Veracini, Giovanni Somis and Giuseppe Tartini, the latter being one of the greatest masters of the eighteenth century. Other famous composers of the Tartini school include Pietro Nardini, Pasqualino Bini, Giulio Mario Lucchesi and Domenico Ferrari. In France distinguished composers of the period were Jean Marie Leclair, Andrè Noël Pagin, Pierre Lahoussaye and Pierre Gaviniés; in Germany Franz Benda, Friedrich Wilhelm Rust, Johann Peter Salomon and Leopold Mozart, father of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, are worthy of mention. Mozart's Sonatas for Piano and Violin.-- Among the earliest works in which the violin and a keyboard instrument are apportioned equal musical interest are the sonatas composed for harpsichord and piano by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; at this time the piano had not yet superseded the harpsi- chord, and the former is not always an agreeable substitute for the latter in these works. The greatly increased dynamic power of the piano pre- sented entirely new problems in chamber music with which Mozart did not have to cope; it must be borne in mind that the violin has not increased in tone over a period of centuries while the tone of the piano is many times louder than that of the harpsichord. Mozart's sonatas for the combination of which we are speaking exemplify some of the most important points in writing for the two instruments, namely that doubling should not be done at the unison, that the violin may occasionally take a pedal-point, and that double notes to complete the har- monies are effective when properly distributed. The use of repeated double stops in the violin part is illustrated in the Adagio of the Sonata in E flat (No. 16 in the Peters Edition), while the occasional use of heavy chords alternating with a similar treatment of the harpsichord was duplicated later in works by Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven's Sonatas for Piano and Violin.-- Turning to Beethoven, we find the above mentioned use of repeated double stops not nearly so effec- tive. Beethoven's employment of this device is somewhat disappointing. On the other hand the Sonata, Op. 12, No. 3, in E flat major has much breadth and power and is more forceful than any of the Mozart sonatas, although it assigns too many passages to the violin which are better adapted to the piano. In his later works Beethoven was more successful in his treatment of the two instruments; the three sonatas, Op. 30, begin to draw more upon the powers of the two players, both from a technical and an interpretative standpoint. The first, in A major, is a vigorous and finely developed work, the second, in C minor, is not so well designed but more heavily fraught with emotion, while the third, in G major, is happy and cheerful, and contains one of the master's most delightful movements, the Minuet. The Kreutzer Sonata, Op. 47, so-called from its dedication, is a noble and imposing work, but its popularity is not entirely due to its musical significance. It offers opportunities for display for the violin which are -315- |