Glinka’s Sonata for Viola and Piano was written between 1825 and 1828, but remained unfinished; in the present edition it has been completed by Vadim Borisovsky, who has also edited the viola part. Those sections realised by the editor have been printed in small type.
As Glinka himself realised, the Viola Sonata is the most successful of his pre-Italian compositions; although intended primarily for domestic music-making (Glinka himself played both viola and piano) it contains, to use his own expression, “some quite clever counterpoint.” Free from the Italianate mannerisms which mar some of his larger chamber works, it has a directness and charm which make it an important addition to the viola repertoire.