Violin Sonata no. 2 in E minor, op. 36a, KiV 244
Romantic Sonata Violin and Piano
In brief

This sonata has a tense, introspective character, shifting between cantabile lines and sudden dramatic surges that call for focused expression rather than generic lyricism. Technically you will need to concentrate on Legato bowing (3.6/5) to sustain long, connected phrases through changes of direction, and Vibrato (3.6/5) to shape intensity without weighing down the tone; concretely this means smooth bow changes and left‑hand control to adjust vibrato speed and width where the music demands. Listed among Busoni's romantic works, it is his second violin sonata and forms part of his chamber output that is less often performed. I am not giving a specific recommended recording here to avoid citing an uncertain reference.

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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
76/100
Advanced
Likely range : 64–88/100
Confidence : 37% · to confirm
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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Relative difficulty
50%
Among Ferruccio Busoni
86%
Era Romantic
91%
Genre
Movements and pieces of this work

One rarely plays the whole work: each movement has its own level — often very different from the opus's overall score.

Estimated skills
Theory
Harmonic analysis
1
Theory
Knowledge of forms
1
Technique
Bow legato
1
Style
Romantic style
1
Rhythm
Tempo rubato
1
Tone
Vibrato
2
Technique
Position changes
1
Tone
Touch control
1
Technique
Legato
1
Interpretation
Dynamics
2
Technique
Fast passages
1
Interpretation
Phrasing
1
Technique
General technique
1
What to play next?

Each suggestion combines difficulty gap, risk, confidence and skill overlap. The first two cards in each column are the most useful pedagogically.

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