Listening to a new piece of music is often a bit like tasting a new bottle of wine - you might like it, you might hate it, and every single one tastes different.

Violet's Tasting Notes: "Naughty and nostalgic."

Laura's Notes: "Turbulent, mischievous, irreverent but with heart."

In musical terms, the word "Sonatina/e" generally denotes a composition which is not meant to be taken too seriously, the word implying a diminutive form of the formal and highly structured Sonata. It can, sometimes, denote that a piece may be of a simpler, perhaps more instructional nature -- but anyone who has attempted to play through Honegger's Sonatine for Violin and Cello can attest that this is certainly not the case.

Given the birth of Honegger's daughter took place just one month before composition, it is highly likely that these Sonatine - the only he ever wrote - are not to be taken seriously because they are filled with the messiness, humor, and frenetic energy that enters into the world with the welcome of a new baby girl.

Such an expression of informality is an almost radical diversion from Honegger's lifetime canon - he suffered from frequent bouts of depression, was deeply self-isolating, lived as an ex-pat navigating multiple cultures over the course of two wars, and put upon himself an immense pressure to achieve perfection in the artistic realm (with the expectation that everyone else should, too).

For once, it seems, Honegger cuts himself a bit of slack and experiments freely. Deeply inspired by Bach and known as a master in modern counterpoint, the two voices of cello and violin stand on equal, collaborative footing, weaving together and apart in conversation, carrying echoes of one another like memories, and building on each other's ideas like friends growing old together. The result is a dense composition that takes the listener on a constantly changing journey -- one that helps you rediscover lost joy and hope.

Arthur Honegger was born in France in 1892 to Swiss parents, and generally considered himself a Swiss composer. A student of violin and of harmony in composition, Honegger's first true work -- the ballet Le dit des jeux du monde -- debuted in 1918, a transformational era at the start of what is known in the classical world as the Modern or Modernist era.

Honegger, however, was in his own way an anti-Modernist. Alongside five other composers based in Paris at the time, he created the group known as Les Six, a neoclassical collaborative that rejected the impressionistic sensibilities of composers like Debussy and Ravel.

His approach proved wildly successful; his 1927 opera Antigone was a cultural phenomenon with sets designed by Pablo Picasso and costumes by Coco Chanel.

But, like most great artists, Honegger's personal life was... pretty bizarre. He married a pianist, Andrée Vaurabourg, but insisted they live in separate apartments. He required, as he put it, "solitude" for the sake of his compositions. So Andrée lived almost the rest of her life with her mother, and Honegger visited them both every day for lunch. They had one daughter (the one who possibly inspired the Sonatine), and then Honegger had an affair with the opera singer Claire Croiza with whom he had a son. Yet Andrée and Arthur remained together until the end of their lives, living together only twice -- one year where Honegger cared for Andrée during a long illness, and the last year of Honegger's life where Andrée cared for him after he could no longer care for himself. It was a strange and untraditional marriage, however in its own way, deeply loving and even romantic.

World War II, like many artists at the time, had a great influence on his work. Trapped in Paris during the Nazi occupation, he began to write prolifically, and when the opportunity arose for him to flee back to Switzerland -- one of the most enviable escapes from the war -- he chose instead to remain in Paris and join the French Resistance. But the war took an immense toll on his mental state, and he was hurled into a deep depression from which he never fully recovered. He hardly composed again after the war was over.

Honegger's legacy is immense. He was given a state funeral by the French government after his death in 1955 even though he never obtained French citizenship, and he appeared on the Swiss twenty franc banknote from 1996 until 2017. A radical, a hermit, a counterpoint purist and at the same time a musical innovator, Arthur Honegger lived a contradictory and untraditional life, but it was one filled with beauty and world-altering purpose.

Listening to music is often a bit like tasting a new bottle of wine - you might like it, you might hate it, and every single one tastes different.

Violet's Tasting Notes: "Like summer; cuddled."

Laura's Tasting Notes: "Tipsy, impressionistic, and reminiscent of calm days at sea."

