Therese Slatter

CONSVTY 5593
Program Notes
November 5th, 2019

Eugène Ysaÿe (1858-1931)

Sonata No. 3 “Ballade”, Op. 27

As a violinist, Eugène Ysaÿe was praised by his violin virtuoso contemporaries for his
exceptional left-hand agility and precision, his passionate and expressive style of playing, and his
ability to make the instrument sing at any dynamic level. His playing inspired the composers
who knew him, and several, including Ernest Chausson, Claude Debussy, César Franck, and
others, dedicated their compositions to him. Through his playing, teaching, and composing, he is
said to have revolutionized the Belgian violin school to one of serious musicianship and
innovation. Ysaÿe became internationally famous and led a successful performance career for
over twenty years. As he grew older, complications related to diabetes and neuritis caused his
violin playing to decline, so he eventually shifted his focus to composing and conducting.
Inspired by Joseph Szigeti’s performance of Bach’s Sonata No. 1 in G minor, Eugène
Ysaÿe composed his own set of six sonatas for solo violin in 1923. He dedicated each sonata to a
contemporary violinist, and Sonata No. 3 in D minor, op. 27, “Ballade” is dedicated to the
Romanian composer and violinist George Enescu. As a child Enescu studied with a Gypsy
violinist, and this sonata pays homage to Enescu’s musical background through its Gypsy-like
rhapsodic and improvisational qualities. Enescu said, “For anyone who heard Ysaÿe play, this
sonata would come closest to showing his approach to the violin. It is titled “Ballade”, and its
single movement opens with an introduction in the style of a recitative which is typical both of
the way in which Ysaÿe would improvise and of the improvisatory quality he would bring to the
music of other composers, making it sound new and fresh at every performance. The main
movement shows the strong rhythmic impact of his playing, and the whole work is characteristic
of his beauty and grace, the ease with which he could encompass the fingerboard and bring out
inner voices.” Throughout the sonata’s seven minute duration, Ysaÿe tests the limits of violin
virtuosity with rapid arpeggios and double stops. The sonata closes with an ascending chromatic
series of chords for an exhilarating finish.

George Enescu (1881-1955)

Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano in A minor “dans le caractère populaire roumain”, Op.
25

1. Moderato malinconico
2. Andante sostenuto e misterioso
3. Allegro con brio, ma non troppo mosso

Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, and conductor George Enescu was a child prodigy. He
was admitted to the Vienna Conservatory at the age of seven, and he graduated at the age of
twelve. Before beginning his formal studies in Vienna, the young Enescu studied violin with a
Gypsy violinist. He developed a deep fascination with the folk music of his home country, and
many of his compositions are heavily influenced by this style.
Enescu wrote his Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano in 1926 while he was finalizing his opera
OEdipe. The premiere took place in 1927, and Enescu played the violin part with the composer
and pianist Nicolae Caravia. The sonata was well-received both in Romania and in Paris, and it
remains one of his most frequently performed works.
Enescu subtitled his sonata, ”dans le caractère populaire roumain”, or “in Romanian folk
character”. The violin and piano imitate the lautari, Romanian bands that featured instruments
like the cimbalom, kobza, and violin. The violin acts as a gypsy fiddle, and the piano imitates the
cimbalom and kobza. The score includes detailed instructions to indicate precisely when and
how to execute vibrato, rubato, and various extended left-hand and bow techniques on the violin.
These instructions result in a work that sounds fully improvised and authentic to the Romanian
folk tradition. The three-movement work takes the listener on a rhapsodic journey, with writing
that resembles a work of folklore. The first movement is subdued and pensive, and the violin and
piano create an exotic atmosphere through heavily ornamented oriental scales. The celestial
music of the first movement transforms into dreamlike nostalgia in the second movement, which
opens and closes with harmonics played by the violin and contains sweeping chromatic gestures
in the contrasting middle section. The third movement is a rustic and fiery dance, and the work
concludes with dramatic percussive effects from both instruments.