Eugène Ysaÿe Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (; 16 July 185812 May 1931) was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar". Legend of the Ysaÿe violin Eugène Ysaÿe ...

's set of Six Sonatas for solo violin, Op. 27, was written in July 1923. Each sonata was dedicated to one of Ysaÿe’s contemporary violinists:

Joseph Szigeti Joseph Szigeti ( hu">Szigeti József, ; 5 September 189219 February 1973) was a Hungarian violinist. Born into a musical family, he spent his early childhood in a small town in Transylvania. He quickly proved himself to be a child prodigy on ...

(No. 1), Jacques Thibaud (No. 2), George Enescu (No. 3),

Fritz Kreisler Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler (February 2, 1875 – January 29, 1962) was an Austrian-born American violinist and composer. One of the most noted violin masters of his day, and regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time, he was known ...

(No. 4),

Mathieu Crickboom Mathieu Crickboom (2 March 1871 – 30 October 1947) was a Belgian violinist, who was born in Verviers (Hodimont) and died in Brussels. Crickboom was the principal disciple of Eugène Ysaÿe, who dedicated to him his ''Sonata for solo violin o ...

(No. 5), and

Manuel Quiroga Manuel López-Quiroga Miquel (January 30, 1899 – December 13, 1988), better known as Maestro Quiroga, was a Spanish composer especially known for his '' coplas'', ''cuplés'', and ''zarzuelas''. He was also a pianist and one of the group of ...

(No. 6).

General background

After having heard Joseph Szigeti perform

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

'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 (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

, for real art should be international." In this set of sonatas, he used prominent characteristics of early 20th century music, such as

whole tone scale In music, a whole-tone scale is a scale in which each note is separated from its neighbors by the interval of a whole tone. In twelve-tone equal temperament, there are only two complementary whole-tone scales, both six-note or ''hexatonic'' sc ...

s, dissonances, and

quarter tone A quarter tone is a pitch halfway between the usual notes of a chromatic scale or an interval about half as wide (aurally, or logarithmically) as a semitone, which itself is half a whole tone. Quarter tones divide the octave by 50 cents each, a ...

s. 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 necessary than in days gone by. In fact they are indispensable, if the spirit is to express itself without restraint." Thus, this set of sonatas places high technical demands on its performers. Yet Ysaÿe recurrently warns violinists that they should never forget to play 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

Sonata No. 1 in G minor

Sonata No. 1, in four movements, was dedicated to

. #Grave #Fugato #Allegretto poco scherzoso #Finale; Con brio

Sonata No. 2 in A minor

Sonata No. 2, in four movements, was dedicated to Jacques Thibaud, a friend of Ysaÿe's. #Obsession; Prelude (with quotes from Bach’s Prelude from his Solo Partita in E major) #Malinconia #Danse des Ombres; Sarabande #Les furies

Sonata No. 3 in D minor, "Ballade"

This sonata, dedicated to George Enescu is a single movement in two sections: *Lento molto sostenuto *Allegro in tempo giusto e con bravura The first performance of this sonata was given by

Josef Gingold Josef Gingold (; January 11, 1995) was a Russian-born American classical violinist and teacher who lived most of his life in the United States. At the time of his death he was considered one of the most influential violin masters in the United St ...

Sonata No. 4 in E minor

The fourth sonata is dedicated to

. #Allemande (Lento maestoso) #Sarabande (Quasi lento) #Finale (Presto ma non troppo)

Sonata No. 5 in G major

is the dedicatee of the fifth sonata in the set. #L'Aurore #Danse rustique

Sonata No. 6 in E major

The final sonata is dedicated to

. The dedicatee never played this sonata in public. It is written in the style of a Spanish habanera, with a turbulent middle section, and notable for rich texture and chromaticism and scale passages. #Allegro giusto non troppo vivo

Recordings

The complete "Six Sonatas" have been recorded by: * Ruggiero Ricci (Vox-Candide, 1974) * Gidon Kremer (Melodiya, 1976) *

Charles Castleman Charles Martin Castleman (born 22 May 1941) is an American violinist and teacher. Born in Quincy, Massachusetts, he began violin lessons at the age of four with Ondricek. When he was six he appeared as a soloist with Arthur Fiedler and the Bost ...

(Music & Arts, 1981) *

Oscar Shumsky Oscar Shumsky (March 23, 1917 in Philadelphia – July 24, 2000 in Rye, New York) was an American violinist and conductor born to Russian-Jewish parents. Oscar Shumsky married Louise Sophia Carboni on October 4, 1939. Together they had two ...

(Nimbus, 1982) *

Rudolf Werthen Rudolf Werthen is a Belgium, Belgian violinist, conductor and teacher. He is founder and artistic director of the orchestra ''I Fiamminghi'' and was chief conductor of the symphonic orchestra of the Vlaamse Opera, Flemish Opera in 1989. He has tau ...

