The first performers of the Violin Sonata in A major by César Franck (1822–1890) at concerts of the Czech Chamber Music Society in 1903 were Karel Hoffmann, first violin of the Bohemian Quartet, and pianist Karel Hoffmeister. At the time, Hoffmann was also enjoying successes as a soloist. He also excelled in violin sonatas, for example in his successful performance of Grieg’s Sonata in C minor in Vienna, where he played the work with Grieg himself, to the composer’s complete satisfaction. Moreover, Franck’s music was already familiar to the Bohemian Quartet, which had his important and pioneering chamber works in its repertoire: the Piano Quintet in F minor and the String Quartet in D major. The Sonata in A major was not unanimously admired by the critics. Some faulted it for emotional coolness and a lack of immediacy—criticisms that, from today’s perspective, are almost incomprehensible.
César Franck can be counted among the French composers, but with a small reservation: he was born in Liège, Belgium, and his mother was German. For a long time, Parisian society accepted him “only” as an outstanding organist, improviser, composer of sacred music, and professor at the Conservatoire, where he taught a number of talented pupils, including d’Indy, Chausson, Vierne, Duparc, Dukas, and others. Only as he approached old age did he win recognition as a composer of orchestral music, operas, or oratorios and acceptance from both the critics and the wider listening audience. Towards the end of his life, he also composed the four-movement Violin Sonata in A major, written in 1886 as a wedding gift for his pupil and friend Eugène Ysaÿe. Vincent d’Indy remembered its first public performance (Brussels, 1886) as a strange and undoubtedly impressive experience, when the violinist Eugène Ysaÿe and the pianist Marie-Léontine Bordes-Pène played most of the work in the dark because of an error on the part of the concert organiser. Although the sonata got off to a difficult start on the concert stage, its warmth and compositional maturity soon made it one of the most popular violin sonatas ever written.
The sonata’s lasting popularity rests on, among other things, the natural combination of classical form, Late-Romantic harmony, melodious themes, and the composerʼs contrapuntal skill. The main theme of the first movement (Allegretto ben moderato), in the character of a lullaby, runs through the whole cycle of movements in subtle reminiscences. The beginning of the sonata was originally supposed to have been slower, but Ysaÿe’s interpretation convinced Franck that a quicker tempo would help the opening movement succeed. The second movement (Allegro) is highly expressive and passionate, then the third movement (Recitativo-Fantasia. Ben moderato) presents a dialogue, alternating lyrical and dramatic passages. The concluding Allegretto poco mosso captivates listeners with its lyrical melody and canonic imitation between the two fully equal instruments.
