Three Romances

The first piece performed by Stefan on violin and Anna on piano was Three Romances by Clara Schumann. While Robert Schumann was a prolific composer in the Romantic era, Clara’s work was much more limited, and this was among the last pieces she ever wrote. Three Romances is composed of the Andante molto, the Allegretto, and the Leidenschaftlich schnell (passionately quick in German). The first movement starts with a melancholy introduction that quickly develops into fast-paced arpeggios, later simmering down back to its initial theme- while referencing her husband’s First Violin Sonata. The second movement is faster paced, with significantly more variation in pitch, and it also touches on darker motifs before developing themes from the Andante

3 by Brahms. Especially compared to Three Romances, Brahms’ piece was highly unrestrained and immediately passionate. The first of the four movements, Allegro, starts like this, with a rapid and expressive violin melody and similarly striking piano accompaniment, eventually mellowing out, and once more returning with gusto leading into the second movement. In the second, Adagio, the violin leads the piano in a theme played softly together, crescendo into an octave-higher repetition, and join together to quietly conclude on a chord. The third, Un poco presto e con sentimento, presents itself with contrasting motifs, with the violin and piano alternating playing tense, frantic themes, with an interruption by the violin and piano restating the main theme. The movement ends on two brief chords. Presto Agitato, the last movement, returns to the original key of the sonata, and is written similarly to the first, with alternating melodies between the violin and piano. The piece frantically picks up momentum with the rapid tempo and intense dynamics, and theatrically concludes Brahms’ final violin sonata. This work was performed no less emphatically than the first by Stefan and Anna, the described emotions vividly brought to life during the concert. They excellently utilized techniques like rubato, slightly pushing the tempo of the rapid portions, and the violin and piano built off of each other to create a truly great