Johanna Senfter

Sonata G Minor Op. 32

Johanna Senfter (1879-1961) was a pupil of Max Reger.Beginning with an expressive violin theme in a densely packed, 'Brahms-like' piano setting, the classical four-movement work centres around two capricious and playful movements: Lustig, nicht zu schnell is how the second movement begins, a fugal gem working with all kinds of contrapuntal tricks. This is followed by a scherzo-like, wittily flirting Rasch. The finale begins with a melodically simple tune in an almost folksong-like tone which, by a sequence of character variations, builds to a grand gesture which eventually leads back to the initial cantabile - with the sonata coming to a quiet end. A valuable addition to the chamber music repertoire.