Program Notes - February 12, 2008
Sonata for Violin and Piano in D major, K. 306
Mozart
Mozart styled his early works in this genre as sonatas “for piano with violin accompaniment.” This piece, however, written in Paris in 1778 when Mozart was 22, puts the two instruments on a much more equal footing. They are true partners.
The first movement begins in high spirits with Mozart’s favorite march rhythmic pattern. The piano part is very assertive and brilliant, but the violin asserts itself in the more lyrical second theme. There is a delicious moment at the start of the development section where the two players engage in a brief dialogue of short decorative phrases, like two characters in a comic opera.
The lovely slow movement begins with a lyrical theme from the piano, but soon the violin enters softly and “steals” the melodic lead for itself.
The finale is interesting in several ways. It begins with a graceful theme that is elegant rather than truly brilliant. Only later does the piece begin to sound like a conventional upbeat finale. There is an interesting alternation between 2/4 and 6/8 meter in the two main themes, and toward the close Mozart provides an elaborate concerto-like cadenza for the pianist with discreet help here and there from the violin. Only in the last few bars does the piece work up to a brilliant finish.
Two Movements from “Pelleas et Melisande” Suite
Fauré
These are transcriptions of two movements from a four-movement orchestral suite drawn by Fauré from his incidental music for an 1898 London production of Maurice Maeterlinck’s famous play “Pelleas et Melisande.” Faure’s music predates Claude Debussy’s celebrated opera on the same subject by about four years. Maeterlinck’s play also later inspired music from Sibelius and Schoenberg.
The movements heard tonight were transcribed for violin and piano by Leopold Auer. They are a piece descriptive of Melisande at her spinning wheel and a graceful (and well-known) “Siciliana.” The “Siciliana,” often heard in concert as a separate piece, was actually an adaptation by Fauré of an earlier work for cello and piano.
Mythes, op. 30
Szymanowski
These three rhapsodic pieces for violin and piano were written in 1915 while Szymanowski was waiting out the ravages of World War 1. They show the distinct influence of Ravel and Debussy but also the emerging personality of Szymanowski himself as a composer with his own distinctive voice. They are regarded as the first of his truly mature works. Each piece refers to a different character from Greek mythology.
The first piece, “The Fountain of Arethusa,” has become a popular recital item for violinists who can handle its long, high-lying narrative line (and pianists who can master its intricate accompaniment -- all three of these pieces pose great technical and ensemble challenges for the two players).
“The Fountain of Arethusa” is “water music” in the tradition of Ravel’s “Jeux d’Eau” and Debussy’s “Reflets dans l’Eau.” The violin enters in a very high register and spins out a long melodic line over liquid runs and leaps in the piano part. The ending, however, is curiously downbeat.
The second piece,”Narcissus,” also has a dreamy, meditative quality about it, a singing melodic line in the violin and an elaborate piano part. The final piece “Dryad and Pan,” is more overtly virtuosic and showy than the first two. There are moments of quizzical dialogue between the two players and two brief stretches for unaccompanied violin. Like the other two pieces in the set, it ends quietly and rather ambiguously.
Rhapsody no. 2 for Violin and Piano
Bartók
Bela Bartók’s two rhapsodies for violin were written in 1928. They are frequently heard in their alternate versions for violin and orchestra -- in fact Bartók scholar Halsey Stevens suggested that the piano versions seem to be sketches meant to be orchestrated.
The second rhapsody is in the conventional form of a slow section followed by a faster one (the Hungarian terms are respectively lassu and friss). The open slow section begins with a folklike lyrical melody in the violin. As the movement proceeds the violin carries the tune most of the time, only occasionally yielding precedence to the piano. The faster second section is full of peasant vigor, with stamping rhythms constantly repeated, repetitive rhythmic patterns and virtuoso flourishes for the violin. The musical excitement builds steadily until the end.
Sonata no. 2 in D major, op. 94A
Prokofieff
This work was originally written and premiered in 1943 as a flute sonata. The violin version was prepared at the instigation of David Oistrakh the following year. These days it is more frequently heard in its violin incarnation.
In any case this basically cheerful and lyrical piece is an interesting example of a composer “doing his own thing” under trying circumstances. The war between Russia and Nazi Germany was in full swing, Prokofieff’s homeland was sustaining horrific damage and immense loss of life; yet he produced this tuneful and high-spirited piece as the bombs fell and the guns roared.
The upbeat mood is set at the outset in a first movement that features two memorable melodic ideas, both of them preaching serenity and optimism to the listener. The texture is kept light, the mood genial. The scherzo that follows is full of wit, brilliance and high spirits, set off by a brief central section that grows reflective, even a little sentimental.
The andante is a lovely song, one of the loveliest melodies Prokofieff ever wrote. The finale begins as a vigorous dance-like piece, a kind of Russified polka. The second subject is built on a stepwise rising motive in the bass of the piano. There follows a contrasting quiet section before the opening dance bursts in again and the work races to a brilliant conclusion.
Program Notes by Robert Finn