Viola Sonata (Mendelssohn)
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Felix Mendelssohn's Viola Sonata in C minor was composed when he was only 14 years old. The autographed score is dated 14 February 1824. However, the work was never published in Mendelssohn's lifetime and was not assigned an opus number. For the time, a viola sonata was a rare genre of chamber music and there are still few Classical or early Romantic viola sonatas. However, despite the lack of solo music for the viola, the sonata is less relatively unknown.
Mendelssohn himself was an accomplished violinist and violist, playing one of the viola parts in an early performance of his own String Octet in E flat major, and was fully aware of the difficulties of writing for the viola. The music for the piano is light and transparent allowing the viola to shine through at any time.
[edit] Movements
The sonata has three movements:
- Adagio – Allegro
- Menuetto - Allegro molto
- Andante con variazioni
A typical performance lasts just under 25 minutes.
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