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Brahms's Violin Sonata in G major, composed at the height of his creative career after completing Symphony No. 1 and the Violin Concerto, is a brilliantly lyrical work with long melodies rather than concise themes. The opening Vivace, considerably slowed by its modifying ma non troppo, has two lyrical themes. The central Adagio is in tripartite form, with a heartfelt main theme full of double and triple registers in the violin. The concluding Allegro molto moderato begins with a direct quotation from Brahms' Regenlied (Rain Song), a melancholic minor-key song recalling the long-gone days of youth.

Brahms's second violin sonata is sometimes called the Thun sonata because it was composed at the Swiss lake, a beloved retreat that Brahms visited for three summers in a row, starting in 1886. Here his inner feelings were released. He wrote the sonata "while waiting for the arrival of a dear friend". The friend in question was the young, beautiful singer Hermine Spies, with whom he had a very intense and noted love affair at the time. This may also be the explanation for why Brahms quotes a couple of his own songs in his bright and charged music, the lyrics of which can be given loving associations.

The last of Brahms' violin sonatas took two years to write and, unlike the two previous violin sonatas, is in four movements. The sonata is dedicated to Brahms' friend and colleague Hans von Bülow and was first performed in Budapest in 1888. In contrast to his lyrical and sunnier works, this sonata has a darker and stormier feel.

Lisa Ford has been the principal horn player in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra for 30 years. Lisa is an active chamber musician and soloist and a member of the ensemble Gageego!. She is a senior lecturer at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Performing Arts and a mentor in the master's program in symphony orchestra performance, she is a horn teacher and teaches wind and chamber music ensembles. Lisa Ford is educated at the Interlochen Arts Academy. She has been a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and has a diploma from the Norwegian Academy of Music, NMH. She was previously assistant principal horn player in the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. She is also a certified professional coach.

Urban Claesson is principal clarinetist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 1995. He joined the orchestra in 1986 and has appeared as a soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on around 20 occasions, including Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Sinfonia concertante for wind instruments, Bruch's Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra and Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician, he has appeared with the Amadeus Quartet and the Britten Quartet, among others. Urban Claesson is also active as a teacher at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama.

Urban Claesson is principal clarinetist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 1995. He joined the orchestra in 1986 and has appeared as a soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on around 20 occasions, including Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Sinfonia concertante for wind instruments, Bruch's Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra and Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician, he has appeared with the Amadeus Quartet and the Britten Quartet, among others. Urban Claesson is also active as a teacher at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama.

Urban Claesson is principal clarinetist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 1995. He joined the orchestra in 1986 and has appeared as a soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on around 20 occasions, including Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Sinfonia concertante for wind instruments, Bruch's Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra and Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician, he has appeared with the Amadeus Quartet and the Britten Quartet, among others. Urban Claesson is also active as a teacher at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama.

Urban Claesson is principal clarinetist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 1995. He joined the orchestra in 1986 and has appeared as a soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on around 20 occasions, including Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Sinfonia concertante for wind instruments, Bruch's Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra and Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician, he has appeared with the Amadeus Quartet and the Britten Quartet, among others. Urban Claesson is also active as a teacher at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama.

Truls Mørk is an acclaimed cellist and performs with the most prominent orchestras including the Orchestre de Paris, Berliner Philharmoniker, Vienna Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Philharmonia and London Philharmonic and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. In North America, he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic. Conducting collaborations include Esa-Pekka Salonen, David Zinman, Manfred Honeck, Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Simon Rattle, Kent Nagano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Christoph Eschenbach, among others. In the 2024-2025 season, Mørk returned to the Rotterdam, London and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestras, RAI Turin, Orchestre Phiharmonique de Radio France and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Truls Mørk is a great advocate for contemporary music and has given over 30 world premieres. He has performed Esa-Pekka Salonen's Cello Concerto with a number of prominent orchestras, Victoria Borisova-Olla's Cello Concerto Oh Giselle Remember Me, Rautavaara's Towards the Horizon, Pavel Haas's Cello Concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic and Jonathan Nott, Penderecki's Concerto for Three Cellos with the Hafliði Symphony Orchestra and Charles Hallgrímsson's Cello Concerto commissioned by the Oslo Philharmonic, Iceland Symphony and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He last visited the Gothenburg Symphony in season 2016-2017 when he was Artist in Residence.

Urban Claesson is principal clarinetist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 1995. He joined the orchestra in 1986 and has appeared as a soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on around 20 occasions, including Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Sinfonia concertante for wind instruments, Bruch's Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra and Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician, he has appeared with the Amadeus Quartet and the Britten Quartet, among others. Urban Claesson is also active as a teacher at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Erik Risberg was employed as a pianist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra from 1995 to 2023, also performing on organ, harpsichord and other keyboard instruments. He regularly performed as a chamber musician, including in a piano duo with Bengt Forsberg. Erik Risberg has also been a valued teacher of musical performance at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama for many years and also gives introductions at the Symphony Orchestra's concerts.

