Brahms wrote his First Violin Sonata in 1878-79, immediately after the Violin Concerto. It was conceived as a sonatina and has little of the extrovert, forceful power of the concerto. But it has an endearingly songful Adagio, played with much delicacy here. There is no scherzo, but the finale quotes one of Brahms’s songs, ‘Regenlied’, and maintains the serenity of the whole work. Brahms wrote to a friend that this movement suggested the mood of a soft rainy afternoon, and this is well captured by Jennifer Pike and Tom Poster, who identify readily with the work’s intimacy.

Robert Schumann’s three violin sonatas were inspired by his friendship with the young violinist Joseph Joachim. The First (1851) is comparatively compact, its opening movement dominated by its principal theme (to be brought back briefly near the close of the finale). Again, there is no scherzo and the central movement – a gentle dance-like Allegretto – makes an unassertive contrast. The mood then changes in the busy finale, something of a moto perpetuo – good humoured, virtuoso (especially for the piano), but not forceful. It rounds off the sonata very effectively.

With Clara Schumann’s Three Romances (1853, also dedicated to Joachim) we return to a world that is all but elegiac. Each piece has its own unassertive character (the second is a charming Allegretto) but overflows with an atmospheric and melodic appeal; the last has a busy but not assertive accompaniment.

Pike’s timbre throughout is warmly appealing, and she shares Poster’s sensitive response to each work. The Chandos recording is balanced (not forwardly) in a warm acoustic, and suits the music and music-making admirably. This is well worth exploring.