Performing Brahms: Rediscovering expressive devices in the sonatas for violin and piano

Abstract

Performing Brahms: Rediscovering expressive devices in the sonatas for violin and piano This submission for the degree of Master of Philosophy in musical performance at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide, consists ofa portfolio of two CDs containing recorded performances of the complete Sonatas for Violin and Piano of Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) accompanied by an explanatory exegesis. These works are some of the most performed and recorded in the repertoire, however modem performance practice has been influenced by over a century of changing styles and tastes in violin playing. This project is an investigation into how a modem-day performance can reflect Brahms' original intentions for these works, drawing from the recently published Barenreiter Edition (2015/16) by Clive Brown and Neal Peres Da Costa. Nineteenth-century expressive devices used by Brahms and his circle have been identified including tone and bowing, vibrato, portamento, rhythmic flexibility and tempo modification and these techniques have been attempted to be integrated into the recorded performances. Discussion outlining Brahms' musical notation and its performance implications has been included, as well as a commentary describing the challenges of assimilating these devices and the resulting effectiveness in performance. The recorded performances contain the three Sonatas for Violin and Piano, the Sonata Movement in C minor from the F.A.E. Sonata, and the two neglected Violin Sonatas op. 120 originally for clarinet/viola, rewritten by Brahms, which are seldom performed today.