Eugène Ysaÿe - Sonata for solo violin in A minor, Op. 27 No. 2

Ksenia Milas, violin 1. Obsession; Prelude 0:00 2. Malinconia 2:37 3. Danse des ombres; Sarabande 4:51 4. Les Furies 9:14 Eugène Ysaÿe&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. This sonata is dedicated to Jacques Thibaud. All six sonatas are very difficult. I. Obsession; Prelude At the very beginning of the movement, Ysaÿe directly quotes the beginning of Prelude from J. S. Bach&Partita No. 3 in E major for solo violin. Much like Bach&E major Prelude, the movement consists of virtuosic sixteenth notes throughout, yet Ysaÿe&use of chromatic tonality clearly sets the piece in the genre of early 20th century music. Direct quotes from Bach&Prelude appear frequently, showing Ysaÿe&"obsession" with Bach&work. Another prominent theme is the "Dies Irae", a plainchant from the Catholic Mass for the Dead. II. Malinconia The Malinconia contrapuntally resembles the style of Bach, perhaps most of any of the movements of the second sonata. It employs the siciliano rhythm, found in the first solo sonata for violin by Bach. It specifies the violinist to play with a mute, to dampen the tone and volume, something fairly unusual for a solo sonata. The Dies irae is not stated within the movement until the final few bars, where it is played uninterrupted on top of a drone. III. Danse des ombres; Sarabande The sarabande is based on a theme-and-variation pattern. The theme itself is again a...