LDV67

AMAURY COEYTAUX, GEOFFROY COUTEAU 17 The year 1878 was an auspicious one for Brahms; more than half of his oeuvre was written, a large part of the chamber music, two of the four symphonies; his high maturity was in sight. He began writing a violin concerto and returned to the genre of the piano concerto, forsaken for almost twenty years. The Klavierstücke op.76, which opened up a new world for the keyboard, were also born that year; soon after came the two Rhapsodies op.79 and the Second Piano Concerto op.83. On 1 January 1879 Brahms enjoyed a triumph conducting the premiere of his Violin Concerto op.77, with Joachim as soloist; this success came immediately after the second performance of his Symphony no.2 (premiered the previous December), in which the violinist led the orchestra. The three sonatas composed after his concerto, written over a period of ten years between 1878 and 1889, also testify to this close rapport between Joachim and Brahms. These pieces are more compact and concise than those that preceded them, and more contemplative than dramatic.