# Violin Sonatina (Sibelius)

The Violin Sonatina in E major, Op. 80, is a three-movement duo for violin and piano written in 1915 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The main theme of the third movement was originally intended for the Sixth Symphony (Op. 104).

## History

The Violin Sonatina received its premiere in Helsinki, Finland on 6 December 1915, on occasion of the semi-centennial of Sibelius's birth (during which there were many concerts celebrating the composer); the soloists were the Polish-American violinist Richard Burgin and the Finnish pianist Eino Lindholm [fi]. Also on the program was the String Quartet in B-flat major (Op. 4, 1890), the suite for solo piano Kyllikki (Op. 41, 1904), and the String Quartet in D minor, Voces intimae (Op. 56, 1909).

## Structure and music

The Violin Sonatina is in three movements, as follows:
* Lento – Allegro
* Andantino
* Lento – Allegretto
The piece was published in 1921 by Edition Wilhelm Hansen.

### Movement I

The first movement begins in $^4$ $_4$ time before switching to $^2$ $_2$ for the Allegro. It has a duration of about 3.75 minutes.

### Movement II

The second movement is in $^6$ $_4$ time and has a duration of about 4.5 minutes.

### Movement III

The third movement begins $^4$ $_4$ time before switching to $^2$ $_4$ at the Allegretto. It has a duration of about four minutes.

## Discography

The American violinist Diana Steiner and the pianist David Berfield made the world premiere studio recording of the Violin Sonatina in 1977 for Orion. The sortable table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:
| No. | Violin | Piano | Runtime | Rec. | Recording venue | Label | Ref. |
| 1 | Violin | Piano | Runtime | Rec. | Recording venue | Label | Ref. | Diana Steiner | David Berfield | 11:54 | 1977 | Orion |
| 2 | Ruggiero Ricci | Sylvia Rabinof | 10:22 | 1979 | St. Andrew's Church | Masters of the Bow | |
| 3 | Yoshiko Arai [fi] (1) | Izumi Tateno | 11:50 | 1980 | Munkkivuoren kirkko [fi] | Finlandia | |
| 4 | Yoshiko Arai [fi] (2) | Eero Heinonen [fi] | | 1988 | Kulttuuritalo Martinus [fi] | Ondine | |
| 5 | Nils-Erik Sparf [sv] | Bengt Forsberg | 12:51 | 1991 | Danderyds gymnasium [sv] | BIS | |
| 6 | Kaija Saarikettu | Teppo Koivisto [fi] | 12:15 | 2001 | Martti Talvela Hall, Mikaeli | Alba [fi] | |
| 7 | Manfred Gräsbeck [fi] | Maija Lehtonen [fi] | 14:23 | 2005 | Tulinberg Hall, Oulun musiikkikeskus [fi] | Fuga [fi] | |
| 8 | Carlos Damas | Anna Tomasik | 11:34 | | | Etcetera | |
| 9 | Satu Jalas | Folke Gräsbeck [fi] | | 2014 | Ainola | Ainola | |
| 10 | Fenella Humphreys | Nicola Eimer | 11:22 | 2016 | Church of St John the Evangelist, Oxford | Stone | |
| 11 | Maxime Gulikers | Andrea Vasi | | | | 7 Mountain | |
| 12 | Emma Arizza | Stefano Marzanni | 13:34 | 2022 | Palazzo Cigola-Martinoni, Cigole | Da Vinci Classics | |

## Notes, references, and sources
### Notes

* ↑ All runtimes are official, as printed on CD or LP liner notes.
* ↑ Refers to the year in which the performers recorded the work; this may not be the same as the year in which the recording was first released to the general public.
* ↑ D. Steiner & D. Berfield–Orion (ORS 76244) 1977
* ↑ R. Ricci & S. Rabinof–Masters of the Bow (MBS 2009–10) 1979
* ↑ Y. Arai & I. Tateno–Finlandia (FA 322) 1981
* ↑ Y. Arai & E. Heinonen–Ondine (ODE 720–2) 1988
* ↑ N. Sparf & B. Forsberg–BIS (CD–525) 1991
* ↑ K. Saarikettu & T. Koivisto–Alba (ABCD 167) 2001
* ↑ M. Gräsbeck & M. Lehtonen–Fuga (FUGA 9198) 2005
* ↑ C. Damas & A. Tomasik–Etcetera (KTC1564) 2016
* ↑ S. Jalas & F. Gräsbeck–Ainola (AINOLA–01) 2015
* ↑ F. Humphreys & N. Eimer–Stone (5060192780826) 2018
* ↑ M. Gulikers & A. Vasi–7 Mountain (7MNTN032DIG) 2021
* ↑ E. Arizza & S. Marzanni–Da Vinci Classics (C00739) 2023

### References

* 1 2 3 4 5 Dahlström 2003, p. 349.
* 1 2 Dahlström 2003, p. 348.
* ↑ Barnett 2007, p. 249.
* 1 2 3 Dahlström 2003, p. 448.

### Sources

* Barnett, Andrew (2007). Sibelius. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11159-0.
* Dahlström, Fabian [in Swedish] (2003). Jean Sibelius: Thematisch-bibliographisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke [Jean Sibelius: A Thematic Bibliographic Index of His Works] (in German). Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel. ISBN 3-7651-0333-0.