CCMusic.com

This album by Finnish duo partners Tuija Hakkila and Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen-Pilch features Johannes Brahms' Violin Sonatas played on period instruments. These three sonatas by Brahms form a cornerstone of chamber music repertoire for violin. When Brahms's Sonata for piano and violin in G major op. 78, ostensibly his first, was published, it was actually the composer's fourth venture in this genre as far as we know. Brahms began writing Sonata in G major when he had returned from Italy and travelled to the lake district of Pörtschach - a location where "the air is so full of melodies that one has to take care not to step on them." The major work that Brahms completed that summer was the Violin Concerto. Before completing the manuscript of the Sonata, Brahms' godson Felix died with tuberculosis. Brahms sent Clara Schumann a letter on the back of which he had copied out the first 25 measures of the Adagio in the Sonata in G major. "If you play this very slowly, you may appreciate more clearly than I could ever express in words the warmth with which I think of you and Felix - even of his violin, which has now fallen silent." Pianist Tuija Hakkila holds a senior position in piano music at the Sibelius Academy and earned a Doctor of Music degree in 2005. She also taught at the Royal Danish Conservatory in Copenhagen from 2005 through 2008. In 2014 she was appointed Professor of Piano Music at the Sibelius Academy. Kaakinen-Pilch has been active in several orchestras and ensembles, and has also worked for over a decade as leader of the Collegium Vocale. Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen-Pilch has recorded for Ondine - and solo violin works of the 16th and 17th centuries. Currently Kaakinen-Pilch works as Professor of early music at Cracow Music Academy.