Brahms, J :: Sonata No. 1 in F minor, op. 120

Sonata No. 1 in F minor, op. 120

Brahms, J

International Music Company presents Johannes Brahms' Sonata No. 1 in F minor, op. 120 transcribed and edited for flute and piano by Stephanie Jutt.

This piece was originally composed for the clarinet in 1894 in a pair of sonatas that were Brahms' Opus 120. However it is also revered as a violin sonata as well; transcribed for flute by Stephanie Jutt, the first sonata sings beautifully with the sonorous qualities of the modern flute.

'[This] sonata embod[ies] his compositional technique in its ultimate taut, essentialized, yet marvellously flexible manner. It had long been Brahms s habit to compose some of his most significant works in contrasting pairs (indeed, we could see the Quintet and Trio as such a pair); and the two members of Op 120 make a fascinating study in contrasts. No. 1 in F minor has something of the turbulent passion which that key always evoked in Brahms, and is the more orthodox in form.

Within these broad confines the works display a kaleidoscopic range of colour and motion, and a propensity for mercurial shifts of harmony and texture. Indeed, they are prime examples of that economy, yet richness which Arnold Schoenberg said was one of the qualities he most admired in Brahms. The opening Allegro appassionato of the Sonata in F minor, Op 120 No 1 manages to convey an impression of gravity and tensile strength without compromising the predominantly lyrical nature of its ideas, which are typified by the yearning, wide-spanned melody that follows the brief piano introduction. The recapitulation features characteristically Brahmsian cross-rhythms, but the coda brings an ending in the major mode, though one touched with a sense of quiet resignation. The remaining three movements are all in the major, but with subtle shadings that distil emotional complexity into relatively few and seemingly simple notes. The exquisite slow movement, Andante un poco adagio, is a still, entranced nocturnal song in A flat, just touched into motion by the [flute's] melancholy, rhapsodic turning figures and the slow descending arpeggios of the piano.'

- Malcolm McDonald, 2007