Ravinia 2023 Issue 6

BENNETT GORDON HALL 2:00 PM SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2023 TESSA LARK, violin # YSAŸE Sonata No. 5 for Solo Violin L’aurore: Lento assai Danse rustique: Allegro giocoso molto moderato— Moderato amabile—Tempo primo LARK Original work * YSAŸE Sonata No. 1 for Solo Violin * Grave: Lento assai Fugato: Molto moderato Allegretto poco scherzoso: Amabile Finale con brio: Allegro fermo LARK Original work * YSAŸE Sonata No. 3 for Solo Violin (“Ballade”) Lento molto sostenuto: In modo di recitativo—Molto moderato quasi lento—Allegro in Tempo giusto e con bravura—Tempo poco più vivo e ben marcato BACH Largo from Sonata No. 3 for Solo Violin YSAŸE Sonata No. 2 for Solo Violin Obsession: Prélude (Poco vivace) Malinconia: Poco lento (con Sordino) Danse des ombres: Sarabande (Lento) Les furies: Allegro furioso LARK Sonata No. 1 * YSAŸE Sonata No. 4 for Solo Violin Allemande: Lento maestoso Sarabande: Quasi lento (pizz, avec vibrations) Finale: Presto ma non troppo —Giocosamente e meno mosso—Tempo primo—Più animato ma poco LARK Original work * YSAŸE Sonata No. 6 for Solo Violin Allegro giusto non troppo vivo—Allegretto poco scherzando—Allegro Tempo primo There will be no intermission in this program. # Ravinia Steans Music Institute alum * First performance at Ravinia EUGÈNE YSAŸE (1858–1931) Six Sonatas for Solo Violin, op. 27 Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe ranked as one of the great artists of his age, but it was anoth- er musician’s interpretation of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, BWV 1001–6, that inspired the creation of his own half-dozen unaccompanied works. Ysaÿe encountered this awe-inspiring music in July 1923 when Joseph Szigeti performed the Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001, in Brussels. “The genius of Bach frightens one who would like to com- pose in the medium of his sonatas and parti- tas,” wrote Ysaÿe. “These works represent a summit, and there is never a question of ris- ing above it.” Moved by the dual artistry of the Baroque composer and his modern interpret- er, Ysaÿe returned his summer quarters in the seaside resort of Knokke and sketched the six solo sonatas of his op. 27 within a single day, according to legend. The overall tonal structure of Ysaÿe’s collec- tion parallels Bach’s, beginning in G minor and ending in E major. Bach’s half-dozen compositions alternate between sonatas (four-movement church sonata) and partitas (dance suite). There is no comparable formal scheme in Ysaÿe’s collection. Revisions took place over a two-week period; the compos- er dedicated each sonata to an imaginative young violinist, and the entire collection ap- peared in print with a dedication to Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, herself a violin student of Ysaÿe. The rediscovery of Ysaÿe’s bound sketches in 2018 not only shed light on his compositional process but also revealed a previously un- known, mostly complete three-movement “seventh” sonata. In actuality, this was an al- ternate version of the sixth—now dubbed Sonate posthume , op. 27, no. 6bis—themati- cally independent of the final version and in the key of C major. Szigeti recalled seeing this “very precious” green volume in Knokke be- fore it passed to Philip Newman, the British violinist who played the “funeral march” Eugène Ysaÿe from Ysaÿe’s Poème élégiaque , op. 12, at the composer’s funeral. When Newman died, the Belgian violinist Josette Lavergne inherited his belongings. She in turn donated the sketches (now called the “Lavergne Manu- script”) to the Brussels Conservatory, where the new sonata was discovered. Ysaÿe dedicated the opening work to the person who inspired his collection: Hun- garian violinist Jo- seph Szigeti (1892– 1973). This Sonata No. 1 in G minor closely parallels the four-movement for- mal structure found in Bach’s opening wor k , a lt houg h Ysaÿe’s musical lan- guage embraces early-20th-century idioms. In both sonatas, the opening movement is a prelude followed by a fugal piece, a lilting movement employing triplet rhythms, and a rapid triple-meter finale. The Sonata No. 2 in A minor, dedicated to the French violin- ist Jacques Thibaud (1880–1953), is in four movements. Ysaÿe threads the “Dies irae” chant from the Requiem Mass throughout the sonata. Obsession contains three the- matic fragments, set apart in the score by brackets, which become this preludial move- ment’s musical “obsessions.” Malinconia (Melancholy) is a slow, expressive piece for muted violin that ends in an ad libitum solil- oquy. Danse des ombres (Dance of the Ghosts) employs a changing-meter sarabande melody in a series of character variations. Les furies explores radical contrasts of dynamics ( pia- nissimo and fortissimo ) and bow placement (regular and near the bridge). The Romanian vio- linist George Enes- cu (1881–1955), who spent much of his life in Paris, received the dedication of Sonata No. 3 in D minor. This is a sin- gle-movement, but sectional, work en- titled “Ballade.” An introduction “in the style of a recitative” is succeeded by a moderate section in 5/4. The final portion—a rapid, bravura segment—dominates the movement. Joseph Szigeti Jacques Thibaud George Enescu RAVINIA MAGAZINE • AUGUST 28 – SEPTEMBER 10, 2023 30