(EMI, 1985 / reprint: Pavane Records, 1988) *

Lydia Mordkovitch Lydia Mordkovitch (née Shtimerman; 30 April 1944 – 9 December 2014) was a Russian violinist. Lydia was born in Saratov, Russia, on 30 April 1944. She returned with her parents to Kishinev after the war. In 1960, she moved to Odessa, where ...

(Chandos, 1988) *

Yuval Yaron Yuval Yaron (born 1953 in Petah Tikva, Israel)Perez, Jennifer AnneViolinist Rediscovers Jewish Heritage Through Song, Chabad.org, July 23, 2007. is an Israel-born violinist living in the United States. In 1975, he won the International Jean Sibeli ...

(Accord, 1990) * Evgenia-Maria Popova (Leman, 1991) *

Mateja Marinkovic Mateja ( sr, Матеја) is a given name, variant of the Greek given name ''Mathias'' (Matthew). In Serbian, it's a masculine name, while in Croatian and Slovene, it's a feminine name. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Mateja And ...

(Collins, 1992) *

Vilmos Szabadi Vilmos Szabadi (born 1959) is a Hungarian violinist who has enjoyed an international reputation since the 1980s. In 2020 the ‘Artist of Merit’ prize was given him by the Hungarian Government. In 2018 the Bartók-Pásztory prize was awarded h ...

(Hungaroton, 1992) *

Stéphane Tran Ngoc Stéphane is a male French given name an equivalent of Stephen/Steven. Notable people with this given name include: *Stéphane Adam (born 1969), French footballer * Stéphane Agbre Dasse (born 1989), Burkinabé football player *Stéphane Allagnon, ...

(REM, 1994) * Frank Peter Zimmermann (EMI, 1994) *

Tomoko Kato Tomoko (ともこ, トモコ) is a female Japanese given name. Like many Japanese names, Tomoko can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: * 友子 - "friendly child" * 知子 - "knowing child" * 智子 - "wise child" * 朋子 ...

(Denon-Japan, 1995) * Vincenzo Bolognese (P&P Classica, 1991 / reprint: Arts Music, 1997) *

Philippe Graffin Philippe Graffin (born 1964 in Romilly-sur-Seine) is a French violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists, notable violinists from the baroque era onwards * List of contemporary classical violinis ...

(Hyperion, 1997) * Takayoshi Wanami (Denon-Somm, 1997) *

Leonidas Kavakos Leonidas Kavakos ( el, Λεωνίδας Καβάκος; born 30 October 1967) is a Greek violinist and conductor. As a violinist, he has won prizes at several international violin competitions, including the Sibelius, Paganini, Naumburg, and In ...

(BIS, 1999) * Laurent Korcia (Lyrinx, 2000) * Ilya Kaler ( Naxos, 2001) * Jassen Todorov (Gega New, 2001) *

Benjamin Schmid Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thi ...

(de) ( Oehms Classics/ Naxos, 2002) * Hana Kotková (Forlane, 2002) * Arisa Fujita (Intim Musik, 2004) *

Shunsuke Sato is a Japanese-born, classical and baroque violinist. He has been the concertmaster and artistic director of the Netherlands Bach Society since 2018. Early life and education Sato was born in Tokyo, Japan. When he was two years old, on a f ...

(Live Notes-Japan, 2004) * Thomas Zehetmair (ECM, 2004) * Marianne Piketty (Maguelone-France, 2006) * Fanny Clamagirand (Nascor, 2007) *

Ray Iwazumi is an American violinist and musicologist. Biography Ray Iwazumi was born in Seattle, Washington. At age four, he began violin lessons with the Suzuki method in Galveston, Texas, and then continued with Beatrice Stanley. At the age of six, he ...

(Japan CD, 2008) * Henning Kraggerud ( Simax, 2008) *

Rachel Kolly d'Alba Rachel Kolly d'Alba (born 21 May 1981 in Lausanne, Switzerland) is a Swiss violinist. Considered a child prodigy at the violin, she started playing at the age of five. Early life Kolly d'Alba took her first violin and piano lessons at the age of ...

(Warner Classics, 2010) * Wojciech Koprowski (Accord/ Naxos, 2010) *

Judith Ingolfsson Judith Ingolfsson (born in Reykjavík, Iceland) is a violinist. Biography The New York Times characterized her playing as producing “both fireworks and a singing tone,” the Washington Post praised the “finely honed bowing and stylistic ...

(Genuin, 2011) * Wanchi Huang (

Centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...

, 2012) *

Tai Murray Tai Murray (born ) is an American violinist. According to Murray, she became interested in the violin when her parents "put a pencil case with a toy violin in my hand when I was five". Born in Chicago, Illinois, Murray made her concert debut with t ...

( Harmonia Mundi USA, 2012) * Tedi Papavrami ( Zig-Zag Territoires, 2012) * Olga Guy (

Arion Arion (; grc-gre, Ἀρίων; fl. c. 700 BC) was a kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb. The islanders of Lesbos claimed him as their native son, but Arion found a patron in Periander, tyrant ...

