Schumann: The Three Violin Sonatas

Featuring

Andrew Wan
Charles Richard-Hamelin
Robert Schumann

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Performer Biography

Charles Richard-Hamelin, the pianist, was a silver medalist and Krystian Zimerman Prize winner at the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition.

Compositional Technique

The 'FAE Sonata,' for which Schumann composed two movements, was designed around a three-note motif (F-A-E) inspired by dedicatee Joseph Joachim's motto: 'Frei aber einsam' (free but lonely).

Performer Biography

Andrew Wan performs on a 1744 Michel'Angelo Bergonzi violin, loaned from the David Sela Collection, and an 1860 Dominique Peccatte bow, loaned by Canimex.

Composition History

Schumann composed his first two violin sonatas in the fall of 1851, after violinist Ferdinand David requested new pieces for violin and piano.

Compositional Technique

Schumann's Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 121, opens with a main theme built on the notes D-A-F-D, which mostly spells out the name of its dedicatee, Ferdinand David.

Performer Biography

Andrew Wan, the violinist on this album, was named concertmaster of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal in 2008.

Composition History

Schumann's Violin Sonata No. 3, WoO 27, incorporates two movements he originally composed for the collaborative 'FAE Sonata' of 1853, which also included contributions from Albert Dietrich and Johannes Brahms.