IDAGIO | Medtner: Works for Violin and Piano (Complete), Vol. 2 - Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 / 2 Canzonas With Dances 747313029976

Featuring

Laurence Kayaleh
Paul Stewart
Nikolai Medtner

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Cultural Impact

A Medtner Society was founded under the patronage of the Maharaja of Mysore, an unusually cultivated man and fine pianist, to promote and record Medtner playing his own works, creating an invaluable legacy.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Medtner's scores are unique, described as distinctly Russian, unabashedly Romantic, and full-bodied, yet intellectually devised and highly disciplined, with every note having a purpose or 'a destiny'.

Historical Context

The Russian Revolution of October 1917 drastically changed Medtner's prosperous life, leading him and his wife to leave Russia in late 1921 and never return, except for a brief concert tour.

Composition History

Medtner's First Violin Sonata was inspired by his fascination with the myth of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and intoxication, which he studied as part of his rigorous upbringing in Greek and Latin classics.

Composition History

Medtner's Second Violin Sonata, known as the 'Spring Sonata', was inspired by homesickness and memories of springtime in Russia during his years of exile.

Critical Reception

Sergey Prokofiev, who was not an admirer of Medtner's aesthetics, ironically used a harmonic progression directly from Medtner's Second Canzona in his own Eighth Piano Sonata, completed seventeen years later.

Composer Biography

Nikolay Medtner, a Russian composer, was primarily a composer for the piano, but the violin was prominent in his life as he played it as a child and both his wife and elder brother were professional violinists.