann's 3rd Violin Sonata, schumann-portal.de
  3. ^ Alfred von Ehrmann: Johannes Brahms. Thematic directory of his works . Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig, 1933, p. 150
  4. ^ Karl Geiringer: Johannes Brahms. His life and work . Bärenreiter, Kassel u. a., 1974, ISBN 3-7618-0470-9 , p. 238

literature

Web links