“Brahms is egoism incarnate, without himself being aware of it,” postulated the great violin virtuoso Joseph Joachim within a year of his first meeting with the young composer. Yet Joachim conceded “I have never come across a talent like his before.” Brahms himself was later to write that he “would never think to live in the same city joined with him [ie. Joachim] in collaborative activity.” Yet collaborate they did, the two giving concert tours and Joachim acting as an advisor when it came to Brahms writing for his instrument. These sonatas, boasting a lyrical architectural gravitas unencumbered by the flash filigree that adorned many of the virtuosic fripperies penned in the second half of the 19th century, are testament to that knowledge shared.