Violin Sonata No. 2 (Schumann)

Violin Sonata
No. 2
by Robert Schumann
Schumann c. 1850
Key	D minor
Opus	121
Composed	November 1851 (1851)
Dedication	Ferdinand David
Performed	29 October 1851 (1851-10-29): Düsseldorf
Movements	4

The Violin Sonata No. 2 in D minor, Op. 121, by Robert Schumann was completed in November 1851,^[1] Dedicated to the violinist Ferdinand David, the sonata received its first public performance from Clara Schumann and Joseph Joachim on 29 October 1853 in Düsseldorf, in a concert that marked the beginning of a long term musical collaboration.

The work is in four movements:

1. Ziemlich langsam - lebhaft
2. Sehr lebhaft
3. Leise, einfach
4. Bewegt

The first movement begins with a stately sequence of chords, the contour of which is then used for the first subject proper. The fourth bar of this theme contains a distinctive syncopated rhythm that plays a role in the link to the second subject, and is also used extensively in the development.^[2] The vigorously driving second movement in B minor (♯vi in relation to the home key) is of the scherzo genre, and appears to have influenced the young Johannes Brahms, particularly in the C minor scherzo he wrote for the F-A-E Sonata. Near the end of this movement, the chorale melody "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" is quoted triumphantly in the major. The relatively serene G major third movement is a set of variations, opening with a passage of violin pizzicato triple-stops, mirroring the chordal introduction of the first movement. The finale returns to the key and mood of the beginning, with a long and dramatic trajectory toward an exuberant conclusion in the major.

• Violin Sonata No. 2: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project