Eugène Ysaÿe (1858-1931)
Sonata No. 2 in A Minor "Obsession", Op. 27
There is beauty, challenge, and yes, perfection that set apart Bach’s six suites for unaccompanied violin (three sonatas and three partitas) and hold performers and audiences alike in awe. Following a 1924 performance of one of these works by famed virtuoso Joseph Szigeti, one of the world’s great violinists, Belgian Eugène Ysaÿe (1858-1931), felt compelled to shut himself in his room and in 24 hours sketch out his own highly original six solo sonatas. Completed shortly thereafter, each was dedicated to a prominent virtuoso of the day: Hungarian Joseph Szigeti, Frenchman Jacques Thibaud, Rumanian Georges Enesco, Austrian Fritz Kreisler, fellow Belgian and student Mathieu Crickboom, and Spaniard Manuel Quiroga. While the spirit of Bach inevitably hovers over these works, the composer wrote, “I allowed free improvisation to reign. Each sonata constitutes a kind of little poème where I abandoned the violin to its fantasies. I wanted to associate musical interest with grand qualities of true virtuosity, a much neglected association since instrumentalists no longer venture into composition and are abandoning this task to those who do not know the resources and secrets of the medium.” Szigeti felt that these sonatas meant more to Ysaÿe than mere compositions, indeed that “they were perhaps a subconscious attempt on his part to perpetuate his own elusive playing style.” In the absence of much in the way of recordings (his only recordings were from 1912), today’s artists and audiences can be grateful that these pieces that have so enriched the solo violin repertory also serve to transmit a hint of Ysaÿe’s unique artistry.
Sonata No. 2 in a minor , dedicated to Jacques Thibaud, falls into four movements. The first “Obsession” is a prelude which begins by directly quoting two measures of the prelude of Bach’s Partita in E Major. The obsession is Ysaÿe’s with Bach’s spirit as well as the Dies Irae motive which haunts and unifies the entire work. The second movement, while not marked such, has the feel of a Siciliano presented in two-part counterpoint, the Dies Irae pronouncing a quiet benediction. The Dies Irae motive played pizzicato introduces the third movement, Dance of the Shadows, developing into a theme and variations. The finale, a “furious” dance, utilizing ponticello (introducing a ghostly element), drives a fiery virtuosity relentlessly to the final chords.
Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
Violin Sonata in E Minor, Op. 82
1917 found England’s most celebrated romantic composer, Edward Elgar (1857-1934) exhausted by the noise of battle, depressed over the destruction and in ill health physically. He longed for peace and the quiet of the countryside. An infected tonsil necessitated surgery and subsequent convalescence. The following year, Elgar’s wife acquired a country house, “Brinkwells,” a simple thatched cottage with a lovely separate workroom in the garden where Elgar could recover and compose. The area was full of lovely woods and endless paths for walks. As he gained strength, the composer began to work in the genre that he had longed to explore for many years–chamber music. He began sketches of the Violin Sonata in E Minor, a String Quartet, and a Piano Quintet. As the pieces developed, W.H. Reed, violinist and concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra, was a frequent visitor to “Brinkwells,” contributing his expertise in the technicalities of writing for the violin. Alice Elgar was pleased with the effect of the countryside on her husband’s well-being, commenting in her diary, “E. writing wonderful new music, different from anything else of his ... wood magic. So elusive and delicate.” Although Elgar had composed other chamber pieces, these three are his major contribution to the genre, and along with the Cello Concerto were his major final original compositions. The first performance of the Sonata was given by Reed at a British Music Society meeting in March 1919. He also gave the first public performance the following June. The work was published by Novello later that year.
Contrary to Elgar’s propensity to expansiveness found in his larger works, the sonata is noteworthy for its conciseness. The opening Allegro, marked “Risoluto,” has a heroic feel. The first theme of the second movement, “Romance,” demonstrates what Lady Elgar may have been referring to as “wood magic.” Light and airy, it is contrasted with a lyrical central theme. The violin, muted, brings back the first theme. The piece was dedicated to an old family friend, Marie Joshua, who died four days after Elgar had inscribed it to her. A quiet return to calm, immediately preceding the final coda of the third movement, is to be taken as a tribute to her memory.
Ralph Vaughan Willliams (1872-1958)
The Lark Ascending
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) began work on his lyric tone poem, The Lark Ascending: Romance for Violin and Small Orchestra or Piano, in 1914. The war with Germany necessitated that the piece and his other compositions in progress be laid aside while he was serving with the British army in France. Returning from the war, he experienced a craving to express in music a deepened love of eternal and natural things. This postwar period yielded some of his quietest, most meditative music, including a final revision of this piece. The work was written for the brilliant violinist Marie Hall, who gave the first performance with piano in Gloucestershire, December, 1920, and the London premiere with an orchestra conducted by Adrian Boult in June 1921. George Meredith’s poem provides the inspiration for this transcendent reverie: