Mr. Totenberg was internationally recognized for his research in bowing and for his often featured “Bach Bow’’ which he adapted in collaboration with the California bow maker, John Bolander.
He studied music history with Kurt Sachs and Max Seifert at the Berlin Academy of Music where he was a violin student of Carl Flesch. Further studies were in Paris with George Enesco and Pierre Monteux.
In these recordings he performs on his “Ames” Stradivarius and François Tourte bow of the former Warburg collection.
ROBERT SCHUMANN
TWO VIOLIN SONATAS
Original LP: MHS 3414
VIOLIN SONATA NO. 1 in A
MINOR, Op. 105
I. Mit leidenschaftlichem Ausdruck
II. Allegretto
III. Lebhaft
VIOLIN SONATA NO. 2 in D
MINOR, Op. 121
I. Ziemlich langsam - Lebhaft
II. Sehr lebhaft
III. Leise, einfach
IV. Bewegt
with ARTUR BALSAM, piano
SCHUMANN:
2 VIOLIN SONATAS
NOTES by DANIEL NIMETZ
The Schumann of 1851 was a different man from the exuberant symphonist of ten years before. And this natural process of maturation reflects itself in his music. Where so much of his early work depends on some extra-musical stimulus – poetry, literature in general, personal events, even politics, if we are to take the composer at his word the later output relies rather consistently on purely musical, that is, abstract motivation. Thus, the programmatic, rela tively small-scale forms of the character piece give way to more classical, highly developed sonata structures. Fanciful titles, some of which Schumann actually suppressed in later editions of his early works (the E. and F. signatures of the Davidbündler Dances come immediately to mind), dis appear for the most part, to be replaced by sober
tempo markings. But this is not to suggest that Schumann became dull or that he
lost his inspiration. On the contrary, with
very few exceptions the works of the last period (after his move to Düsseldorf in 1850) reveal a happy balance of typically spontaneous Schumannesque ideas and carefully controlled compositional technique. And if one finds points to criticize for example, an occasional overworking of a favorite rhythmic figure – then it must also be admitted that such weaknesses exist in the early works too; only there they are perhaps less readily apparent because of the generally more excited, impassioned style of the youthful composer, which tends to sweep everything along in one remarkable romantic gesture. Op. 105, in three movements, is the more popular of the two sonatas, although “popular” is hardly appropriate since neither work receives much attention from today’s fiddlers, probably because Schumann subordinates virtuoso display to musical content with a resulting lack of especial brilliance. And just as his piano writing
always favored the middle register, so also his approach to the violin tended toward the low and mniddle timbres, thereby lending the violin-piano medium a particularly subdued quality, further emphasized by predominantly minor tonalities. The first movement is one of Schumann’s most impassioned and successful sonata-form movements. It is basically monothematic, the second subject existing, as often with Haydn, in a harmonic rather than melodic dimension. This movement is exceptionally concise; no romantic wanderings here. Schumann maintains a pulse of sixteenth-notes that subsides only during the second subject area. Even the finely worked-out development, which hasn’t one extraneous note, relies on the rhythmic propulsion of the opening for momentum. In short, here is a movement that must be considered a masterpiece. That it (regrettably) always seems over too soon serves as sufficient proof! An entirely different spirit informs the middle move ment. It recalls the world of Kinderszenen or one of the less complex Noveletten. Its simplicity--almost artlessness--contrasts
with the passionate drive of the first movement. We may detect here another possible cause of the sonata’s relative neglect: ensemble between piano and violin is particularly problematic; they must feel as one throughout.
Sonata-form, perpetuo mobile style, returns in the finale. Sixteenth-notes again predominate, this time as basic melodic members. The scherzo of the Rhenish Symphony, written not long before, appears to have infiltrated Schumann’s thought process, for the main subject recalls a figure from that work. A final note: observe how Schumann incorporates this idea into both the more melodious third theme (introduced briefly in the development) and the cyclic reference to the first movement that ushers in the coda. Perfect evidence of the composer as master of his craft. Of Op. 121 Joseph Joachim wrote: “To me it is one of the finest creations of modern times, in the wonderful unity of its feeling and the significance of its themes. It is full of a noble passion – almost harsh and bitter in its expression – and the last
movement might almost remind one of a seascape, with its glorious waves of sound. ” (It was in honor of the great violinist, Joachim, that Schumann, Brahms and Albert Dietrich together wrote the famous “F-A-E” Sonata.
Schumann later added two further movements to his original two-movement contribution to make up a third sonata of his own; it was first published in 1956!) A slow introduction, recalling Bach’s mighty chaconne in the same key, prefaces the first movement. The primary motif, d-a-f-d, already appears here. Its countersubject, first heard after the introduction, plays a prominent role too. Schumann’s studies of Bach bore ripe fruit in his later works, most particularly in this sonata. As in the first sonata, a basic monothematic design obtains. In contrast to the A Minor Sonata, however, the present work’s development section exhibits a rather lengthy, contrapuntally complex organization.
design of ABACA. Shortly before the end a brief chorale fragment appears: Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ. This Mendelssohnian touch (cf. his Trio in C
Minor, finale) has more than passing signifiance, for here the slow movement’s principal theme makes an early appearance.
Let the critic of Schumann’s instrumental imagination hear the opening of the third movement. Nothing could be more
effetive: pizzicato violin chords with una corda accompaniment in quasi canon. This movement consists of three variations on the chorale tune with a contrasting episode after the second that refers back to the scherzo. The coda, also scherzo-related in its triplet rhythm, closes in a quiet C Major.
The finale returns to the mood and techniques of the hrst movement. It requires no special comment. Shouldn’t music finally especially when it is as beautiful as this be left to speak for itself?
The second movement is a “hunting” scherzo. Two episodic trios give an overall
