Faculty colleagues Rachel Lee Priday and Craig Sheppard present a blockbuster program including the Schubert D Major Sonatina, Fauré Sonata No. 1, and Bartók Sonata #1 for Violin and Piano.
Program
Sonatina in D Major, D384 (1816): FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Allegro molto
Andante
Allegro vivace
Sonata in A Major, Opus 13 (1875-76): GABRIEL FAURÉ (1845-1924)
Allegro molto
Andante
Scherzo: Allegro vivo
Finale: Allegro quasi presto
INTERMISSION
Sonata #1 in C sharp minor, Sz.75 (1921): BÉLA BARTÓK (1881-1945)
Allegro appassionato
Adagio
Allegro
Program Notes
A very short reflection on tonight’s program
The Schubert Sonatina in D, D384, was one of three such works composed in 1816 when Schubert was 19. It is more light-hearted than the other two sonatinas (A minor and G minor) and much simpler in substance than the great four-movement C Major Fantasy that Schubert wrote eleven years hence, within a year of his death. We tend to view the loss of such a unique and great spirit at a very young age as tragic. All the more reason to be grateful for the gaiety and spontaneity that inform this charming youthful work.
The Fauré Sonata in A for Violin and Piano, Opus 13, was composed at the age of 30. Even though Fauré’s career lasted nearly another fifty years, during which he composed another violin sonata, two cello sonatas, a piano trio, two piano quartets, two piano quintets, and a string quartet, this sonata remains arguably his most popular chamber music composition. In addition, he composed numerous works for solo piano and many songs (for which he has justifiably been called ‘the King of French Lieder’). Fauré was also a noted composition teacher and headed the Paris Conservatoire from 1905 to 1920, counting amongst his pupils Maurice Ravel, George Enescu, and Nadia Boulanger.
Opus 13 is replete with wonderful moments. The sweeping melodic lines in the first movement give way to the pulsating rhythm of the second, that of a heart that resonates both reflection and ecstasy. The alternating two, three, and five-bar phrases in the scherzo are a delight, keeping both performers and the audience on their toes. The last movement’s more passionate moments belie a delicacy that is at the core of Faure’s spirit.
The Bartok Sonata #1 in C sharp minor is one of the great works in chamber music literature. Although violin and piano rarely have the same melodic material, the rhythmic vitality and constant mood changes are beautifully synchronized throughout. Written in the early 1920s when atonality was gaining popularity, clashing minor sevenths and ninths, tritones, and the intricate juxtaposition of other major and minor intervals, are all offset by an extraordinary lyricism, even in the angst-ridden first movement. The mysterious and foreboding coda of the first movement gives way to heartbreaking intensity in the opening violin solo in the slow movement, a feeling that is repeated in different guises several times during the rest of the movement. The manic drive in the last movement, incorporating folk melodies that Bartok brought back from the Hungarian provinces, is interrupted by moments of great humor and wit, and lots of wild dancing! It all comes to an exhilarating close in the major key.
—Program Notes Copyright Craig Sheppard 2024.