Sonata for Solo Violin, op. 27, no. 2 (Ysaÿe)

The "Sonata for Solo Violin, op. 27, no. 2 "Jacques Thibaud"" is a sonata in four movements from "Six sonatas for solo violin", a set of 6 sonatas written by Eugène Ysaÿe for unaccompanied violin in July 1923. Each sonata was dedicated to Ysaÿe’s contemporary violinists: Joseph Szigeti (No.1), Jacques Thibaud (No.2), Georges Enesco (No.3), Fritz Kreisler (No.4), Mathieu Crickboom (No.5), and Manuel Quiroga (No.6).

General Background

After having heard Joseph Szigeti perform J.S. Bach’s sonata for solo violin in G minor, Ysaÿe was inspired to compose violin works that represent the evolution of musical techniques and expressions of his time. As Ysaÿe claimed, “I have played everything from Bach to Debussy, for real art should be international.” [Martens, Frederick H. "Violin Mastery – Talks with Master Violinists and /teachers." New York: Frederick A. Stokes, Co.,1919.p.6] In this set of sonatas, he used prominent characteristics of early twentieth-century music, such as whole tone scales, dissonances, quarter tones. Ysaÿe also employed virtuoso bow and left hand techniques throughout, for he believed that “at the present day the tools of violin mastery, of expression, technique, mechanism, are far more than necessary than in days gone by. In fact they are indispensable, if the spirit is to express itself without restraint.” [Martens, Frederick H. "Violin Mastery – Talks with Master Violinists and /teachers". New York: Frederick A. Stokes, Co.,1919.p.7] Thus, this set of sonatas places high technical demands on its performers. Yet Ysaÿe recurrently warns violinists that they should never forget to sing instead of becoming preoccupied with technical elements; a violin master “must be a violinist, a thinker, a poet, a human being, he must have known hope, love, passion and despair, he must have run the gamut of the emotions in order to express them all in his playing.” [Martens, Frederick H. "Violin Mastery – Talks with Master Violinists and /teachers". New York: Frederick A. Stokes, Co.,1919.p.12]

Characteristics of "The Thibaud Sonata"

Sonata No.2, the Thibaud sonata, was dedicated to Jacques Thibaud, a friend of Ysaÿe's. The fact that Thibaud had lived in Ysaÿe's (and the fact that Ysaÿe once lent his Guarnerius and Stradivarius to Thibaud when Thibaud’s violin adjustment was not ready for concert) show Ysaÿe's admiration for his friend. [Ysaye, Antoine. "Ysaÿe, by his son Antoine." England: W.E.Hill and Sons, 1980.p.142]

I. Obsession -

At the very beginning of the movement, Ysaÿe directly quotes the beginning of Prelude from J.S. Bach's Partita No.3 in E major for solo violin. Much like Bach's E major Prelude, the movement consists of virtuosic sixteenth notes throughout, yet Ysaÿe's use of chromatic tonality clearly sets the piece in the genre of early twentieth-century music. Direct quotes from Bach's Prelude appear frequentlyly, showing Ysaÿe's "obsession" with Bach's work. Another prominent theme is the "Dies Irae", a plainchant from the Catholic mass for the dead. Ysaÿe often employed his own symbols to indicate specific directions to players; for example, in the 74th bar of this movement, he uses one of his symbols over the first note of each beat to indicate that these notes should be played by whole bow.

II. Malinconia - Poco lento

Ysaÿe indicates that the entire slow movement be played with mute. At the very end of this movement, Ysaÿe, in unmeasured notes, quotes the "Dies Irae" melody, which recurs in the last movement.

III. Danse des ombres - Sarabande (Lento)

The sarabande is based on a theme-and-variation pattern. In the first few bars, the theme is played with pizzicato, making it sound as if played by guitar or lute. The movement consists of six variations, and each variation develops gradually to the end. In the first variation, for example, Ysaÿe instructs not to use vibrato in order to maintain a simple tone. The last variation is composed of technically demanding thirty-second notes, all played loudly, in forte. Then, the theme is repeated, but this time, it is played with the bow.

IV. Les Furies - Allegro furioso

The "Dies Irae" (Day of Wrath) melody appears recurrently throughout the movement. Some of the dies irae figures are played "sul ponticello", for instance in measures 41 and 58.

References

Bibliography

* Hoaston, Karen D. "Culmination of the Belgian Violin Tradition—The Innovative Style of Eugene Ysaÿe." 1999.
* Martens, Frederick H. "Violin Mastery – Talks with Master Violinists and /teachers." New York: Frederick A. Stokes, Co.,1919.
* Ysaye, Antoine. "Ysaye, by his son Antoine." England: W.E.Hill and Sons, 1980.