The Sonata for Violin and Piano in F major, Op. 57 ( B. 106), is a

violin sonata A violin sonata is a musical composition for violin, often accompanied by a keyboard instrument and in earlier periods with a bass instrument doubling the keyboard bass line. The violin sonata developed from a simple Baroque music, baroque form wi ...

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...

. The work was composed between 3 and 17 March 1880. At the time, Dvořák was also working on his

violin concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

, and it seems that the composer explored different aspects of the violin in the two pieces. The sonata is naturally the more intimate of the two works, and appears in places to be influenced by

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

. Dvořák played the work on 31 March 1880 with the famous violinist

Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian Violin, violinist, Conducting, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely ...

, who reacted positively (a contrast to Joachim's ambivalence over aspects of the Violin Concerto). The details of the first public performance are not known, though on 5 October 1881 there was an early performance at a meeting of the Prague Umělecká Beseda. On that occasion the violinist was

František Ondříček František Ondříček (29 April 1857 – 12 April 1922) was a Czech violinist and composer. He gave the first performance of the Violin Concerto by Antonín Dvořák, and his achievements were recognised by the rare award of honorary membe ...

(who also premiered the violin concerto), while the piano part was taken by

Karel Kovařovic Karel Kovařovic (9 December 1862 6 December 1920) was a Czech people, Czech composer and conductor from Prague. Life From 1873 to 1879 he studied clarinet, harp and piano at the Prague Conservatory.''Dopisy o životě hudebním i lidském, p. ...

, later to become a successful composer. The Sonata is in three movements: It is numbered as Op. 57; and as B. 106 in the catalogue by

Jarmil Burghauser Jarmil Michael Burghauser (born Jarmil Michael Mokrý; 21 October 1921, Písek19 February 1997, Prague) was a Czech composer, conductor, and musicologist. Burghauser's parents were painters František Viktor Mokrý and Zdenka Burghauserová. He st ...

. The manuscript is preserved in the

National Museum A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...

in Prague. The first edition was published by N. Simrock in 1880, prepared under the composer's supervision.

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Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Violin Sonata (Dvorak) Chamber music by Antonín Dvořák Dvořák 1880 compositions Compositions in F major