Not much is known about the context Fauconnier's Dialogues for Violin and Cello, not even the date of publication. What we do know is that it was published in Brussels, meaning that it was likely published during the years Fauconnier was studying at the Brussels conservatory or while he was working as an accompanist there after graduation, sometime between 1834 and 1839.

This was an important time for classical music, right at the start of the Romantic Era -- just after the age of Beethoven, the Romantic Era was all about writing with emotion, inspired often by nature, literature, and poetry. Germany is often considered to have been the compositional hub of romantic era music, with France having a lighter and more delicate compositional disposition. Straddled between both throughout his upbringing in Belgium, one can hear both the deep emotive influence of German romanticism and the lilting melodies of the French.

When listening to the piece, think of the title itself -- not necessarily a duet, but a dialogue. There are few moments wherein both cello and violin play in unison, instead handing melodies back and forth like a musical conversation. Fitting, given the dual influence over Fauconnier's cultural upbringing, don't you think?

Benoît Constant Fauconnier was born in Fontaine-l’Évêque, Belgium in 1816 at the end of the Classical Era of music. Despite not being a well-known name to modern ears, at the time, Fauconnier was something of a compositional celebrity. One of the first in the era of Romantic music, Fauconnier was close friends and a frequent collaborator with C. De Bériot -- son of the absolutely monumental virtuoso violinist who nearly everyone studying the instrument knows of.

With his first piece already completed at the age of 14, Fauconnier wrote prolifically, completing over 100 compositions throughout his lifetime. He studied at the Brussels conservatory, then relocated to Paris sometime in the 1840s where his works flourished. He was known at the time as quite a famous musician, working as an accompanist at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique, as an organist at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, as an attaché to the Maison de Chimay. Fauconnier worked with some of the greatest French writers and librettists of all time, including Henri de Saint-Georges, Pierre Véron, and the name we all know -- Victor Hugo.

But even throughout his successful years in Paris, Fauconnier's heart remained in the small town of Thuin in Belgium. Towards the end of his life, he returned to the town to retire in peace, surrounded with music as the organist at Ville Basse Church and director of the local wind band until his death in 1898.

Fauconnier remains to this day an icon in the town of Thuin; a beautiful tree lined plaza was named for him, a bust of his likeness sits perched upon a well-maintained monument to his work, and you when visiting the town may even find yourself strolling down B.C. Fauconnier Street. Sometimes, history isn't fair to those who have changed the world, but from what little we know about him, we certainly can be sure that Benoît-Constant Fauconnier absolutely did.

Listening to music is often a bit like tasting a new bottle of wine - you might like it, you might hate it, and every single one tastes different.

Violet's Tasting Notes: "A bit too optimistic; athletic."

Laura's Tasting Notes: "Glorious, exuberant, and deliciously overstated."

A virtuoso on both oboe and cello — nearly every cellist has encountered his instructional etudes — Kummer uses his expertise to craft soaring melodic lines that are perfectly suited to both instruments and clefs.

Friedrich August Kummer was born in 1797 in Meningen, now Germany. Born into a famous musical family, he learned oboe from his father, a court musician. Kummer went on to study under the famous cellist Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer, and quickly developed an unrivaled skill on the instrument.

In 1814, Kummer joined the Dresden Electoral Court Orchestra as an oboist - and then moved to the cello section in 1817. Kummer went on to replace his own teacher, taking his seat as principal cellist of the orchestra.

Quickly gaining recognition for his phenomenal playing, Kummer toured Europe with his cello throughout the 1820s and 1830s. He joined a quartet with other famous musicians, including François Schubert with whom he went on to tour with as a duet.

A pedagogue as well as a performer, Kummer's name is well known among cellists as having written one of the most universally used instructional methods worldwide. Two of his students include his beloved sons, Ernst and Max, who went on to become excellent cellists in their own right.

Over the course of his lifetime, Kummer published over 400 compositions. While never having truly developed his own voice as a composer, his excellent understanding and mastery of instrumental playing allow his works to sing in a way few composers know how to achieve. Kummer died in Dresden in 1879, king of the musical scene, and heralded for centuries after.