ANTOINE TAMESTIT / JULIEN QUENTIN

Of the thirty-two sonatas Mozart composed for violin and piano, only one is in minor: the one he wrote following the death of his mother, whom he adored. The serioso character of the first movement, foreshadowing Beethoven, and the gentle Schubertian sadness of the second, with its central minuet in major intervening like a glimmer of hope, make this a singular work. Its unique two-movement form almost makes it seem unfinished, reinforcing the profoundly human and touching character of the score. 

Violists have long since set their sights on the Sonata for arpeggione and piano. Composed at the same time as his famous Death and the Maiden quartet, when the composer was showing the first severe signs of syphilis, the work was hastily composed, in that burst of creative inventiveness of which only Schubert has the secret. The almost old-fashioned charm of its themes and the discreet, bouncy dance rhythms that dot the various movements have made this work, conceived for an instrument that has almost disappeared, eternal: there are only about ten arpeggios in the world today! 

A different instrument, a different world: Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro for horn initially unfolds in the character of a Romantic opera aria, and even of a love duet, if we consider that the piano replicates the solo instrument in almost equal measure. The Allegro is also eminently vocal, in an effusion of communicative joy. Long a favourite with cellists, all that was needed was the intelligence of Lieder lover Antoine Tamestit to take on this landmark work of Romantic music, at the same time as presenting us with a selection of Lieder by Schumann and Schubert that he has adapted for his instrument.