Hans Sturzenegger

Sonate pour alto et piano, en fa dièse mineur

The F sharp minor Sonata for violin and piano was written in 1907. The form is classical, and the four movements allegro moderato - allegretto - largo - allegro molto show an unusual melancholy and gravity for a 17-year-old musician. Free of any grandiloquence and theatrical effects, the music is all intimacy and interiority, two main features of the composer's personality. Even the second movement, a sort of scherzo, does not show any kind of lightness, carefreeness or juvenile cheerfulness.

The largo of this premonitory work was performed as a requiem at the composer's funeral.

The predominance of the lower register, both in the piano and the violin, and throughout the sonata, emphasizes its profundity and its ensuing melancholy. Therefore we quite naturally wanted to offer a version for viola alongside the violin version.