MOZART: SONATAS FOR VIOLIN & PIANO - Robert Mann, Yefim Bronfman

MOZART: SONATAS FOR VIOLIN & PIANO LINER NOTES

Today the violin sonata is understood to be a work of at least a few movements for violin and piano. Both instruments contribute equally; sucha composition is a true duo, even if the violinist's name appears in larger print, as soloist, while the pianist has accompanist status only. This is hardly a fair situation when sonatas by Beethoven, Brahms, Franck, and Faure, to name a few, are involved. Violin sonatas may be heard at violin recitals; certainly no pianist nowadays would consider sharing a program with a fiddler. There is probably sweet revenge in violinists' hearts over this state of affairs, for in times past circumstances provided an entirely different relation between violin and piano. The modern violin sonata developed during the classical period. It may be traced back to socio-economic conditions rather than purely musical ones. Publishers had an understandable desire to sell music. Their interests were clearly favored by the major shift in style during the rococo era, when the serious contrapuntal manner of the baroque gave way to the more playful, homophonic, and, most important of all, technically easy galant manner. This shift This shift produced a wave of compositions intended for amateur, domestic use, an area of musical commerce with no apparent limit, especially as the new fortepiano superseded the harpsichord as home instrument par excellence. Music publishers encouraged composers to write what would sell and discouraged difficult works with little chance of widespread appeal. (In this connection we note how often Mozart suffered criticism from both publishers and music reviewers.) Publishers also encouraged the addition of rudimentary melody parts that could "accompany" the keyboard and were playable on a flute or violin.