SKU: HL.48181585

Japanese composer, Kishio Hirao (1907-1953) first studied medicine before changing to music. His 1947 Sonata for Violin and Piano is a challenging yet exciting addition to the repertoire. Hirao moved to Paris where he studied harmony, counterpoint and composition at the Ecole Cesar Franck. The Sonata is in three movements; 1) Moderato-Allegro Agitato, 2) Andante, and 3) Vivacissimo. The work is in F major, with the middle movement modulating to D major, however, tonality is substantially exploited. For all advanced violinists and pianists, Hirao's Sonata for Violin and Piano is a riveting addition to the repertoire..

SKU: HL.49019900

ISBN 9790001193375. 9.25x12.0x0.213 inches.

In this sonata, calm passages alternate with extremely lively ones in traditional style. The piano plays in chordal style most of the time as real accompaniment, with polyphonic ensemble playing not being given special emphasis. The sonata is characterized by melodious cantilenas of the violin, intricate rhythms and almost symphonic tonal eruptions alike. The piece demands great technical skills while actually seeming to be easy to grasp.Mustonen is one of the virtuoso pianists-composers of the younger generation. In his works, he often refers to the history and culture of his home country Finland. He performed the world premiere of his Violin Sonata with the young Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto in London in April 2013.

SKU: HL.48019207

9.0x12.0x0.12 inches.

SKU: FG.55011-248-3

Kuula wrote his two sonatas while still in his early twenties. The F Major Sonata is from 1906 and bears no opus number; the Sonata E Minor Op. 1 dates from 1907. This is the first edition of the F Major Sonata, which was forgotten for almost a century and found again in the 1990s.

SKU: FG.55011-501-9

ISBN 9790550115019.

Even though I was and remain a proponent of absolute music, the things that we see and experience inevitably colour and energise our thought processes. The grand old man of Finnish Modernism Paavo Heininen (b. 1938) turned his impressions of Boston into violin sonatas op. 134 (2016). All the three sonatas - Boston Sonata, Boston Variations and Boston Ballade - were premiered in one concert in Helsinki celebrating the composer's 80th birthday in May 2018 by Kaija Saarikettu (violin) and Juhani Lagerspetz (piano).

SKU: BT.FORFPT05

SKU: BR.EB-9386

ISBN 9790004188569. 0 x 0 inches.

The Violin Sonata No. 1 in E minor, op. 73, a Grand Sonata for Violin and Piano, occupies an important position in Joachim Raff's oeuvre: it reflects numerous artistic, aesthetic, biographical, and reception-historical aspects characteristic of Raff. The work was composed in Weimar in 1854, when Raff was going through a process of artistic self-discovery. He increasingly distanced himself from his mentor Franz Liszt and intensively explored Wagner as well as the ideal of absolute music - this is also reflected in the music of the sonata. While Raff described the first two movements as objectified, he perceived the last two movements as a piece of him, that is, not free of extra-musical influences.The 1st movement, with its expansive main theme, is reminiscent of Mendelssohn; the 2nd movement reveals the refinement of classical-romantic work with musical material. The 3rd movement, with its partly rhythmic, virtuoso accompanying figures and harmonically advanced passages, allows a deeply romantic, almost tormented insight into a soul life a la Sturm und Drang. The partly irascible last movement revisits already familiar themes and thus creates a musical framework.In collaboration with the Joachim-Raff-Archiv Lachen (CH)

First Urtext Edition of the Grand Sonata for Violin and Piano.

SKU: HL.49017923

ISBN 9790220131141. UPC: 884088567217. 9.0x12.0x0.125 inches.

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies is universally acknowledged as one of the foremost composers of our time and as he reaches his 75th birthday in 2009 he remains prolific.The sonata for violin and piano was written for the virtuoso violinist, Ilya Gringolts and first performed at the St Magnus Festival in Orkney in 2008. The work is principally concerned with Italian architecture and the music takes both performers and audience across an imaginary walkway over Rome as proposed by the architect Giuseppe Rebecchini. Starting at the 17th Century Chiesa Nuova the exceptional journey passes Renaissance churches, exhibition spaces, the river Tiber, glass facades, sculptures and even a prison where a Lazio folk tune can be heard echoing from behind the walls. The journey ends 15 minutes later at Gianicolo, an area where one can take in breathtaking views over the whole city.