Brahms: Sonats For Viola & Piano – Luca Ranieri & Andrea Trovato

Among the few Brahmsian chamber pieces that also include wind instruments are the two Sonatas for clarinet and piano op. 120. In these works, however, there is an optionality between clarinet and viola, and in todays concert scene, it is almost more common to hear them in the viola than in the clarinet version. The Scherzo from the F.A.E. Sonata was part of a Sonata for violin and piano composed as a collective homage to Joachim by Albert Dietrich (author of the first movement), Robert Schumann (Intermezzo and Finale) and Brahms (Scherzo). The abbreviation F. A. E. refers to Joachims personal motto frei, aber einsam (free, but alone), but also corresponds to three musical notes and the motif thus derived is naturally used as a theme in various parts of the Sonata.