Violin Sonata No. 3 (Brahms) - First Movement: Allegro

First Movement: Allegro

The first movement is in traditional sonata-allegro form. The first subject, a long, lyrical cantabile line in D minor, is stated sotto voce by the violin with the piano providing a simple accompaniment; off-beats in the right hand provide a quietly agitated character. Immediately after the violin's closing cadence ends the first statement of the first subject, the subject is taken up by the piano, subito forte and with a virtuosic, heroic character; now it is the violin's turn to provide an accompaniment, again in syncopated rhythm. The second subject, a romantic, expressive melody in F major, is then stated by the piano alone, and repeated by the violin with a simple arpeggiated piano accompaniment. Next comes the development section: the violin plays a variant of the first subject elaborated with bariolage bowing, while the piano again provides the accompaniment in the right hand. Of particular interest in this section is the pedal point on the dominant (A) which the pianist sustains in the left hand for the entire duration of the development section. The recapitulation begins with the violin restating the first subject as in the beginning but an octave lower, the piano plays an elaborated version of the original accompanying figure. After the final cadence of the subject, three sudden unison chords announce, subito forte, an unexpected direct modulation into F-sharp minor. In the ensuing section, of virtuosic and symphonic character, violin and piano toss back and forth fragments of the original theme. After a direct modulation back to D minor, the recapitulation resumes its course, and then the second subject is restated in D major. Once more back into D minor and the first subject makes one more appearance in the violin, in the original octave, accompanied by the original figure in the piano. There is a brief sotto voce return to the elaborated material of the development section which then passes through a series of modulations. One final sostenuto statement of the first subject across three octaves leads to a cadence in D major, which leads directly into the second movement.