Paris, 2012) *

Kristóf Baráti Kristóf Baráti (born 1979) is a Hungarian classical violinist. Early life Baráti was born into a musical family in Budapest in 1979. His mother played the violin and his father was a cellist. He received his first violin instruction from ...

( Brilliant Classics, 2013) * Žiga Brank (sl) (RTV Slovenia Klasika, 2013) *

Tianwa Yang Tianwa Yang () (born April 8, 1987) is a Chinese classical violinist. Biography and career Tianwa Yang began learning to play the violin at age four, and quickly began winning violin competitions. At age ten, she began studying with Professor ...

( Naxos, 2014) * Alina Ibragimova (Hyperion, 2015) * Jae-hong Yim (DUX, 2016) * Ksenia Milas (it) (ANIMA Records, Paris, 2017) * Paolo Ghidoni (

OnClassical OnClassical is an Italian independent record label. It features classical music mostly for single instrument or chamber ensemble. History Founded in April 2003 by Alessandro Simonetto, harpsichordist, producer and sound engineer, it enlist ...

, 2017) * Sergey Malov (Solo Musica, 2017) * Niklas Walentin ( NAXOS, 2019) *

Kerson Leong Kerson Leong (born 26 February 1997) is a Canadians, Canadian Lists of violinists, violinist. He has been described by Jonathan Crow, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra concertmaster, as “not just one of Canada, Canada’s greatest violinists but ...

(Alpha Classics, 2021) * James Ehnes (Onyx Classics, 2021) * Julia Fischer (Hänssler Classic, 2021) Among other notable recordings, of separate Sonatas, are: * Efrem Zimbalist (No. 1 - Victor, 1939) * Ruggiero Ricci ** No. 3 - live, One-Eleven, 1978, Etcetera, 1979 ** No. 4 - live Town Hall, One-Eleven, 1946 * David Oistrakh (No. 3 - Melodiya 1947; 1955 live; 1966) *

Michael Rabin Michael Rabin ( ; May 2, 1936January 19, 1972) was an American violinist. He has been described as "one of the most talented and tragic violin virtuosi of his generation". His complete Niccolò Paganini, Paganini "24 Caprices" for solo violin are ...

(Nos. 3, 4 - EMI, 1956) *

Ion Voicu Ion Voicu (; October 8, 1923 – February 24, 1997) was a Romanian violinist and orchestral conductor of Romani ethnicity. In 1969 he founded the award-winning Bucharest Chamber Orchestra, which is now conducted by his son Mădălin Voicu. Life ...

** No.3 - 1960s ** No.5 -

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

, 1965 ** No.6 - Electrecord, 1965 *

Aaron Rosand Aaron Rosand (born Aaron Rosen; March 15, 1927 – July 9, 2019) was an American violinist. Life and career Born in Hammond, Indiana, he studied with Leon Sametini at the Chicago Musical College and with Efrem Zimbalist at the Curtis Institu ...

(Nos. 2, 6 - Audiofon, 1988) *

Maxim Vengerov Maxim Alexandrovich Vengerov (russian: Максим Александрович Венгеров, , mɐkˈsʲim ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ vʲɪnˈɡʲerəf; he, מקסים ונגרוב; born 20 August 1974) is a Russian-born Israeli violinist, v ...

** No. 3 - Biddulph, 1989 ** Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6 - EMI, 2002 *

(No. 6 - Début Koch International, 1990) *

Ilya Gringolts Ilya Gringolts (russian: Илья́ Алекса́ндрович Гринго́льц ''Il′já Aleksándrovič Gringól′c'') born 2 July 1982 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) is a Russian violinist and composer. Gringolts studied violin in S ...

(No. 3 - BIS, 2000) * George Zacharias (No. 6 - Divine Art, 2009) *

Vadim Gluzman Vadim Gluzman (Вадим Михайлович Глузман, born 1973) is a Ukrainian-born Israeli classical violinist. Born in the former Soviet Union, Vadim Gluzman spent most of his childhood in Riga, Latvia. His father is a conductor and cl ...

(No. 2 - BIS, 2012)

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 Frederick Abbott Stokes (November 4, 1857 – November 15, 1939) was an American publisher, founder and long-time head of the eponymous Frederick A. Stokes Company. Biography Stokes graduated from Yale Law School in 1879. He worked at Dodd, Mea ...

, Co.,1919. * Ysaye, Antoine. ''Ysaye, by his son Antoine.'' England: W.E.Hill and Sons, 1980. * Sleeve notes from CD Carlton Classics, Ysaye: Six Sonatas for Violin Solo, Ruggiero Ricci. Notes by Bill & Gill Newman. * Barati, Kristof ''Ysaÿe: Sonatas for Solo Violin'' Brillian Classics, 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Six Sonatas for solo violin (Ysaye) Ysaye Ysaye 1923 compositions Compositions by Eugène Ysaÿe