VOLKHARD STEUDE: STIMMEN DER ROMANTIK (VOICES OF THE ROMANTIC)

Right from his youth, Brahms was fascinated by the cello, and the “manly, serious nature … of the instrument”. He completed his first cello sonata in 1865, dedicating it to his friend the legal expert Dr Josef Gänsbacher. César Franck dedicated his violin sonata to the great virtuoso Eugène Ysaie, who gave the piece its premiere performance in Brussels in 1886. Schubert’s Trio in B Flat Major was first performed shortly after its completion, in the final Schubertiade hosted by Joseph von Spaun. This took place on 28th January 1828, and was performed by two friends of Beethoven, Ignaz Schuppanzigh (violin) and Joseph Lincke (cello), with Schubert’s friend Carl Maria von Bocklet at the piano