The Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano in

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp mi ...

, Op. 6, is the second

violin sonata A violin sonata is a musical composition for violin, often accompanied by a keyboard instrument and in earlier periods with a bass instrument doubling the keyboard bass line. The violin sonata developed from a simple baroque form with no fixed form ...

by the Romanian composer

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history, Enescu is featured on the Romanian five lei. Biog ...

, completed in 1899.

History

After six years of study in Vienna, where he acquired German discipline and experienced the grandiose cultural summit of the late

romantic era Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

, Enescu moved to Paris, where he continued his studies for another five years at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

. His contact with the modernity of the French musical world gave him certainty, clarity of thought, measure, elegance in expression and sound color for refined detail, which he learned to blend with what he had learned in Vienna, together with a stream of freshness and optimism, love of life and people, which he had brought with him from his childhood home in

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

. The end of his musical apprenticeship was marked by the composition of his Second Violin Sonata in Paris in 1899 The first performance of the sonata was given in Paris by

Jacques Thibaud Jacques Thibaud (; 27 September 18801 September 1953) was a French violinist. Biography Thibaud was born in Bordeaux and studied the violin with his father before entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of thirteen. In 1896 he jointly won the ...

, violin, with the composer himself at the piano, on 22 February 1900, in a concert that was part of the

Concerts Colonne The Colonne Orchestra is a French symphony orchestra, founded in 1873 by the violinist and conductor Édouard Colonne. History While leader of the Opéra de Paris orchestra, Édouard Colonne was engaged by the publisher Georges Hartmann to lead a ...

series The score is dedicated to Joseph and Jacques Thibaud. Enescu later acknowledged that this sonata, together with his next work, the Octet for Strings, marked the point where "I felt myself evolving rapidly, I was becoming myself . . . Until then, I was fumbling. From that moment I felt able to walk on my own legs, even if not yet to run very fast ...".

Analysis

The Sonata is in three movements, * Assez mouvementé * Tranquillement * Vif The construction of each of the three movements is clear, though not entirely according to a textbook observance of the classical models. After the

development section Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of the 18th c ...

proper of the first movement’s

sonata form Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle ...

, there is further development of the main theme, constituting a climax, full of dramatic tension. The slow movement is a

ternary form Ternary form, sometimes called song form, is a three-part musical form consisting of an opening section (A), a following section (B) and then a repetition of the first section (A). It is usually schematized as A–B–A. Prominent examples includ ...

with particularities caused by

cyclical Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to: Anthropology and social sciences * Cyclic history, a theory of history * Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. * Social cycle, various cycles in soc ...

returns of musical ideas from the first movement. Unusually, this movement is written in the same key (F minor), as the first movement of the Sonata, which contributes to a blurring of contrasts in favour of a principle of slow and organic transformation of the musical substance. The finale is a

rondo The rondo is an instrumental musical form introduced in the Classical period. Etymology The English word ''rondo'' comes from the Italian form of the French ''rondeau'', which means "a little round". Despite the common etymological root, rondo ...

with a certain amount of freedom. It is prepared for at the end of the slow movement, which it follows without interruption. Perhaps as compensation for the lack of tonal contrast between the first two movements, the refrain theme begins in D minor, modulating to settle in C major. It is only in its final statement that the tonic of F is confirmed, but this time in major.

Discography

The composer himself, as violinist, recorded the sonata on two occasions. * George Enescu: Sonata nr. 2 pentru vioară si pian in fa minor op. 6. George Enescu (violin),

Dinu Lipatti Constantin "Dinu" Lipatti (; 2 December 1950) was a Romanian classical pianist and composer whose career was cut short by his death from effects related to Hodgkin's disease at age 33. He was elected posthumously to the Romanian Academy. He comp ...

(piano). Recorded at the Romanian Radio, 1943. LP recording, 1 disc: 10 in., 33⅓. Electrecord ECD 61. Bucharest: Electrecord, 950s? Various reissues: Electrecord ECE 0766/67 (LP), Monitor MC 2049 (LP), Everest 3413 (LP), Disque Déesse DDLX 40-1 (LP, 1972), Electrecord EDC 430/431 (CD, 2001), Philips Legendary Classics 426 100-2 (CD), Dante HPC 091-92 (CD). * George Enescu (violin), Céliny Chailley-Richez (piano). LP recording, 1 disc. Remington R 149-42. 1951. Reissued Varèse-Sarabande VC 81048 (LP), Concerteum C-234 (LP), Forgotten Records FR 942 (CD, 2010).

References

Cited sources

* * * *

External links