Nils-Erik Sparf, the performer on this album, comes from a long line of Dalecarlian fiddlers and began playing folk music at a very early age with his father.
Composer Biography
Brahms, at age 20, collaborated with Robert Schumann and Albert Dietrich (a composer and Schumann's pupil) on a violin sonata, with each contributing a movement.
Composer's Artistic Vision
These sonatas are considered Brahms's final statement in chamber music, characterized by the removal of superfluous elements, transparent musical idiom, and restrained dynamics.
Composition History
Brahms composed his two Opus 120 sonatas in the summer of 1891, making them his last chamber music works.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Brahms humorously referred to the principal clarinettist of the Meiningen Orchestra, Richard Mühlfeld, as "Miss Clarinet" when writing these sonatas.
Composer Biography
For the collaborative violin sonata, Brahms composed the scherzo under the humorous pseudonym Johannes Kreisler jr.
Compositional Technique
Brahms indicated that these sonatas, originally for clarinet, could also be played on the viola.
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