Johannes Brahms

Hi, anticipating how boring program notes can be, I've included a less boring picture from New Town Sec with some of the Sec 5 students this year. (Left to Right: Kaiyun, Joanne, me, Melissa, Charis and Yulin) Yes, it was Racial Harmony Day.

Program notes for Brahms:

Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108

I: Allegro
II: Adagio
III: Un poco presto e con sentimento
IV: Presto agitato

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) is probably well known for destroying many of his own compositions in his lifetime due to his intense self-criticism. Genres to which Beethoven had significantly contributed especially caused Brahms to doubt his own abilities. It was not until 1879, with 2 symphonies and the Violin Concerto under his belt, that he felt confident enough to publish a violin sonata.
The 3^rd violin sonata, composed between 1886 and 1888, is the last sonata Brahms composed for the violin. That its technical difficulties should not be underestimated was brought home to the composer himself and to Joachim at a concert in Berlin in October 1892, when they decided to play the piece without first rehearsing it beforehand, only to come to grief in the final movement.