I'm looking to expand my collection of this genre, so I'm wondering what, aside from the obvious (e.g., sonatas and partitas by J.S. Bach, Paganini Caprices), do you listen to and enjoy?
For my contribution, I highly recommend the little-known music for solo violin by Karl Nielsen--the Introduction and Theme with Variations and the Preludio e Presto, both of which are highly inventive, dissonant pieces full of virtouso fireworks.
There is a lovely KOCH CD of Rozsa's complete works for solo violin played by the lovely Isabella Lippi.
If you like tough ones, Sonata for Solo Violin by the one and only Artur Schnabel!
John Cage, Freeman Etudes
(http://cover6.cduniverse.com/MuzeAudioArt/350/353727.jpg)
Eugène Ysaÿe - 6 Sonatas For Solo Violin, Op 27
Bartok: Sonata for violin solo
Two splendid versions. Menuhin (the creator of the work) and the recent Laurent Korcia.
Quote from: Drasko on March 27, 2008, 01:54:59 AM
(http://cover6.cduniverse.com/MuzeAudioArt/350/353727.jpg)
Eugène Ysaÿe - 6 Sonatas For Solo Violin, Op 27
They have also been recorded, quite stunningly, by Thomas Zehetmair.
(http://shop.castleclassics.co.uk/acatalog/4726872.jpg)
Quote from: val on March 27, 2008, 02:48:11 AM
Bartok: Sonata for violin solo
Two splendid versions. Menuhin (the creator of the work) and the recent Laurent Korcia.
I was going to mention the Bartók. Also Elliott Carter's Four Lauds.
Before Bach there were Thomas Baltzer, Nicola Matteis, Schmelzer, Biber, JJ Walther who had written works for this instrumentation. Schmelzer, Biber, Walther had been recorded and can be found among their diverse recordings. Telemann also wrote 12 fantasias for violin solo - Andrew Manze had recorded them. Manze also reorded some Tartini senza basso - I haven't listened to that disc for some time and cannot recall if he simply omitted the bass or tried integrating the bass (transposed!) into his violin polyphony.
Prokofiev has one and Hindemith has two unaccompanied violin sonatas.
IIRC, Steven Staryk did a wide range of solo violin pieces in his 4 (or was it 6?) LP survey of violin music on one of the old Everest labels ("400 Years of the Classical Violin" or some such name). Quite a number of these pieces were not only obscure but really fascinating, as well. Maybe someone has this set handy. If not, I'll look for it when I get home and report.
Cheers,
Dirk
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EYYF9DWYL._AA240_.jpg)
Andrew Manze plays these solo.
Try this one - Milstein's Paganiniana (after the 24th Caprice). Superb!
I used to play violin a bit, so I looked into some of these from a playing perspective as well as a listening one.
Favourites would include the sonatas by Ysaye, Hindemith and Bartok; other works worth looking into would include Schnittke's A Paganini, Carter's Four Lauds, and the sonatas by Prokofiev and B. A. Zimmermann.
Quote from: James on March 27, 2008, 08:01:20 AM
That would be my highest recommendation...after JSBach.
Same.
Quote from: edward on March 27, 2008, 06:48:53 AM
the sonatas by Ysaye,
I happened to listen to the 1st one in G minor today, and if the rest are comparable, I'd say they are great.
Quote from: orbital on March 27, 2008, 12:03:50 PM
I happened to listen to the 1st one in G minor today, and if the rest are comparable, I'd say they are great.
They are wonderful pieces. Influenced by Bach, each one was written for a different violinist.
1. Joseph Szigeti
2. Jacques Thibaud
3. George Enescu
4. Fritz Kreisler
5. Mathieu Crickboom
6. Manuel Quiroga
If you enjoyed the first, I am sure you will enjoy the rest. I don't know the Kavakos performances but the Zehetmair are truly inspiring. I also have his performances of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas, which I bought after I heard him play one of them as an encore at a concert in Grenoble, one of my most memorable concert going experiences.
Quote from: Tsaraslondon on March 27, 2008, 04:50:46 PM
They are wonderful pieces. Influenced by Bach, each one was written for a different violinist.
