STRAUSS & RESPIGHI: VIOLIN SONATAS - David Kim, Gail Niwa

Strauss--Sonata in E-flat, OP 18, Respighi-- Sonata in B Minor

The two composers represented on this recording, Richard Strauss (1864-1949) and Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936), traversed curiously parallel paths in their artistic development. Both at first devoted themselves to the mastery of abstract instrumental forms. For the young Strauss, who had to contend with the rabid anti-Wagnerian sentiments of his father, the conservative route marked out by Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, and Brahms seemed the most natural one to follow. Respighi's choice, on the other hand, reflected a progressive orientation in the face of the dominant position of opera in 19th-century Italian musical life.