About this Recording
8.572870 - THUILLE, L.: Violin and Piano Works (Complete) (Rogliano, G. Luisi)

Ludwig Thuille (1861–1907)
Violin Sonatas Nos 1 and 2 • Allegro giusto



Thuille’s Violin Sonata No 1 in D minor, Op 1, was completed in 1880 and dedicated to his teacher, Josef Rheinberger. Richard Strauss was to describe it as more mature than his own works of the same period. The first movement, in sonata-allegro form, has a characteristic first subject and a second in the relative major key of F. The repeated exposition is followed by a central development, before the return of the first subject in recapitulation, followed by the second subject in D major and a return to the minor key in the coda. The F major Scherzo makes much use of ascending arpeggio figuration and frames a more relaxed F minor Trio section. The slow movement, in D major, is introduced by the piano with a melody and a texture that have something of Schumann about them. There is a contrasting central section before the return of the first, the piano accompanied by the plucked notes of the violin. The Finale is again in sonata-form, its sprightly first subject contrasted with a steadier secondary theme in F major, which makes its due return in D major in the course of the final recapitulation, capped by a coda that brings a return to the original minor key.

Violin Sonata No 2 in E minor, Op 30, was published in 1904 and dedicated to the violinist Henri Marteau. The sonata opens with a flourish, figuration that is to form part of the first subject in a sonata-allegro form movement. The second subject, in a mood of greater tranquillity, is introduced by the piano and is to return, as expected, in the final recapitulation. The second movement is in C major and marked Adagio molto. The central section, un poco meno adagio, is defined with greater determination, its shifting harmonies returning finally to the original key and theme. The Finale has something of a scherzo in the figuration of its principal theme and the sonata ends with a coda of increasing rapidity and excitement.

Thuille’s Allegro giusto, Op 39, was started in the winter of 1904–1905 and completed in the summer of 1906. The single movement, in D major, has a principal theme of particular charm, with a contrasting D minor theme, marked risoluto. It is the D major theme that triumphs, with its air of the Bavarian countryside concealing an intricate web of modulation.

Keith Anderson

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