Pianist Bengt Forsberg is a highly regarded and actively engaged chamber musician who collaborates with mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, cellists Mats Lidström and Andreas Brantelid and violinist Nils-Erik Sparf. Together with Anne Sofie von Otter, he regularly performs concerts around the world and several of their recordings have been awarded prizes. Bengt Forsberg is often engaged as a soloist and has appeared with all major Swedish symphony orchestras and several foreign ones. He has been artistic director of chamber music at Allhelgonakyrkan in Stockholm as well as a frequent guest at Stockholms Konserthus. He can also be heard in Musikrevyn on P2.

Hans Hernqvist has been percussionist in the Gothenburg Symphony since 1991 and has participated in most productions and recordings as well as in chamber music contexts. After studying at the Malmö Academy of Music and at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, Hans worked as an orchestral musician and was employed as a percussionist in the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic before moving to the Gothenburg Symphony. Hans also teaches percussion and orchestral playing at the University of Gothenburg's School of Theater and Music.

Urban Claesson is principal clarinetist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 1995. He joined the orchestra in 1986 and has appeared as a soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on around 20 occasions, including Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Sinfonia concertante for wind instruments, Bruch's Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra and Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician, he has appeared with the Amadeus Quartet and the Britten Quartet, among others. Urban Claesson is also active as a teacher at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama.

Urban Claesson is principal clarinetist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 1995. He joined the orchestra in 1986 and has appeared as a soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on around 20 occasions, including Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Sinfonia concertante for wind instruments, Bruch's Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra and Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician, he has appeared with the Amadeus Quartet and the Britten Quartet, among others. Urban Claesson is also active as a teacher at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama.

Mårten Larsson was born in Örebro and trained at the Royal Academy of Music under Alf Nilsson. He has been a leading oboist in Sweden for many years and is solo oboist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a member of the Stockholm Sinfonietta. Mårten Larsson teaches at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama and has released albums with music by Johan Helmich Roman, JS Bach and Keith Jarrett, among others.

Erik Risberg was employed as a pianist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra from 1995 to 2023, also performing on organ, harpsichord and other keyboard instruments. He regularly performed as a chamber musician, including in a piano duo with Bengt Forsberg. Erik Risberg has also been a valued teacher of musical performance at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama for many years and also gives introductions at the Symphony Orchestra's concerts.

Urban Claesson is principal clarinetist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 1995. He joined the orchestra in 1986 and has appeared as a soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on around 20 occasions, including Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Sinfonia concertante for wind instruments, Bruch's Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra and Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician, he has appeared with the Amadeus Quartet and the Britten Quartet, among others. Urban Claesson is also active as a teacher at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Erik Risberg was employed as a pianist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra from 1995 to 2023, also performing on organ, harpsichord and other keyboard instruments. He regularly performed as a chamber musician, including in a piano duo with Bengt Forsberg. Erik Risberg has also been a valued teacher of musical performance at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama for many years and also gives introductions at the Symphony Orchestra's concerts.

Pianist Bengt Forsberg is a highly regarded and actively engaged chamber musician who collaborates with mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, cellists Mats Lidström and Andreas Brantelid and violinist Nils-Erik Sparf. Together with Anne Sofie von Otter, he regularly performs concerts around the world and several of their recordings have been awarded prizes. Bengt Forsberg is often engaged as a soloist and has appeared with all major Swedish symphony orchestras and several foreign ones. He has been artistic director of chamber music at Allhelgonakyrkan in Stockholm as well as a frequent guest at Stockholms Konserthus. He can also be heard in Musikrevyn on P2.

Hans Hernqvist has been percussionist in the Gothenburg Symphony since 1991 and has participated in most productions and recordings as well as in chamber music contexts. After studying at the Malmö Academy of Music and at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, Hans worked as an orchestral musician and was employed as a percussionist in the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic before moving to the Gothenburg Symphony. Hans also teaches percussion and orchestral playing at the University of Gothenburg's School of Theater and Music.

Urban Claesson is principal clarinetist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 1995. He joined the orchestra in 1986 and has appeared as a soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on around 20 occasions, including Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Sinfonia concertante for wind instruments, Bruch's Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra and Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician, he has appeared with the Amadeus Quartet and the Britten Quartet, among others. Urban Claesson is also active as a teacher at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama.

