The second half of the 19th century represented something of a ‘Golden Age’ of the violin sonata in France: Influential violin sonatas such as those by Franck, Fauré and Saint-Saëns were among the successful works of this genre, inspiring many further compositions.

Saint-Saëns’ Violin Sonata no. 1 was incorporated into the repertoire of numerous late 19th-century violinists soon after it was written. It was also this sonata which inspired Marcel Proust when he wrote about the fictional sonata...