The violin sonata literature is so deep and rich that it is often difficult enough to choose a favourite sonata by a particular composer, let alone the top ten of all time. Yet whilst any such list is debatable, it is possible to identify certain works that represent the apex of the genre, the most musically profound, technically challenging of their type. Taken as a whole, these works trace the expressive journey of the instrument over two centuries.
There is no shortage of violin sonatas by Mozart—he wrote around 35 for the instrument. K.454, however, is notable for the sophisticated partnership between piano and violin. This is established in the poised Largo with which the work opens, where an equality between the instruments is established that continues throughout the rest of the work. Compared to some late Romantic and modern concertos its technical requirements may seem modest, but Mozart's concerto requires a purity of tone and absolute technical precision that renders it just as challenging.
Beethoven wrote 10 sonatas for violin, but the Kreutzer Sonata, named after its dedicatee Rodolphe Kreutzer, stands out for redefining what a sonata could be. In it the composer expanded the genre to symphonic proportions, simultaneously expanding its emotional scope not to mention its length—the work is 40 minutes in performance. Its technical demands, dramatic power and monumental scale make it one of the most influential works of its type.
Faure’s Violin Sonata Op.13 is a masterpiece of the composer’s youth and one of the foundational works of the French chamber tradition. It is sparkling, lyrical and fleet-footed, marrying elegant melodic lines with unexpected harmonic twists. On its rapturous reception, Saint Saëns, no less, praised it as having ‘everything that will seduce the gourmet: novel forms, exquisite modulations, uncommon tone colours, the use of the most unexpected rhythms.'
César Franck is not always considered a top-ranking Romantic composer, yet his Violin Sonata in A major is nevertheless a cornerstone of the genre. Written as wedding present for violinist Eugène Ysaÿe, it is revered for its cyclical structure, all movements sharing common thematic threads.
Choosing between Brahms' three terrific sonatas is no easy task; each is a brilliant and intensely personal document written for his violinist friend Joseph Joachim. The third, however, is the most dramatic of the three, stormily lyrical and monumental in character. Each movement encapsulates a distinct emotional world, culminating in a virtuosic finale of concerto-esque grandeur.
Janáček’s only violin sonata is raw, passionate, and unmistakably personal. It is notable for its fragmentary, speech-like melodies—the composer cultivated a technique known as ‘speech rhythms’, where he would transcribe fragments of conversation, converting them into melodies. It gives the work great psychological immediacy and a personality that it quite unique amongst early 20th century sonatas.
Debussy’s Violin Sonata in G minor was the last work completed before his death. Written under difficult circumstances—he was battling late-stage colon cancer—the composer viewed its composition as a grind. It is relatively short—just a third of the length of Beethoven’s Kreutzer sonata—and relatively approachable in its technical demands but tightly composed, atmospheric and with all the stylistic nuances one associates with the composer’s mature style.
Bartók’s Violin Sonata No.1 is notable for its searing and uncompromising modernism, confirming him in the eyes, and ears, of many as an aggressive and ‘difficult’ composer in the manner of Schoenberg and his circle. The work is nevertheless a towering masterpiece, its mix of folk rhythms, dissonant counterpoint, and visceral intensity creating a work of almost orchestral power. The central Adagio is hauntingly atmospheric, while the finale pulses with ferocious rhythmic energy.
The only mature violin sonata by the composer (an early sonata is essentially a student work published after the composer’s death), Ravel’s Violin Sonata in G is a neoclassical work noted for its fusion of French elegance with jazz idioms—it’s middle movement, for example being unambiguously marked ‘Blues. Moderato.’ It presents considerable technical challenges for the performer, not least in its exhilarating ‘Perpetuum mobile’ final movement.
10. Sergei Prokofiev – Violin Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 80 (1946)
Prokofiev’s First Sonata is a work of intense drama, full of dark lyricism and ghostly imagery. The whispered scales of the first movement, the explosive scherzo, and the tragic resolution form one of the most psychologically gripping journeys in the repertoire.
