Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov

Isabelle Faust, violin | Alexander Melnikov, piano

PROGRAMME

C. Debussy:  Sonata n. 3 for violin and piano in G minor/ G. Fauré: Sonata n. 1 for violin and piano in A major, op. 13 / Sonata n. 2 for violin and piano in E minor, op. 108/ K. Szymanowski: Mythes, for violin and piano, op. 30

At the end of the 19th century, Franck, Saint-Saëns, Fauré, Debussy and Ravel composed what came to be a series of French sonatas for violin and piano, featuring beautiful melodies, elegant forms of expression and emotional sincerity. These works had a significant influence on the music of the period. Today’s programme includes Debussy’s sonata, composed just before his death, and the two sonatas by Gabriel Fauré, which display the first indications of impressionist thought. In Mythes, by the Polish composer Szymanowski, the strange harmonies in the piano part and the dissonances in the violin’s melodic line show how musical discourse came to be developed in the early 20th century.