Violinist Joshua Bell and cellist Steven Isserlis combine their talents for an homage to Johannes Brahms that includes the 1877 Double Concerto, the 1854 version of the First Piano Trio, and the slow mvmt of Schumann’s Violin Concerto, as edited by Benjamin Britten. Isserlis claims that Brahms revision and editing of the Trio in 1889 was excessive, sacrificing much of the original’s beauty and spontaneity. The piano part is here performed by Jeremy Denk. The Double Concerto was meant to be a “reconciliation” piece for Brahms and his violinist friend, Joseph Joachim. Brahms works an F-A-E motif into the first mvmt (in sonata-form) progression, a signature acronym for “Free but Lonely.” He borrows themes from Schubert and from Giovanni Battista Viotti’s A Minor Concerto (No. 22), a favorite work of his and Joachim’s. The slow mvmt is a lovely dialogue in the form of a song; the last mvmt reverts to Brahms’ love of Hungarian and gypsy dances.
Robert Schumann’s 1853 Violin Concerto in D-minor was suppressed for many years by his wife, Clara. In 1937, the Nazis revived the score for propaganda purposes; despite the taint of that political ploy, Yehudi Menuhin brought the score to England for a recorded performance. The 2nd mvmt is a variation on the 1st mvmt’s themes, set in syncopation.