On this debut release from Seattle Chamber Music Society’s new label, SCMS Records, Artistic Director James Ehnes and longtime collaborator Andrew Armstrong bring fresh perspective to Johannes Brahms’s complete works for violin and piano. Recorded at Koerner Hall in Toronto, the album spans more than three decades of Brahms’s creative life – from the youthful fire of the early Scherzo in C minor to the emotional depth and maturity of the three violin sonatas.

Though Brahms famously questioned his own affinity for the violin, these works reveal a composer of extraordinary sensitivity to the instrument’s voice. The First Sonata unfolds with lyrical nostalgia, shaped by echoes of his own songs; the Second radiates warmth and ease, filled with gracious melodies and an intimate dialogue between partners; and the Third surges with restless intensity, pushing both instruments to symphonic heights of expression.

Together, these performances capture the full expressive range of Brahms’ writing for violin and piano – music that is by turns reflective, tender, and passionately driven – brought to life by two artists whose musical partnership balances virtuosity with deep musical insight.