Completed in December 1946, the Second Violin Sonata is one of Ferguson's most cogent compositions - despite the fact that the movements were written in reverse order. The tension that prevails in all three arises from the contrast between an effusive, passionate lyricism and a restlessness, darker-hued, which is at last fully unleashed in the headlong momentum of the finale. Underpinning the narrative is a carefully plotted cyclic structure. The seemingly rhapsodic declamation of the opening Andante, with its supple phrasing and yearning semitones, is recalled more than once and provides the source for most of the sonata's material.
The first performance was given at the Hague, 10th January 1947, by Yfrah Neaman and Howard Ferguson.
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Howard Ferguson
