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{
SUITES
Bach
Britten
Stravinsky
}
J. S. BACH – Partita No. 2 in D Minor for Solo Violin, BWV 1004
Allemanda
Corrente
Sarabanda
Giga
Ciaccona
Johann Sebastian BACH’s Sei Solo – a violino senza Basso accompagnato (pub. 1720) was composed during a period of sudden interest in polyphonic
violin writing. Some of the first surviving works of its kind include Heinrich Ignatz Franz Biber’s Passacaglia for solo violin (c. 1676) as well as
several collections of solo violin works by Johann Paul von Westhoff. Among Bach’s own works, there is also the 6 suites à Violoncello solo, even
though the penmanship of the cello suites have come under scholarly scrutiny.
Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004 sets off with a fairly conventional Baroque
four-dance suite of Allemande – Corrente – Sarabanda – Giga. Unlike his other
partitas, there are no doubles following these first four movements, nor are there the
added gallantries of minuets between the Sarabanda and Giga. However, this partita
stands out from the rest with the addition of a fifth movement, the Ciaccona – a
popular Latin American dance form that has since become highly elaborated. The
first four movements of the partita feature a sequence of harmonies built on the
pitches D, C-sharp, D, B-flat, and A as a head-motive, while the Ciaccona creates a
basso ostinato out of this sequence upon which a series of 32 breathtaking variations
unfold.
The Ciaccona alone is often lauded as one of the pinnacles of Western art music. Since the rediscovery of Bach’s work by Felix Mendelssohn,
countless composers have scrutinised and marveled at the intricacies and scope of this work.
I. Stravinsky – Suite Italienne for Violin & Piano (arr. I. Stravinsky and S. Dushkin)
Introduzione
Serenata
Tarantella
Gavotta con due Variazioni
Scherzino
Minuetto e Finale
In the late summer of 1919, the dream-team of Stravinsky and Diaghilev set furiously to work on a new ballet
titled Pulcinella. Unbeknownst to many, the relationship between Stravinsky and Diaghilev was no longer as
amiable as during the heyday of Petroushka, Le Sacre du Printemps, and L’Oiseau de feu. As a gesture of
reconciliation, Diaghilev approached Stravinsky with the idea of a ballet based on an eighteenth-century
“commedia dell’arte” libretto along with an arrangement of music that Diaghilev had found in a library in
Naples.
Of his new ballet, Stravinsky said "Pulcinella was my discovery of the past, the epiphany through which the
whole of my late work became possible. It was a backward look, of course—the first of many love affairs in
that direction—but it was a look in the mirror, too." Most notably, Pulcinella took Stravinsky in a brand new
musical direction. Gone are the lush, colourful scores of his earlier works; instead, Stravinsky’s neoclassical
style features transparent textures and balanced harmonies.
Pablo Picasso’s drawing on the original
Ballet Russes programme booklet. Picasso
was also responsible for the design of
Pulcinella’s first stage set.
The existence of tonight’s Suite Italienne is largely attributed to practicality. Following the success of Pulcinella,
Stravinsky made no less than four concert arrangements in hopes that the piece could be heard outside of its
theatrical context. As Stravinsky took to the road with violinist Samuel Dushkin between 1932-34, they
devised this particular arrangement, quite possibly one of the most regularly performed versions with the
exception of the cello and piano arrangement by Stravinsky and Gregor Piatagorsky.
B. Britten – Suite for Violin & Piano, Op. 6
Introduction
March
Moto Perpetuo
Lullaby
Waltz
By wizened age of 14, Benjamin Britten (1913-76) was already an accomplished violist, pianist, and
composer to over 100 short pieces. Considered one of England’s most significant composers,
Britten’s works cover genres ranging from miniature chamber works to full-scale operas. He studied
at the Royal College of Music in London and notably received much inspiration from Frank Bridge.
As a composer, Britten frequently drew from his British roots. His choices of musical form and
harmonic structure as well as his settings of vocal music reflect the long-standing English
preoccupation with dances and choral music. Eventually, Britten’s music will come to be known for
their Marches, Bourées, Waltzes, and perhaps most notably their epic Passacaglias and Chaconnes.
The Suite for Violin & Piano, op. 6, was composed in 1934-1936 for the International Society for
Contemporary Music Festival in Barcelona and was premiered there by violinist Anthony Brosa and
the Britten himself. In composing this work, the 21 year-old Britten encountered one of his first
instances of writer’s block. The piece took on several forms before Britten finally decided on this five-movement form. The work begins with
sudden rhapsodic fervour, with the Introduction ending just as quickly as it had begun. A whimsical March follows in a predominantly pianissimo
dynamic as the piano and violin parts converse in flashes of lights. There are occasional outbursts of sudden pomposity, but those almost always
give way to the soft and fleet textures. An intensely punishing Moto Perpetuo ensues, challenging all aspects of the poor musicians’ rhythmic and
virtuosic abilities. The Lullaby inhabits a land of beautifully dainty and pale colours befitting nothing but the most English of things – the violin
line weaves intricate melodies atop a piano ostinato part with a fire that is at once subdued and highly passionate as if Britten had been channeling
his inner Jane Eyre. Finally, a rambunctious Waltz with the kind of virtuosity that would have made Liszt and Paganini proud brings the work to a
resounding close.
© Boson Mo 2016