Leonid Kogan is one of the most venerated violinists of the twentieth century. He is known for his lean tone, tight vibrato, and cool and stylistic integrity, all qualities he brings to these readings of the three Brahms violin sonatas. Brahms was a traditionalist, and thus it is no wonder that he was attracted to the sonata format. But, as with his symphonies, he did not tackle these works until well into his compositional career. The first sonata, Op. 78, composed in 1878, is titled the Regenlied sonata because the ...
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Leonid Kogan is one of the most venerated violinists of the twentieth century. He is known for his lean tone, tight vibrato, and cool and stylistic integrity, all qualities he brings to these readings of the three Brahms violin sonatas. Brahms was a traditionalist, and thus it is no wonder that he was attracted to the sonata format. But, as with his symphonies, he did not tackle these works until well into his compositional career. The first sonata, Op. 78, composed in 1878, is titled the Regenlied sonata because the Regenlied theme in its third movement was derived from an earlier and unrelated song Brahms had written.The second, Op. 100, which contains many quotations from Brahms' songs, and the third, Op. 108, are called the Thun sonatas because they were written while Brahms was at Lake Thun and are contemporaneous with his two clarinet sonatas. All three sonatas display Brahms' love of thematic and harmonic variation.These performances are from the mid-'50s and the quality of sound is...
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