1. Joseph Szigeti
2. Jacques Thibaud
3. George Enescu
4. Fritz Kreisler
5. Mathieu Crickboom
6. Manuel Quiroga
If you enjoyed the first, I am sure you will enjoy the rest. I don't know the Kavakos performances but the Zehetmair are truly inspiring. I also have his performances of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas, which I bought after I heard him play one of them as an encore at a concert in Grenoble, one of my most memorable concert going experiences.
Thank you, I heard the Zehetmair performance as well. I will probably get the set from amazon downloads.
Quote from: orbital on March 27, 2008, 12:03:50 PM
I happened to listen to the 1st one in G minor today, and if the rest are comparable, I'd say they are great.
The 'Dies irae' sonata is my personal favorite, but all are extraordinary 0:)
Quote from: orbital on March 27, 2008, 06:32:22 PM
Thank you, I heard the Zehetmair performance as well. I will probably get the set from amazon downloads.
You can sample Kavakos at eclassical.
A new CD is out - Fuga Libera 704 - "Vioilin faces"
Belgian violinist Wibert Aerts ( he is member of Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles) plays K.A.Hartmann's Second sonata for violin solo, B.A.Zimmermann's Sonata, Luciano Berio's Sequenza VIII and Kee Yong Chong's ( Maleysia) For another better world.
(http://staging.roofthooft.com/www.wibert-caridad.be/STAGING_V20/images/UPLOADS/cdcover.jpg)
Peter, that looks great! Thanks for the heads-up. Very enticing program...
Also, I forgot about this 2-CD set, 24 Capriccios for Violin, all by Dutch composers (on NM). Some very interesting ones here, for those inclined toward contemporary music.
--Bruce
Benjamin Schmidt's Ysaÿe is also pretty spellbinding. (Ysaÿe, btw - the earliest use of the Heavy Metal Umlaut (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_metal_umlaut))
Naxos have a disk of the solo violin music of Khandoshkin (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Khandoshkin-Chamber-Works-Ivan-Yevstafyevich/dp/B000F6YWWG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1210159069&sr=1-2), an 18th century Russian composer, which really impressed me on all sorts of levels - music this good for solo violin? from the classical period? from Russia? written by a Russian, not an Italian? this well played? It's a fine disc indeed.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41H1m-DY8tL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
I have this recording:
(http://www.arkivmusic.com/graphics/covers/full/27/271758.JPG)
George Rochberg's Caprice Variations is a set of 51 variations on Paganini's Caprice No. 24. It's a technical tour de force for those of you who like bravura violin playing, running to a rather forbidding length of slightly more than an hour (I could never listen to the entire thing on one sitting!). This is composed in his late post-serialist style, after he embraced tonality (although there are some atonal variations), and presents a wide range of moods as well as a mish-mash of styles from different composers and eras, what with the quotations from Mahler, Brahms, etc. Still quite enjoyable even if there is not much individuality here... (Rochberg, from what I have heard, has generally struck me as a technically accomplished imitator, but pretty much lacking in originality).
Ernest Bloch also wrote two fine (IMO) if rather short suites for solo violin (each suite is only around 10 minutes in length). They are severe works, neo-Baroque in character, with little of the Jewish influence for which Bloch is so famous. I only have this recording, by Hagai Shaham on Hyperion:
(http://www.arkivmusic.com/graphics/covers/full/97/976683.jpg)
It is coupled with a Solo Violin Sonata by Paul Ben-Haim, which is more overtly Jewish in character and, in my opinion, not as interesting.
Quote from: lukeottevanger on May 07, 2008, 03:19:01 AM
Benjamin Schmidt's Ysaÿe is also pretty spellbinding. (Ysaÿe, btw - the earliest use of the Heavy Metal Umlaut (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_metal_umlaut))
Naxos have a disk of the solo violin music of Khandoshkin (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Khandoshkin-Chamber-Works-Ivan-Yevstafyevich/dp/B000F6YWWG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1210159069&sr=1-2), an 18th century Russian composer, which really impressed me on all sorts of levels - music this good for solo violin? from the classical period? from Russia? written by a Russian, not an Italian? this well played? It's a fine disc indeed.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41H1m-DY8tL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
How interesting and unexpected! I have always wondered about the classical music scene in Russia before Glinka... Will check this out, definitely.
