Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major

No violin sonata comes with a more turbulent backstory. Composed in 1803, the Op. 47 Sonata soon acquired the nickname “Kreutzer”, after the violinist to whom Beethoven dedicated it. But Kreutzer hated it (“outrageously unintelligible” was his verdict) and refused to play it. Beethoven had originally meant to dedicate the piece to the Black British virtuoso George Bridgetower, who gave the premiere, but the two men fell out irrevocably when Bridgetower insulted a woman whom Beethoven admired. The turbulence isn’t just in the background, however; it is in the music itself, particularly in the emotionally volcanic first movement. Years later, Tolstoy took the nickname Kreutzer Sonata for the title of a novella about the morally damaging effect of music, and listening to this extraordinary outpouring of passion, one can perhaps understand why. The other two movements, however, take a step backward into less volatile, more classical territory, and indeed the finale was originally intended for an earlier sonata. None of that has prevented the “Kreutzer” Sonata from becoming hugely popular.