To the Spring

Featuring

Elena Urioste
Tom Poster
Edvard Grieg

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Interpretation

The performers, Elena Urioste and Tom Poster, transcribed two Grieg miniatures, 'Våren' and 'Til våren', for violin and piano to serve as 'palate cleansers' between the sonatas.

Performer Biography

Elena Urioste, the violinist on this album, is a former BBC New Generation Artist and the founder and Artistic Director of Chamber Music by the Sea, an annual festival.

Composer Biography

Grieg's musical potential was recognized by composer and violinist Ole Bull, who urged Grieg's parents to send their 15-year-old son to the Leipzig Conservatoire.

Instruments

Elena Urioste performs on an Alessandro Gagliano violin from Naples, circa 1706, and a Nicolas Kittel bow, both on extended loan from the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

Performer Biography

Tom Poster, the pianist on this album, is also a successful composer and arranger, and is the artistic director of Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, an ensemble committed to diversity.

Composition History

Despite being a pianist, Grieg composed three violin sonatas, which is notable as he rarely returned to major forms, typically writing only one of each major work type.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Grieg viewed his three violin sonatas as charting the development of his style, describing the first as 'naïve, rich in ideas', the second as 'national', and the third as having 'a wider horizon'.