Quote from: James on March 27, 2008, 08:01:20 AM
That would be my highest recommendation...after JSBach.
Heartily seconded.
Quote from: Monsieur Croche on May 07, 2008, 06:43:59 AM
(Rochberg, from what I have heard, has generally struck me as a technically accomplished imitator, but pretty much lacking in originality).
OT, I know, but do you know the 2nd symphony? I think that's a superlative and original work.
IMO the CRI recording (NYPO/Torkanowsky) is infinitely superior to the Naxos, though of course much harder to find.
Quote from: Monsieur Croche on May 07, 2008, 06:43:59 AM
I have this recording:
"Rochberg, from what I have heard, has generally struck me as a technically accomplished imitator, but pretty much lacking in originality"
Really?
Well, did you ever hear his Symphonies, recorded on Naxos, and if, would you apply the same words to them?
Quote from: edward on May 07, 2008, 07:44:41 AM
OT, I know, but do you know the 2nd symphony? I think that's a superlative and original work.
IMO the CRI recording (NYPO/Torkanowsky) is infinitely superior to the Naxos, though of course much harder to find.
A pity that I could indeed not find this recording for a normal price, but then again I think the Naxos recordings quite good, not to say sublime.
Quote from: lukeottevanger on May 07, 2008, 03:19:01 AM
Benjamin Schmidt's Ysaÿe is also pretty spellbinding. (Ysaÿe, btw - the earliest use of the Heavy Metal Umlaut (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_metal_umlaut))
Naxos have a disk of the solo violin music of Khandoshkin (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Khandoshkin-Chamber-Works-Ivan-Yevstafyevich/dp/B000F6YWWG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1210159069&sr=1-2), an 18th century Russian composer, which really impressed me on all sorts of levels - music this good for solo violin? from the classical period? from Russia? written by a Russian, not an Italian? this well played? It's a fine disc indeed.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41H1m-DY8tL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
That was one of my last year discoveries, surprised at so much quality from this totally unknown composer!
Quote from: Harry on May 07, 2008, 08:01:49 AM
Really?
Well, did you ever hear his Symphonies, recorded on Naxos, and if, would you apply the same words to them?
Sorry, I will admit that last remark of mine was rather carelessly phrased. I have the Symphony No. 5 on Naxos, which is quite an impressive work, but a single masterpiece does not a great composer make; consistency is important as well. I meant to say that in Rochberg I can hear clearly the echoes of past composers cast in twentieth-century idiom as some sort of
parody, rather than imitation. (Not parody in the humorous sense, of course). In this regard he strikes me as somewhat polystylical, like Schnittke, but compared to the latter Rochberg seems to me rather lacking in
individuality; indeed from the works that I have heard I could not place my finger on that certain unique "Rochberg sound" that renders their authorship instantly recognizable. That said, it has been quite some time since I listened to him, and since two posters whose opinion I value have expressed disagreement over my assessment on his music, perhaps it is about time that I pay him another visit... Who knows, maybe my opinion would be changed this time! (Maybe I will hunt down some of his other symphonies as well!) ;)
Quote from: edward on May 07, 2008, 07:44:41 AM
OT, I know, but do you know the 2nd symphony? I think that's a superlative and original work.
The 2nd Symphony... isn't that a serial work? Then I regret to say that, since I'm still struggling to come to grips with serialism, it is rather unlikely that I would find anything superlative about it (which is of course no fault of the composer). :-X Maybe some time in the future... Thanks for the recommendation, anyway.
Anyway, back to topic, I recently found this recording among my collection, gathering dust on the shelf:
(http://www.arkivmusic.com/graphics/covers/full/36/367664.JPG)
It contains compositions by Hans Werner Henze and a few other (seemingly) obscure composers.