The Nordic romantic: a contextualized study of Niels W. Gade's Sonata No. 2 in D minor, Op. 21a, for viola and piano

The career of violinist, conductor, and composer Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817–-1890) encompassed the Romantic period, in which artists were increasingly associated with a national identity. Although he is primarily remembered as a Danish composer, Gade rose to international renown as a conductor and composer based in Leipzig, where he worked closely with Felix Mendelssohn. Inspired by Danish poetry, Gade’s first published symphony (Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 5) was considered too German in style by Copenhagen’s music society but was warmly received by the Gewandhaus orchestra’s audience in Leipzig in 1843. After Gade’s return to Copenhagen in 1848, he conducted the Copenhagen Music Society (Musikforeningen) Orchestra and established a conservatory, as Mendelssohn had done in Leipzig, raising the level of musicianship in his hometown, and solidifying his role as a pioneer in Danish music history. In addition to compiling biographical information about Gade, my research delves into his compositional style by analyzing his Sonata No. 2 in D minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 21 — a piece dedicated to Robert Schumann that was widely popular during the composer’s lifetime. My analysis examines Gade’s use of cyclic form and traces motivic development and integration across all three movements of the piece. The sonata was arranged by Heinrich Dessauer (1863-–1917), a student of Joseph Joachim, for viola and piano (Op. 21a) during Gade’s lifetime. By analyzing the viola arrangement and exploring its place in the Romantic viola repertoire, my aim is to encourage violists to add this piece to their recital repertoire