BRAHMS VIOLA SONATA OP.120 NO.1

Folk dance and fireworks all feature in Antoine Tamestit’s discussion of the third and fourth movements, in the second of two articles about the complete F minor Sonata

From Brahms Clarinet Sonatas op.120. Urtext edition with additional viola part, paperbound. Eds. Egon Voss, Johannes Behr. Pf fingering Klaus Schilde. Va fingering and bowing Tabea Zimmermann. Order no. HN 988, ISMN 979-0-2018-0988-5. €24.50. Printed with permission of G. Henle Verlag, Munich © 2013

When pianist Cédric Tiberghien and I came to record the Brahms Sonatas together last year, we talked and rehearsed for hours. We always finished playing later than we had planned, and we wrote down many things about expression, direction and tempo. These conversations helped us dig deep into the music, the notes and the harmony, until we knew every little corner and indication in the score. Knowing it so well meant that we could adapt our sound and timing to our emotions in any given day or moment, and also to different acoustics. It also impacted on how we played each phrase, even if we didn’t always do exactly what we had discussed, and that affected everything that followed.

A rustic, dancing third movement

The first note of the Allegretto grazioso is a continuation of the last note of the final, peaceful A of the Andante un poco adagio, but one dynamic level higher. We love to emphasise this by carrying that sweetness through into the piano opening bars.