Beethoven, Brahms & Zimmermann: Sonaten fur Viola & Klavier

The magic, enigma and uniqueness of Ludwig van Beethoven’s (1770–1827) Sonata “Kreutzer” in A major Op. 47 have influenced not only music history but also literature from Tolstoy to Dürrenmatt, and it takes a long search to find a chamber music work that has a similar nimbus. Wild and untamed not only the work itself but also its history of creation appears. Beethoven wrote the “Kreutzer Sonata” for the violinist George Bridgetower (1778–1860), who spent some time in Vienna in 1803 and became friends with Beethoven. After an unusually short period of creation by Beethoven’s standards, the sonata was premiered at the Augarten in Vienna by Bridgetower and the composer at the piano. Bernd Alois Zimmermann (1918–1970) was the great loner of classical music in Germany after the end of the war and wrote one of the most interesting chamber music works of those years with the Violin Sonata from 1950. Zimmermann has spent his entire life dealing with Beethoven and his music is often interwoven