ELGAR - HIS MUSIC
VIOLIN SONATA
in E minor, op 82

Elgar at the piano
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A sonata for violin and piano in three movements:
1 - Allegro; 2 - Romance; 3 - Allegro non Troppo

Approximate Length : 24 minutes
First Performance :
Date : 21 March 1919
Venue : Aeolian Hall, London
Performed by : W H Reed - violin; Landon Ronald - piano
Dedicated to : Marie Joshua - Elgar family friend

The Violin Sonata was one of three chamber works Elgar composed more or less concurrently towards the end of the First World War at Brinkwells, the country cottage the Elgars had rented near Fittleworth in Sussex. Although he had begun work on the String Quartet before the sonata, he completed the sonata first. Elgar was himself a competent player of both the violin and the piano and the work proceeded quickly to completion in little over a month.

Although the sonata displays Elgar's familiar musical skills, the war had changed Elgar and his audience. The mood of the sonata is rather reserved, as was the critics' reaction to it. Although the sonata continues to be played occasionally, in contrast to Elgar's more substantial works it has never gained a secure place in the concert repertoire.


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