LDV77

22 YSAŸE ∙ SIX SONATAS FOR SOLO VIOLIN OP.27 When you say that each sonata reflects the personality of its dedicatee, do you also mean this from a musical point of view? Does Ysaÿe take into account the performing style of each violinist in his style of writing? Yes, absolutely. The First, dedicated to Joseph Szigeti, the serious and rigorous Hungarian violinist, is the longest and most structured sonata. The Second evokes the airy side of Jacques Thibaud in its prelude. Obsession , Danse des ombres (Dance of the shades) and Les Furies are written in the spirit of his capricious, brilliant playing. In the Third Sonata, the celebrated Ballade , Ysaÿe sets the soul of George Enescu to music. It is a sonata redolent of central European folklore, with a visceral power. Ysaÿe admired Enescu, whom he regarded as a composer who played the violin, not a violinist who composed. In the Fourth Sonata, Fritz Kreisler, who liked to write short, charming pieces often inspired by dances of olden times, is given a sort of nod to Bach’s First Partita. This suite of dances with its brilliant finale salutes Kreisler as both composer and violinist.