Zimmermann: The Violin Sonatas

Agnes Zimmermann was one of Europe’s more important pianists, as well as a composer. Her compositional output was modest, but at its core lie these three impressive sonatas for violin and piano written over the span of about a decade, between 1868 and 1879. The fact that she was a contemporary of Brahms is not lost in this music, which exhibits grace and brawn by turn. Violinist Mathilde Milwidsky and pianist Sam Haywood evidently relish the interesting interplay of Zimmermann’s music.