The ''F-A-E Sonata'', a four-movement work for violin and piano, is a collaborative musical work by three composers:

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

, the young

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

, and Schumann's pupil Albert Dietrich. It was composed in

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in October 1853. The sonata was Schumann's idea as a gift and tribute to

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist

Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian Violin, violinist, Conducting, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely ...

, whom the three composers had recently befriended. Joachim had adopted the Romantic

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

phrase "''Frei aber einsam''" ("free but lonely") as his personal

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

. The composition's

movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...

are all based on the

musical note In music, notes are distinct and isolatable sounds that act as the most basic building blocks for nearly all of music. This musical analysis#Discretization, discretization facilitates performance, comprehension, and musical analysis, analysis. No ...

s F-A-E, the motto's initials, as a

musical cryptogram A musical cryptogram is a cryptogrammatic sequence of musical symbols which can be taken to refer to an extra-musical text by some 'logical' relationship, usually between note names and letters. The most common and best known examples result fr ...

. Schumann assigned each movement to one of the composers. Dietrich wrote the substantial first movement in

sonata form The sonata form (also sonata-allegro form or first movement form) is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of t ...

. Schumann followed with a short

Intermezzo In music, an intermezzo (, , plural form: intermezzi), in the most general sense, is a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work. In music history, the term ha ...

as the second movement. The

Scherzo A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often r ...

was by Brahms, who had already proven himself a master of this form in his E flat minor Scherzo for piano and the scherzi in his first two piano sonatas. Schumann provided the finale. Schumann penned the following dedication on the original score: "F.A.E.: In Erwartung der Ankunft des verehrten und geliebten Freundes JOSEPH JOACHIM schrieben diese Sonate R.S., J.B., A.D." ("F.A.E.: In expectation of the arrival of their revered and beloved friend, Joseph Joachim, this sonata was written by R.S., J.B., A.D."). The composers presented the score to Joachim on 28 October at a ''soirée'' in the Schumann household, which Bettina von Arnim and her daughter Gisela also attended. The composers challenged Joachim to determine who composed each movement. Joachim played the work that evening, with

Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; ; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic music, Romantic era, she exerted her influence o ...

at the piano. Joachim identified each movement's author with ease. The complete work was not published during the composers' lifetimes. Schumann incorporated his two movements into his Violin Sonata No. 3. Joachim retained the original manuscript, from which he allowed only Brahms's Scherzo to be published in 1906, nearly ten years after Brahms's death.Geiringer (1948), p. 224. Whether Dietrich made any further use of his sonata-allegro is not known. The complete sonata was first published in 1935. All three composers also wrote violin concerti for Joachim. Schumann's was completed on 3 October 1853, just before the ''F-A-E Sonata'' was begun. Joachim never performed it, unlike the concertos of Brahms and Dietrich.

Steven Isserlis Steven John Isserlis (born 19 December 1958) is a British cellist. An acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, educator, writer and broadcaster, he is widely regarded as one of the leading musicians of his generation. He is also noted for his div ...

, the English cellist and Schumann aficionado, has transcribed the ''F-A-E Sonata'' for cello and piano.

Recordings

Recordings of the sonata on

period instruments In the historically informed performance movement, musicians perform classical music using restored or replicated versions of the instruments for which it was originally written. Often performances by such musicians are said to be "on authentic ...

includes the following ones: * Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov. Albert Dietrich, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms. ''Violin Sonatas Op. 100 & 108, F.A.E. Sonata''. Label: Harmonia Mundi. * Lisa Marie Landgraf, Tobias Koch. Albert Dietrich, Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Joseph Joachim, Ferdinand David. ''Complete Works for Violin and Pianoforte''. Label: Genuin. * Sergiu Luca, Brian Connelly. Felix Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, Albert Dietrich, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms. ''Die romantische Violine''. Label: Paladino Music. * Annemarie Astrom, Terhi Dostal. Albert Dietrich, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms. ''F.A.E. Sonata, Two Sonatas Op. 120''. Label: NCA. * Gudrun Schaumann, Wolfgang Brunner. Clara Schumann, Albert Dietrich, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Carl Reinecke, Theodor Kirchner. ''Circle of Robert Schumann 2''. Label: Capriccio. ietrich's Allegro and Brahms's Scherzo only* Thomas Albertus Irnberger, Edoardo Torbianelli. Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms. ''Werke für Violine und Klavier''. Label: Gramola. chumann's Intermezzo and Brahms's Scherzo only* Helena Dearing, Ilia Korol, Gert Hecher. Johannes Brahms. ''Die Leiden des jungen Brahms''. Label: Schwechtenstein Records. rahms's Scherzo only

Notes

References

* Dietrich, Albert & Widmann, Karl ''Recollections of Johannes Brahms'' translated by Dora E. Hecht (London: Seeley & Co. Ltd, 1899) * Geiringer, Karl ''Brahms. His Life and Work'', 2nd edition (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1948) * MacDonald, Malcolm ''Brahms'' (London: JM Dent, 1990), * May, Florence ''The Life of Johannes Brahms'', 2nd edition (London: William Reeves, 1948)

External links

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Public domain sheet music
{{Authority control Violin sonatas by Robert Schumann Violin sonatas by Johannes Brahms Compositions in A minor Violin sonatas Collaborations in classical music 1853 compositions Joseph Joachim