Luís de Freitas Branco’s talent showed itself early on, at the age of 13. However, the first work that really stands out in his catalog is precisely this first Sonata for Violin and Piano, composed five years later, in 1908. It was with this score that the young musician performed in the Chamber Music Competition promoted by the Lisbon Chamber Music Society, which awarded him 1st Prize. In this flourishing phase of his life, he was enchanted by the music coming out of France. César Franck was an important influence that can be recognized there. It is therefore appropriate to listen to his Sonata for Violin and Piano, from 1886. His signature is its harmonic complexity and the cyclical arrangement of the ideas that evolve in the successive movements.

Sonatas
Metropolitana’s Soloists

Luís de Freitas Branco Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano
César Franck Sonata for Violin and Piano

Nuno Rodrigues violin
Savka Konjikusic piano