Truls Mørk is an acclaimed cellist and performs with the most prominent orchestras including the Orchestre de Paris, Berliner Philharmoniker, Vienna Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Philharmonia and London Philharmonic and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. In North America, he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic. Conducting collaborations include Esa-Pekka Salonen, David Zinman, Manfred Honeck, Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Simon Rattle, Kent Nagano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Christoph Eschenbach, among others. In the 2024-2025 season, Mørk returned to the Rotterdam, London and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestras, RAI Turin, Orchestre Phiharmonique de Radio France and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Truls Mørk is a great advocate for contemporary music and has given over 30 world premieres. He has performed Esa-Pekka Salonen's Cello Concerto with a number of prominent orchestras, Victoria Borisova-Olla's Cello Concerto Oh Giselle Remember Me, Rautavaara's Towards the Horizon, Pavel Haas's Cello Concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic and Jonathan Nott, Penderecki's Concerto for Three Cellos with the Hafliði Symphony Orchestra and Charles Hallgrímsson's Cello Concerto commissioned by the Oslo Philharmonic, Iceland Symphony and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He last visited the Gothenburg Symphony in season 2016-2017 when he was Artist in Residence.

Urban Claesson is principal clarinetist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 1995. He joined the orchestra in 1986 and has appeared as a soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on around 20 occasions, including Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Sinfonia concertante for wind instruments, Bruch's Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra and Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician, he has appeared with the Amadeus Quartet and the Britten Quartet, among others. Urban Claesson is also active as a teacher at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama.

Urban Claesson is principal clarinetist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 1995. He joined the orchestra in 1986 and has appeared as a soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on around 20 occasions, including Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Sinfonia concertante for wind instruments, Bruch's Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra and Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician, he has appeared with the Amadeus Quartet and the Britten Quartet, among others. Urban Claesson is also active as a teacher at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama.

Urban Claesson is principal clarinetist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 1995. He joined the orchestra in 1986 and has appeared as a soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on around 20 occasions, including Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Sinfonia concertante for wind instruments, Bruch's Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra and Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician, he has appeared with the Amadeus Quartet and the Britten Quartet, among others. Urban Claesson is also active as a teacher at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama.

Urban Claesson is principal clarinetist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 1995. He joined the orchestra in 1986 and has appeared as a soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on around 20 occasions, including Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Sinfonia concertante for wind instruments, Bruch's Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra and Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician, he has appeared with the Amadeus Quartet and the Britten Quartet, among others. Urban Claesson is also active as a teacher at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama.

Urban Claesson is principal clarinetist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 1995. He joined the orchestra in 1986 and has appeared as a soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on around 20 occasions, including Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Sinfonia concertante for wind instruments, Bruch's Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra and Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician, he has appeared with the Amadeus Quartet and the Britten Quartet, among others. Urban Claesson is also active as a teacher at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama.

Urban Claesson is principal clarinetist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 1995. He joined the orchestra in 1986 and has appeared as a soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on around 20 occasions, including Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Sinfonia concertante for wind instruments, Bruch's Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra and Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician, he has appeared with the Amadeus Quartet and the Britten Quartet, among others. Urban Claesson is also active as a teacher at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama.

The last of Brahms' violin sonatas took two years to write and, unlike the two previous violin sonatas, is in four movements. The sonata is dedicated to Brahms' friend and colleague Hans von Bülow and was first performed in Budapest in 1888. In contrast to his lyrical and sunnier works, this sonata has a darker and stormier feel.

Urban Claesson is principal clarinetist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 1995. He joined the orchestra in 1986 and has appeared as a soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on around 20 occasions, including Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Sinfonia concertante for wind instruments, Bruch's Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra and Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician, he has appeared with the Amadeus Quartet and the Britten Quartet, among others. Urban Claesson is also active as a teacher at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama.

Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Piano Quintet Op 44 Allegro brillante In modo d'una marcia: Un poco largamente Scherzo: Molto vivace Finale: Allegro ma non troppo Robert Schumann wrote his piano quintet in 1842 for his wife, the star pianist Clara. She premiered it in concert on January 8, 1843. The piece came to set the pattern for the piano quintet genre in general, and Schumann's piece has gained a reputation as one of the foremost chamber music works of the 19th century. There is a relationship with a Schubert work, the Piano Trio No. 2, which Schumann admired. Schumann himself cited Beethoven's String Quintet Op. 29 as another decisive impulse. The stroke of genius was to let the piano lead the development with the strings in an accompanying function. After Mendelssohn played the solo part at a private performance in December 1842, he persuaded Schumann to revise the middle movements and add a second trio to the third movement. The quintet subsequently became one of Clara Schumann's masterpieces. What particularly characterizes the piano quintet is the melodic density and swing of the music, where the impulsiveness of the first movement in the C minor theme of the following mourning march darkens and comes to its senses. The light penetrates again in the scherzo with the two contrasting trio parts, the first soft and gentle, the second restlessly elusive, before the whole work is crowned polyphonically with a 52-bar double fugato. The peculiar character of the mourning march in particular was highlighted by Ingmar Bergman as a leitmotif in the film Fanny and Alexander.