Brahms's Violin Sonatas: Style, Structure, Performance

by Joel Lester

Overview

Notation in Johannes Brahms's sonata scores tells violinists and pianists far more than merely what pitches to play and how long to play them—if read carefully, these scores reveal an immense amount of expression, both of musical and human essences. Joel Lester's Brahms's Violin Sonatas magnifies key passages from these scores, revealing in clear and accessible language how the composer built his themes and musical narratives and how, ultimately, Brahms's music came to sound Brahmsian. Through close readings and annotated musical examples, Brahms's Violin Sonatas guides practitioners to read scores with care and to develop their own informed interpretation of the pieces, eschewing the notion of a single "correct" interpretation of the historical score. By exploring not only the sonatas' musical elements, but also their relationship to important events in the composer's life, Lester shows how subtle components can communicate the gestures, moods, personalities, and emotions that make Brahms's music so compelling. A companion volume to the author's award-winning 1999 study Bach's Works for Solo Violin: Style, Structure, and Performance (OUP), Brahms's Violin Sonatas is a clear and practical guide to understanding and performing Brahms's music in the present.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190087074
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/04/2020
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Joel Lester is Professor Emeritus at the CUNY Graduate Center and The City College of New York. A scholar, violinist, and administrator, he was also Dean of Mannes College of Music from 1996 until 2011. He is the author of Bach's Solo Works for Solo Violin (OUP, 1999), Compositional Theory in the Eighteenth Century, and Analytic Approaches to 20th-Century Music.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface: Brahms, Musical Scores, Musical Meaning, Musical Expression

Part I: Brahms's Notes
Chapter 1: It Sounds like Brahms
Chapter 2: Shaping Brahmsian Themes

Part II: Brahms's Musical Narratives
Chapter 3: First-movement Sonata Forms
Chapter 4: The Middle Movements
Chapter 5: The Finales
Chapter 6: Brahms and the Violin: The Early Violin Sonatas

List of Works Cited
Index

Editorial Reviews

"I recommend this book warmly and without reservation to all who wish to experience a deep encounter with these works, and particularly to violinists and pianists, who can derive truly thoughtful interpretations following Joel Lester's guidance." — Katharina Uhde, American Brahms Society Newsletter

"Lester's insights as a violinist and music theorist give readers a rich perspective on Brahms's violin sonatas and their notational subtleties." — David Keep, Music Theory Online

"Congratulations to Joel Lester for this perceptive piece of writing. Many different perspectives are comprehensively discussed." — Andrew Lorenz, AUSTA National Journal Reviews

"This book is...excellent. Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty." — W. E. Grim, CHOICE

"This book demonstrates Joel Lester's predilection for detailed motivic, harmonic, rhythmic, textural and registral analyses. It shows beautifully how the patterns revealed by analysis contribute to larger narratives and enable Brahms to re-imagine classical formal structures. And, his frequent asides to the performer and listener reflect his many years of experience as a violinist and performance coach." — Jack Boss, University of Oregon

"This volume is about the sheer sound of Brahms's music. It's written by a consummate musician reveling in the beauty of every detail and marveling at how each gesture influences performance and analytical decisions." — Heather Platt, Professor of Music History, Ball State University

From the Publisher