Poulenc struggled with the composition of his Violin Sonata, refusing to create what he called 'prima donna violin over piano arpeggios,' which explains its originality and some tender borrowings from Tchaikovsky.
Composition History
Gabriel Fauré's Violin Sonata no.1 in A major was written when the composer was thirty years old and joyfully engaged to Marianne Viardot, daughter of the celebrated Pauline Viardot.
Composer Biography
Karol Szymanowski, a man of wide-ranging European culture and an indefatigable traveller, fought throughout his short life for the recognition of a Polish identity in music.
Critical Reception
Camille Saint-Saëns, a friend and former teacher of Fauré, famously praised Fauré's Violin Sonata no.1, noting its 'novelty of form, unusual modulations, curious sonorities, and the use of the most unexpected rhythms'.
Composer Biography
Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst, a violin prodigy from southern Moravia, was so fascinated and dazzled by Paganini's playing in Vienna that Paganini became his absolute model, shaping his career.
Composition History
Francis Poulenc's Sonata for Violin and Piano, the only one he didn't destroy, was composed in 1942-1943 in memory of the Andalusian poet Federico García Lorca, who was murdered by the Francoists.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Szymanowski's 'Myths' triptych, inspired by Greek mythology, does not evoke the ancient world in a neo-classical style; instead, it takes a detached, 'impressionist' approach to the myths.
You might also enjoy...
Virtuoso
Favourite Violin Encores
Vignettes for Violin
French Violin Sonatas
Joseph Szigeti Plays Schubert, Corelli, Debussy, Lalo, Tchaikovsky & Bach
12 Stradivari
Portrait
5 Decades of Treasured Performances: Camilla Wicks (Live)
Godowsky: 12 Impressions
Dvořák, Ysaÿe, Matsushita & Wieniawski: Works for Violin & Piano
