César Franck - Violin Sonata

Composer: César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck (10 December 1822 -- 8 November 1890) Performers: Krystian Zimerman (piano), Kaja Danczowska (violin) Year of recording: 1981 Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano, written in 1886. The 4 movements alternate between slow and fast: 00:00 - I. Allegretto ben moderato 06:24 - II. Allegro 15:01 - III. Ben moderato: Recitative-Fantasia 22:45 - IV. Allegretto poco mosso This sonata is one of Franck's best known compositions, and considered one of the finest sonatas for violin and piano ever written. It is an amalgam of his rich native harmonic language with the Classical traditions he valued highly, held together in a cyclic framework. it was a wedding present for the 31-year-old violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. Twenty-eight years earlier, in 1858, Franck had promised a violin sonata for Cosima von Bülow. This never saw the light of day, but it has been speculated that whatever work Franck had done on that piece was put aside and eventually ended up in the sonata he wrote for Ysaÿe in 1886. Ysaÿe kept the Violin Sonata in his repertoire for the next 40 years of his life. His championing of the Sonata contributed to the public recognition of Franck as a major composer. This recognition was quite belated, as Franck would be dead within 4 years, and did not have his first unqualified public success until the last year of his life (19 April 1890, at the Salle Pleyel, where his String Quartet in D was premiered). I. Allegretto ben moderato, 9/8 This gentle and sweetly reflective rocking theme, introduced by the violin after a short introduction by the piano, is the thematic core of the entire work; Franck originally intended it as a slow movement, but Ysaÿe preferred a slightly quicker tempo, and convinced Franck to mark it Allegretto. II. Allegro This turbulent movement is sometimes considered the real opening movement, with the Allegretto ben moderato serving as a long introduction. III. Ben moderato: Recitative-Fantasia This is improvisatory in nature, and free in both structure and expression. IV. Allegretto poco mosso The main melody is heard in canonic imitation between the instruments, and recurs in a rondo-like manner to a triumphant and soaring conclusion. James Harding described the movement as "a magnificent example of canonic writing, simple, majestic and irresistible in its ample, beautifully wrought proportions". The Franck Violin Sonata regularly appears on concert programs and on recordings and is in the core repertoire of all major violinists. Jascha Heifetz played the Violin Sonata at his final recital in 1972.