Claude Debussy (1862–1918): Sonata in G Minor

1. Allegro vivo
2. Intermède: Fantasque et léger
3. Finale: Très animé

This sonata for violin and piano was Debussy’s final composition, written in 1917. At this time, Debussy was dying of cancer and most of Europe was experiencing food and coal shortages from the war. Debussy said that this piece would be “interesting from a documentary point of view as an example of what may be produced by a sick man in time of war.” The Sonata artfully combines Debussy’s inventive approaches to harmony with his dreamy melodic sensibility.

The first movement features a slow, haunting melody in the violin with a serene piano accompaniment. This mood shifts suddenly to more dissonant and frenzied figurations. The second movement, a scherzo, is full of humor, evoking the carefree world of a pre-war Paris. The final movement begins with a shimmering figure in the piano which is answered by a return to the theme from the first movement. But just as soon as this theme returns, Debussy sends the violin and the piano into an explosive flurry of notes, only to fall back once again into the serene tempo of the first movement. These dramatic shifts in color are a hallmark of the composer’s later works.

César Franck (1822–1890): Sonata in A Major

1. Allegro ben moderato /li>
2. Allegro/li>
3. Ben moderato: Recitativo-Fantasia/li>
4. Allegretto poco mosso

César Franck composed this work as a wedding present for the virtuoso Belgian violinist, Eugene Ysaÿe, who was once dubbed the “Tsar of the Violin.” Some believe that the piece was originally meant as a gift to Cosima von Bülow, who was the daughter of Franz Liszt, the wife of the conductor Hans von Bülow, and eventually the wife of Richard Wagner. Franck ended up putting the work aside until he gifted it to Ysaÿe, who kept the sonata in his repertoire for over 40 years. Ysaÿe’s promotion of the piece helped gain Franck international renown.

The first movement of the piece was originally meant to be slow, but when Ysaÿe premiered the piece he performed it much faster. Franck changed the tempo marking to reflect Ysaÿe’s choice. The piano and the violin are each assigned a contrasting theme throughout the first movement. The second movement, a scherzo, begins with a piano toccata, or fast-moving, continuous passage. The violin melody is full of asymmetrical rhythms. The third movement shows Wagner’s influence over Franck, as it is full of highly chromatic harmonic devices. The final movement features a canon in A major between the piano and the violin. A canon, from the Greek word for “rule” or “measuring standard,” is a musical device in which one instrument begins a melody and then another instrument plays that same melody starting at a later time.

Jessie Montgomery (b. 1981): Rhapsody No. 2 (solo violin)

Jesse Montgomery is an American composer and violinist from the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Founder of the PUBLIQuartet, Montgomery began her violin studies at the Third Street Music School Settlement. She also performs regularly with the Silkroad Ensemble and the Sphinx Virtuosi. She holds degrees from the Juilliard School and New York University. Montgomery works not only as a composer and violinist, but also as an educator and advocate for underserved communities. Her work was recently featured by the New York Philharmonic as part of their Project 19, which celebrates the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which gave women the right to vote.

Rhapsody No. 2 comes from a set of six solo violin works, each dedicated to and written for a contemporary violinist. Each piece also draws influence from a different historically significant composer. This piece was commissioned by the violinist and composer Michi Wiancko. Inspired by Béla Bartók, the music is rapid and dissonant, maintaining a lyrical quality as it explores the full range of the violin. Rhapsody No. 2 appears on the album Planetary Candidate.

Milica Paranosic (b. 1968): Bubamara (solo violin)

Milica Paranosic is a composer, singer, and pianist from Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia). She is best known for her work as a composer of opera and dance music, which combines acoustic and electronic musical processes. One of her most recent projects, Penelope and the Geese, is a chamber opera that tells the story of the Odyssey from Penelope’s perspective. Paranosic holds degrees from the Belgrade Art University and the Juilliard School. She is also the co-founder and producer of Beyond the Machine, a yearly electronic and interactive music festival hosted at Juilliard.

Bubamara, which means ladybug, is a Romani folk tune that has been arranged for a wide variety of instruments. The tune features a combination of slow, dramatic melodies contrasted with energetic dance figurations. Even in her solo works, Paranosic is able to masterfully incorporate her experience as a dance composer. This is also one of the composer’s few pieces that does not include some form of electronics.

Various tunes for violin and piano – featuring Romanian, Klezmer, and Hungarian folk music, etc.

Martin Kennedy (b. 1978): Czardashian Rhapsody

Martin Kennedy is an American composer and pianist who has served on the composition faculty at Washington University in St. Louis and Central Washington University. Kennedy holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Jacobs School of Music and a Doctoral degree in Composition and Piano Performance from Juilliard. He has composed for and toured with Lara St. John for many years. Some of his other collaborators include the counter tenor Ryland Angel, flutist Thomas Robertello, and the Trombones of the St. Louis Symphony. Kennedy has also won several ASCAP Morton Gould Awards, so many in fact, that he now serves as an adjudicator for the award.

Kennedy arranged this traditional folk tune for violin and piano. The piece is inspired by a Hungarian folk dance, the csárdás, which was used as an army recruitment dance in 18th century Hungary. The root of the word, csárda, means pub or tavern. Traditionally, the dance is performed by women wearing wide skirts which create a distinctive shape when they twirl.