Violin Concerto (Sibelius)

The "Violin Concerto" in D minor, opus 47 was written by Jean Sibelius in 1903.

History

Sibelius dedicated the concerto to the noted violinist Franz von Vecsey. The initial version of the concerto premiered in 1903 in Helsinki. Sibelius conducted the performance and Victor Novacek was the soloist. The premiere performance was a disaster.

Sibelius withheld this version from publication and made substantial revisions. He deleted much material he felt did not work. The new version premiered in 1905 in Berlin with Richard Strauss conducting and Karl Halir as soloist (see the FMIC link).

The initial version was noticeably more demanding on the advanced skills of the soloist and was revived in the early 1990s on the BIS record label by violinist Leonidas Kavakos, with the permission of Sibelius' heirs. The revised version still requires a considerably high level of technical facility on the part of the soloist.

Music

This is the only large-scale work for solo instrument and orchestra -- the sole concerto -- that Sibelius wrote (though he composed several other pieces for orchestra and solo instrument, including the six Humoresques for violin and orchestra).

One noteworthy feature of the work is the way in which an extended cadenza for the soloist takes on the role of the development section in the sonata form first movement. Donald Francis Tovey described the final movement as a "polonaise for polar bears." [Tovey, Donald Francis. "Essays in Musical Analysis", 1935-39]

Much of the violin writing is purely virtuosic, but even the most showy passages alternate with the melodic. This concerto is generally symphonic in scope, departing completely from the often lighter, "rhythmic" accompaniments of many other concertos. The solo violin and all sections of the orchestra have equal voice in the piece.

Although the work has been described as having "broad and depressing" melodies, several brighter moments appear against what is essentially a dark melodic backdrop. The inexorable force that propels the concerto's direction makes it irresistible.

coring

The concerto is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani and strings.

tructure

Like most concertos, the work is in three movements:

#Allegro moderato in D minor and in 2/2 time
#Adagio di molto in B-flat major and in 4/4 time
#Allegro, ma non tanto in D major and in 3/4 time

First movement

The first movement, marked Allegro moderato, opens with a cushion of pianissimo strings pulsating gently. The soloist then enters with a characteristic IV-V-I phrase, in D minor G-A-D. The violin announces the theme and is echoed by clarinet briefly, then continues into developmental material. More low woodwind and timpani accompany the soloist in several runs. Almost cadenza-like arpeggios and double-stops and more runs are accompanied by more woodwind restatements of the theme. The strings then enter brazenly for the first time, announcing a second theme. Developmental material leads to a cadenza which then opens into the recapitulation. The 'Allegro Molto Vivace' coda ends with restatements of past themes.

Although this movement is mainly melodic, it is still largely virtuosic. Particularly difficult passages include one where the performer must play and maintain a trill with the 1st and 2nd finger, while playing a second moving line on the next-lower string, with the 3rd and 1st fingers. Additionally, nearly the entire end is made up of octave double-stops, which poses a challenge to many players. Other challenges of this movement include very quick slides from first to seventh position (and sometimes across strings), broken chords played at very fast tempi, sixth double-stops that must be perfectly in tune for the effect to work, and glissandi with double-stops.

econd movement

The second movement is very lyrical. A short introduction by the full orchestra leads into a singing solo part over pizzicato strings. Beautifully dissonant accompaniments by the brass dominate the first part of the song-like movement. The remarkable middle section has the solo violin playing ascending broken octaves, with the flute as the main voice of the accompaniment, playing descending notes simultaneously.

Third movement

The third movement opens with rhythmic percussion and the lower strings for four bars (playing 'eighth note-sixteenth note-sixteenth note' figures), before the violin boldly enters with the first theme. This first section offers a complete display of violin gymnastics with up-bow staccato double-stops and a run with rapid string-crossing, then octaves, that leads into the first tutti. The second theme is taken up by the orchestra and is almost a waltz, and the violin takes up the same theme in variations, with arpeggios and double-stops. Another very difficult semi-cadenza full of double-stops and runs returns the first theme to the violin, but is interrupted by more runs. Another orchestral interlude involves the violin as accompanist, as the solo part takes up a passage of harmonics. This precedes a sardonic passage of chords. Broken octaves and more challenging material keep the soloist busy while the orchestra takes care of the rising action. The violin leads to the finish by playing a D major scale up, returning down in B-flat, then doing it one more time before a flourish of ascending sixteenth notes, punctuated by a resolute D from the orchestra.

Recordings

Jascha Heifetz made the premiere recording of the Sibelius concerto [http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=93876] and thereby raised its profile. Heifetz held it to be one of the great romantic concertos in the violin repertoire. Notable recordings of the concerto include the following:

*Jascha Heifetz with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Walter Hendl (RCA Victor Red Seal 63470)
*David Oistrakh with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy (Sony Classical SBK 47659)
*Arve Tellefsen with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Paavo Berglund (Simax PSC1173)
*Lin Cho-Liang with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen (Sony 92613)
*Gil Shaham with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Giuseppi Sinopoli (DG 437540)
*Joshua Bell with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Salonen (Sony 65949)
*Hilary Hahn with Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Salonen (DG 001085802
*Leonidas Kavakos with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vänskä (BIS 500) - original and revised versions of the concerto
*Pekka Kuusisto with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra Conducted by Leif Segerstam (ODE 878-2)
*Tossy Spivakovsky with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tauno Hannikainen (Everest 6045)

References

External links

* [http://www.fimic.fi/fimic/fimic.nsf/mainframe?readform&4AC40BC10FA4E6FEC22567750035DBFD Finnish Music Information Centre page with information on the Concerto]