Download PROGRAM NOTES by Steven Lowe SERGEI

PROGRAM NOTES by Steven Lowe SERGEI PROKOFIEV Sonata for Two Violins in C major, Op. 56 BORN: April 23, 1891, in Sontzovka, Ukraine DIED: March 5, 1953, in Moscow WORK COMPOSED: 1932 WORLD PREMIERE: November 27, 1952, in Moscow, members of the Beethoven Quartet Alarmed by events attending the 1917 Revolution in Russia, Sergei Prokofiev left his homeland to pursue a dual career as pianist and composer in the West. He spent 1918–1922 in the United States and traveled about Europe until he returned for a tour of the U.S.S.R. in 1927. Two years later a second tour followed, and yet another in 1932 by which time he was making preparations for an eventual and permanent return to the land of his birth in 1936. Before the 1932 visit Prokofiev, vacationing near St. Tropez, composed his Sonata for Two Violins in C major for the Paris-­‐based ensemble Triton (also referred to as Tritone — the interval of a diminished fifth/augment fourth in music, known in the Middle Ages and subsequently as the “devil in music”). Prokofiev’s son Sviatoslav characterized the piece as “lyrical, playful, fantastic and violent in turn.” By the early 1930s Prokofiev was beginning to jettison the hard-­‐edged hyper-­‐dissonant style he had often employed previously (e.g., Scythian Suite and Second Symphony) in favor of a neo-­‐Romantic melodic/harmonic vocabulary that would find full expression, for instance, in the rapturous slow movement of his Second Violin Concerto of 1937. It is somewhat surprising that early critics found this music difficult to fathom, perhaps because of the improvisatory character of the first movement, even more so due to the assertive dissonances of the second movement, marked Allegro. The opening Andante cantabile begins with one violin intoning a long and serpentine melody, soon enriched by the second fiddle. Though the sonority is spare, the shape and harmonies lie comfortably in the ear. Harsh chords initiate the acerbic and percussive Allegro that follows. The instruments engage in lively conversation by two ardent and largely independent “minds.” This energetic scherzo-­‐like movement has a less aggressive Trio but its cumulative trait is one of basic fierceness. The third movement, Commodo (quasi Allegretto), offers bold contrast of tempo and sonority, the latter characteristic achieved through the use of mutes on both violins. Here the music is delicately etched, sweetened by unforced sentiment. Occasional dissonances add spice but do not lessen the comparative lyricism herein. Allegro con brio neatly conveys its descriptive marking quite clearly, though this might not be apparent at the very beginning of the movement, which begins with a jaunty solo before joined by the partnering violin. Sparking dissonances enliven things, but the music is engagingly positive, even upbeat. Here, too, the violins are treated quite independently, which creates a distinct “stereo” effect and facilitates unraveling the two lines. Near the end, Prokofiev reprises thematic material from the opening movement. © 2015 Steven Lowe