LDV67

16 BRAHMS • THE VIOLIN SONATAS These qualities are already to be found in the Scherzo in C minor from the so- called ‘F-A-E’ Sonata of 1853, written when Brahms was barely twenty years old; it seems to have come straight from the same world as the three piano sonatas and the Ballades op.10. The work, conceived by Schumann and composed jointly by Albert Dietrich, Brahms and himself, was intended as a gift paying tribute to their friendship with Joachim: a kind of spiritual union symbolised by the violinist’s motto, Frei aber einsam (Free but alone). This prompted Schumann to use the three notes F, A and E to represent this motto by its initials. The first two movements were assigned to Dietrich and Schumann respectively; the latter also took care of the finale, while reserving the scherzo for Brahms, whom he had just met, and acclaimed in a celebrated article. A capricious, restless, highly rhythmic first theme, a sort of wild cry, is followed by a much more relaxed phrase. The central section is wholly Schumannesque in its melodic contour and its almost blissful lyrical plenitude – perhaps an unconscious reflection of the affection that already united the two geniuses.