Classical Music | Violin Music

Recorded on 05/19/2016, uploaded on 05/19/2016

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Violin Sonata in G minor, L 140    Claude Debussy (1917)
   
I.     Allegro vivo
II.     Intermède: fantasque et léger
III.     Finale: très animé

Debussy's Violin Sonata presents a superb balance of sweetness, fire, humor, and nostalgia. It is a work imbued with deep melancholy that also embodies other characteristic traits for Debussy: a sense of fantasy, freedom, and affective depth. At the time of this composition, Debussy was ill with terminal cancer, but he had continued to write despite his failing health, partly for financial reasons, and it is the last work he completed. Lionized by Ravel and detested by Saint-Saëns, Debussy was a patriotic Frenchman, who worked hard to protect and preserve French culture. Considered the first and foremost Impressionist composer, Debussy had a style marked by Japonism and innovative harmonies and tone color that was also characterized by understatement and emotional warmth. The challenge for the violin-piano duo in the Violin Sonata is the collaboration of senses and spirit. Unlike sonatas from earlier periods, or other sonatas of Debussy's time, the two instruments do not accompany each other per se; rather, one instrument leads with a pulling energy against the counter melody or motif of the other. Ultimately, this creates a different kind of sonority and texture; the two instruments challenge one another but their arguments ultimately bring them closer together.    Notes by Midori Goto

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.