Sonate agréable ...
Many ideas, few difficulties: This sonata for violin and piano is a pleasure for the players.
Sonata agréable is rightly called one of Vanhal's more than 70 violin sonatas because, despite its easy playability, it has many precious surprises in store for both instruments, allows violin and piano to converse on an equal footing and convinces with its mature forms. No comparison to Haydn's violin sonatas, which are boring for the violin; they are closer to Schubert's vocal style. The booklet is entitled: "Three Sonatas", but it contains three normal movements of a sonata.
The Bohemian Vanhal was a pupil of Carl Ditters von Dittesdorf in Vienna, where he lived independently from his compositions and from teaching. The title pages of his printed works bear the names of many European aristocratic families and are proof of his fame at the time. The comprehensive catalog of his works, compiled by Paul Bryan in 1987, promoted a renaissance of the numerous chamber music works and 77 symphonies, the latter on a par with those of Haydn. It is to be hoped that more such treasures will be unearthed by publishers.
Johann Baptist Vanhal, Three Sonatas for Violin and Piano "Sonate agréable" op. 43/2, edited by John F. and Virginia F. Strauss, DM 1472, € 19.95, Doblinger, Vienna 2013
