Classical Music | Violin Music

Recorded on 03/01/2009, uploaded on 03/01/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Camille Saint-Saëns composed on two sonatas for the violin during his long career. The first of these, the Sonata No. 1 in D minor, appeared in 1885 during what is considered the composer’s best period, witnessing the production of The Carnival of the Animals (which regretfully would not attain public adoration until after the composer’s death) and the Symphony No. 3. Assuming its place alongside these other masterworks, it has become a staple of the violin repertoire, outshining its companion piece, the Second Sonata in E-flat major which appeared a little more than a decade later in 1896.

Perhaps the reason for the First Violin Sonata’s success is its effective channeling of a Beethovenian energy—a heroic struggle indicative of that past composer which Saint-Saëns himself greatly admired. Indeed, even the selection of key by Saint-Saëns hearkens back to Beethoven, although not the stormy C minor of his Fifth Symphony, but instead the epic struggle in D minor of his Ninth. Furthermore, the scale of the sonata’s movements is modeled on the grand fashion of Beethoven’s music and augmented even further by the Romantic addition of a fourth movement.

The sonata’s dramatic first movement opens with a turbulent theme, initially piano but growing in fervor until reaching a passionate forte, announced by soloist and accompanist. Twice stated, the first theme leads through A-flat major into the lyrical second theme in F major, which soars atop an accompaniment of broken chords. Without break and following seamlessly from a transitional passage built out of the second theme the Adagio second movement begins with an expressive melody in the violin. Quite different from the prior movement, the Adagio is heartwarming and sentimental, particularly in its central episode.

Though not so marked, the third movement is a lighthearted and jocular scherzo in G minor. The character of the movement is perhaps somewhat reminiscent of Mendelssohn, whose music Saint-Saëns also admired. Despite returning to the minor key, the movement has none of the dramatics of the opening sonata form. In contrast, the trio section features a briefly lyrical tune accompanied by an overhanging motif from the scherzo. This tune, however, returns to form the transition into the finale. An energetic movement in D major, the finale calls on the virtuosity of both performers to create a thrilling and jubilant conclusion to the sonata.     JosephDuBose

____________________________

Sonata No. 1 in d minor, opus 75       Camille Saint-Saens

I.         Allegro agitato - Adagio

II.             Allegretto moderato - Allegro molto

Camille Saint-Saens was born in Paris in 1835.  In addition to composing prolifically, he pursued a range of other activities such as organizing concerts, reviving interest in older music by Bach, Handel, and Rameau, and writing on musical, scientific and historical topics.  Oh behalf of new French music he co-founded the Societé Nationale de Musique in 1871.  The great novelist Marcel Proust heard the First Sonata in D minor, opus 75 for Violin and Piano.  It is believed that the principal recurring theme of this Sonata is the actual "petite phrase" of which Proust writes in Remembrance of Things Past. 

This sonata was written during what is considered Saint-Saens' best period--the 1870s and 1880s.  During this prolific period, he also wrote his famous opera Samson and Dalila and The Carnival of the Animals.  The sonata is built on a four movement structure.  The fast opening movement flows into the slow movement.  The short scherzo-like third movement is followed by a virtuoso finale.    Nurit Pacht

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.