Schubert: Sonatas for Violin & Fortepiano, Op. 137

Schubert's three Sonatas for Violin and Fortepiano, Op. 137, may nod to Mozart in their delicacy, but their spirit is firmly rooted in the early Romantic imagination. Written in 1816, they seem to inhabit the intimate world of Lieder, where song-like melodies and expressive dialogues between violin and piano take centre stage. Violinist Peter Hanson and fortepianist Andrew Arthur bring these works to life on period instruments, revealing the subtle textures and nuanced interplay that modern pianos often obscure. Hanson's phrasing echoes the expressive lyricism of Schubert's vocal writing, while Arthur's fortepiano-modelled on an early 19th-century Walther & Sohn-illuminates the sonatas' delicate, shifting colours. This recording invites us to experience Schubert's Sonatas as a cycle, as they may have been heard in a Viennese salon: a journey from charm to melancholy, from innocence to reflection, all shaped by the ephemeral beauty of song.