Grieg began composing his third and final violin sonata in the autumn of 1886. While the first two sonatas were written in a few weeks, this one took him several months to complete. The sonata remains the most popular of the three works and has established itself in the standard repertoire. It was also a personal favorite of Grieg's. The sonata premiered with Grieg himself at the piano with the renowned violinist Adolph Brodsky in Leipzig. In a sense, Grieg built upon Norwegian folk melodies and rhythms in this three-movement sonata. However, Grieg considered the second sonata the "Norwegian" sonata, while the third sonata was "the one with the broader horizon." This was the last piece Grieg composed in sonata form.