Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major

Gabriel Fauré’s Violin Sonata No. 1 is widely acknowledged as one of the most significant French contributions to this particular genre. Composed between 1875 and 1876 and receiving its first widely acclaimed performance in Paris the following year, it marked a genuine breakthrough for the relatively unknown composer, who had previously focused most of his creative energies on writing short piano pieces and songs. Yet there is nothing tentative about Fauré’s first attempt at composing a work on a more ambitious scale. The Sonata opens somewhat unusually with an extended virtuosic solo for the piano before the violin joins the dialogue. Initially, the mood of the music is tender, even dreamy, but there is a considerable rise in emotional temperature as Fauré moves almost seamlessly from one inspiring thematic idea to another. Two different melodies dominate the ensuing “Andante”, the first sombre and mournful, punctuated by a rhythmic pattern that sounds like a heartbeat, the second more openly lyrical and impassioned. In stark contrast, sparks really fly throughout the fleet-footed “Scherzo”, with the violin and piano engaging in fiercely competitive attempts to outdo each other with fiendishly difficult fast passage work. The Finale, marked “Allegro quasi presto”, opens with a delicate theme on the violin accompanied by off-beat chords on the piano. As in the first movement, Fauré whips up the tension with nervy contrasting material. But the storm clouds quickly dissipate as the music drives forward to an increasingly positive and irresistibly triumphant conclusion.