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singing melody and triplet accompaniment. De-
velopment immediately moves to F major then
modulates through several other keys. The main
themes return in near-original form.
Beethoven composed a set of variations for his
middle movement. The piano emerges as the
leading instrument in the theme and its first
variation. Major- and minor-key variations
shift interest to the violin. The third variation
emphasizes the conflict between
piano
and
for-
tissimo
dynamic extremes. Instead of restoring
the theme’s original shape, the final variation
continues to expand the melody. The
Rondo
fi-
nale provides a playful conclusion to the sonata.
Its 6/8 refrain contains enough syncopation to
guard against rhythmic monotony. The move-
ment’s structural outlines remain with prevail-
ing Classical traditions, until the final refrain,
which Beethoven begins in the “wrong” key
(E-flat major) before sliding down a half-step to
the true tonic (D major).
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS (1835–1921)
Violin Sonata No. 1 in D minor, op. 75
In his 50th year, Saint-Saëns was celebrated as
one of France’s foremost musicians. A brilliant
pianist, organist, teacher, and composer, he was
the founder of the French musical nationalism
that stood in opposition to the predominantly
German aesthetic. Saint-Saëns published arti-
cles attacking blind reverence to music by Ger-
man composers, particularly Wagner. He wrote
sarcastically, “People who were incapable of
playing the easiest things on the piano and who
did not know a word of German spent whole
evenings working through the most difficult
scores in the world. …Wagner had invented ev-
erything; no music at all existed before him and
none could exist after.” This anti-German tract
later appeared in his collection of essays,
Har-
monie et mélodie
, published in 1885.
The Violin Sonata No. 1—written in 1885 and
dedicated to the Belgian composer and violin-
ist Pierre Joseph Martin Marsick—actually was
Saint-Saëns’s third work for this duo combi-
nation. By the end of his long, productive life,
he would compose seven works for violin and
piano, including two sonatas. In the First Sona-
ta, Saint-Saëns exerted his independent French
spirit and broke from traditional formal struc-
tures established by German composers. Each
movement followed a distinctive arrangement
of musical ideas. In addition, he linked together
the first two and final two movements.
Saint-Saëns’s countrymen immediately recog-
nized the beauty of this sonata. Marcel Proust
partly modeled the fictitious composer Vinteuil
in his novel
A la recherche du temps perdu
on
Saint-Saëns. Vinteuil’s compositions include a
favorite “little phrase” of music, presumably a
fragment that Proust also admired, from the so-
nata. Later, the novelist disavowed his fondness
for the music of Saint-Saëns, ironically becom-
ing an ardent supporter of Wagner.
The Sonata No. 1 in D minor begins with an
Al-
legro agitato
whose first theme contains almost
unrelenting rhythmic activity. A second melo-
dy is more tranquil. The initial theme returns
briefly then is followed by a
fugato
begun by the
piano. Themes and modes (major and minor)
continue alternating. A sustained violin pitch
provides a link to the slow movement. Saint-
Saëns builds his
Adagio
on three ideas: an ex-
pressive slow-moving violin line, a more active
and virtuosic melody, and a theme built from a
repeating melodic figure.
The third movement begins after a pause. Al-
though not so entitled, this music has the char-
acter of a moderately fast waltz. The violin and
piano exchange melodic phrases. A
trio
portion
is sung out by the violin, and then the opening
music returns. A chorale-like piano statement
connects this movement to the finale. Rapid
violin playing dominates the first theme. The
high,
appassionato
tune provides contrast. An
episodic interlude is followed by a resumption
of the two main themes. Saint-Saëns further
enlarges this movement by introducing a quiet
theme. Excitement builds in the final drive to
the conclusion.
EUGÈNE YSAŸE (1858–1931)
Sonata for Solo Violin in E minor, op. 27, no. 4
The Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe ranked as one
of the great artists of his age, but it was another
musician’s interpretation of Bach’s sonatas and
partitas for solo violin that inspired the creation
of his own half-dozen sonatas, op. 27 (1924).
Ysaÿe encountered the awe-inspiring music at
one of Joseph Szigeti’s performances in Brussels:
“The genius of Bach frightens one who would
like to compose in the medium of his sonatas
and partitas,” wrote the Belgian. “These works
represent a summit, and there is never a ques-
tion of rising above it.” Moved by the dual art-
istry of the Baroque composer and his modern
interpreter, Ysaÿe returned home and sketched
his six solo violin works in a single night.
Ysaÿe dedicated each sonata to one of his vio-
linist contemporaries: Szigeti, Jacques Thibaud,
Georges Enesco, Fritz Kreisler, Mathieu Crick-
boom, and Manuel Quiroga. The Sonata No. 4 in
E minor, dedicated to Fritz Kreisler (1875–1962),
contains three movements. The first evokes
the
Allemande
, a slow dance that originated in
Germany during the 16th century and eventu-
ally
became the opening dance of the standard
Baroque suite. Next comes the stately triple-me-
ter
Sarabande
, an Oriental dance that came to
Europe via Spain. Ysaÿe’s dance begins with
the violinist playing
pizzicato
. The rapid
Final
,
which trips along in uneven 5/8 time, changes to
a major key near the end.
MANUEL DE FALLA (1876–1946)
Suite populaire espagnole
(arranged for violin and piano by Paweł Kochański)
Manuel de Falla’s first compositions were zarzu-
elas—a light form of Spanish musical theater—
composed to relieve some of his family’s finan-
cial difficulties. In 1902, he began formal music
training with Felipe Pedrell, the father of Spanish
musical nationalism and the teacher of Enrique
Granados and Isaac Albéniz. Falla achieved his
first major triumph as a composer with the op-
era
La vida breve
(1905). Following its successful
first performance in Nice, Falla left to study in
Paris with Paul Dukas, with whose support
La
vida breve
was performed in a revised, reorches-
trated version at the Opéra-Comique in 1913.
During this production, Falla began setting Span-
ish folk songs for Luisa Vela, the Spanish soprano
appearing in the principal role of Salud. He com-
pleted these
Siete canciones populares españolas
(Seven Spanish Folk Songs) in 1914. Falla and
Vela premiered the collection the following Jan-
uary 14 in Madrid. The texts and melodies were
derived from actual folk songs of Murcia, Anda-
lusia, Aragon, and northern Spain. These seven
pieces variously evoked the melancholy, gentle,
Camille Saint-Saëns
Eugène Ysaÿe
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