Violin Sonata No. 1 (Bloch)
Ernest Bloch's Violin Sonata No. 1 is a sonata for violin and piano. It is regarded as one of the masterpieces of the violin repertoire.[1]
Composed in Cleveland in 1920, the work makes considerable demands of both technique and endurance from the violinist.[1] Bloch himself described the sonata as a "tormented work",[2] and Roger Sessions described it as having a characteristic "mood of pessimism, irony and nostalgia".[3]
Structure
There are three movements:
The first movement begins with driving, toccata-like idea which transitions to a characteristic Hebrew-inflected melody; these materials are extensively developed leading to a tormented, expressive coda. The second movement begins gently, with an sustained cantilena for the violin over a quiet piano arpeggios, but introduces more agitated material as it proceeds. The final movement is launched with heavily-chorded dance measures, but as the movement proceeds material from the opening two movements is revisited before the work ends quietly.[4]
Performance and Recording
The work was premiered in New York City in February 1921 by Paul Kochanski and Arthur Rubinstein.[1]
References
- Notes
- 1 2 3 Simmons 2005, p. 67
- ↑ Stowell 1992, p. 189
- ↑ [quoted in] Olmstead 2012, p. 440
- ↑ Whitehouse 1999, pp. 2 & 3
- Sources
- Olmstead, Andrea (6 August 2012). Roger Sessions: A Biography. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-97713-5. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
- Simmons, Walter (1 February 2004). Voices in the Wilderness: Six American Neo-Romantic Composers. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-4884-9. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
- Stowell, Robin (10 December 1992). The Cambridge Companion to the Violin. Cambridge Companions to Music. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-39923-4. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
- Whitehouse, Richard (1999). Liner Notes to Bloch: Violin Sonatas Nºs 1 & 2/Suite Hebraique (CD). Naxos Records. 8.554460.