Violin Sonata no. 3 in D minor, op. 108
Romantic Sonata Violin and Piano
In brief

This sonata is marked by sustained intensity and a darkly lyrical profile: broad dramatic phrases alternate with march-like and reflective passages, requiring a strong sense of line. You will face concrete technical challenges with Legato d'archet (3.6/5) — here that means keeping an uninterrupted line across string crossings and internal accents by managing arm weight and smooth bow changes — and with Analyse harmonique (3.6/5), since understanding the modulations and harmonic pivots helps you shape phrases and place entrances coherently. The work belongs to the Romantic period and represents a mature, later contribution to the composer's violin-and-piano sonatas. I do not provide a reference interpretation because I am not 100% certain of a specific recording to recommend for this particular piece.

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Sheet music

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Formation

Violin and piano · 2 performers

Required forces
Violin 1 performers
Piano 1 performers
Playable parts
Violin Piano
MusicCoach difficulty
77/100
Advanced
Likely range : 73–82/100
Confidence : 58% · fair confidence
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 8

Estimated from our difficulty score, not taken from an exam syllabus. Checked against 333 works on the ABRSM syllabus: the exact grade is right 7 times out of 10, and within one grade 99 times out of 100.

Difficulty estimate by MusicCoach on a scale of 1 to 100.

Where this work sits
050100

Most works cluster between 45 and 65: a small score gap often marks a real step. The highlighted bar shows this work among those for the same instrument.

The MusicCoach difficulty measures a work's overall demands (technique, reading, stamina) on a shared 0-100 scale, consolidated from editorial and pedagogical reference points (Henle, exam syllabuses, curation) and our own analyses. It measures neither musical value nor the practice time YOU will need: two musicians of the same level can experience the same work very differently depending on their strengths (hands used to octaves, quick sight-reading…). The confidence reflects how many reference points sit behind the score and how well they agree — a lightly documented score is flagged “to validate”. For a truly personal bearing, the diagnostic and your space compare each work to YOUR estimated level, which the score alone cannot do.

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Difficulty sources
Henle Verlag
7
74/100 normalised · 4 obs.
MusicCoach expertise
78
78/100 normalised
Relative difficulty
50%
Among Johannes Brahms
88%
Era Romantic
94%
Genre
Estimated skills
Theory
Harmonic analysis
1
Theory
Knowledge of forms
1
Technique
Bow legato
1
Rhythm
Tempo rubato
1
Tone
Vibrato
2
Style
Romantic style
2
Technique
Position changes
1
Technique
Legato
1
Interpretation
Dynamics
2
Technique
Fast passages
1
Interpretation
Phrasing
2
Technique
General technique
1
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