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Unfairly overlooked
as one of Brahms’ circle or as the composer
of the moderately known Serenade in
D major, Robert Fuchs had his own quietly
distinctive voice and it’s heard particularly
effectively in the series of violin
sonatas he wrote between 1877 and 1919.
The second volume in Thorofon’s series
is devoted to the second, third and
sixth in the cycle and their dedications
range from the Old World, Joachim (who
declined the premiere of the Third),
to the Heir Apparent, Adolf Busch, to
whom Fuchs dedicated the Sixth.
The Second dates from
1883 but shows no trace of almost contemporaneous
Franckian cyclicism. Indebted though
it is to Brahms – it’s idle to pretend
otherwise – there’s a vein of lyric
melancholy that runs through Fuchs’
music that, fused as it is with an almost
lied-like affection, gives his muse
an especially warm and sympathetic profile.
The second subject of the slow movement
is deft, the Rondo finale confidently
relaxed and with the courage, like Brahms,
to end quietly. The Third of 1901 shows
ever more personalised touches – deft
harmonies, an unusual 6/4, sedate but
controlled and with a sure touch when
recapitulating its attractive material
and above all a sense of rhapsody, of
imperceptible movement. Interplay between
the instruments sounds faultless. The
second movement embodies a series of
variations – grave as well as yearningly
affectionate, though perhaps rather
over stretched for the material and
a touch faceless. The finale is in his
accustomed style; bright, straight forward,
solidly Austro-German.
The Sixth has competition
in the shape of the Arnold and Victor
Steinhardt recording on Biddulph – coupled,
as that one is, with Fuchs’ Fantasy
pieces Opp. 74 and 117. It’s a more
concise work than the Third and is strong
on meditative song – mixing rhapsody
and terse declamation to advantage,
the late Brahms inheritance still powerfully
alive. There’s excellent counterpoint
along the way and more of Fuchs’ trademark
lyricism. Berg and Triendl don’t aspire
to the complex vibrato and tonal depth
of the brothers Steinhardt but they
do show a real instinct for the rhapsodic
ebb and flow of Fuchs’ melody line and
the interplay of voices that give such
life and lift throughout. A small demerit
is the slightly too clangorous acoustic
but the accent is on "small"
and won’t affect the musical pleasure
afforded by these three sizeable works;
they take time to work on you, but work
on you they assuredly will.
Jonathan Woolf
Robert
FUCHS (1847-1927)
Complete Violin Sonatas Vol. 1
Violin Sonata No. 1 in F sharp minor
Op. 20 (1877) [26.38] Violin Sonata
No. 4 in E major Op. 77 (1905) [19.59]
Violin Sonata No. 5 in A major Op. 95
(1912) [24.26] 
Ursula Maria Berg (violin) Oliver
Treindl (piano) rec NDR Landesfunkhaus
Hannover, Kleiner Sendesaal, 27-28 July,
7-8 Oct 2002. DDD
THOROFON CTH2511 [71.11] [RB]
Brahmsian
lyricism ... see Full
Review
