Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major

Brahms composed his Second Violin Sonata in 1886 during an extraordinarily productive summer vacation, spent at Lake Thun, Switzerland, in which he also completed two further substantial chamber works—his Cello Sonata No. 2 and Piano Trio No. 3—and several songs. The generally relaxed mood of the work is not only reflected in the distinctive tempo markings of “Allegro amabile” (“fast yet tender”) for the first movement and “Allegretto grazioso quasi andante” (“moderate and graceful, almost at walking pace”) for the Finale, but also in the relative lack of intense musical dialogue between violin and piano that is normally associated with the Romantic duo sonata. Instead of the usual slow second movement, Brahms ingeniously alternates two sharply contrasting sections, the first featuring a wonderfully expressive and sustained melody, the second a playful scherzo. There are some darker and more mysterious moments in the finale (“Allegretto grazioso”), but the prevailing atmosphere, established by the main theme played by the violin in its richest low register, is genial, warm-hearted, and optimistic.