Reina Shibutani - Ysaÿe: 6 Sonatas for Solo Violin (2024)

Eugène Ysaÿe's 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: Joseph Szigeti (No. 1), Jacques Thibaud (No. 2), George Enescu (No. 3), Fritz Kreisler (No. 4), Mathieu Crickboom (No. 5), and Manuel Quiroga (No. 6).

After having heard Joseph Szigeti perform Johann Sebastian Bach's sonata for solo violin in G minor, Ysaÿe was inspired to compose violin works that represent the evolution of musical techniques and expressions of his time. As Ysaÿe claimed, "I have played everything from Bach to Debussy, for real art should be international." In this set of sonatas, he used prominent characteristics of early 20th century music, such as whole tone scale and dissonances. Ysaÿe also employed virtuoso bow and left hand techniques throughout, for he believed that "at the present day the tools of violin mastery, of expression, technique, mechanism, are far more necessary than in days gone by. In fact they are indispensable, if the spirit is to express itself without restraint." Thus, this set of sonatas places high technical demands on its performers. Yet Ysaÿe recurrently warns violinists that they should never forget to play instead of becoming preoccupied with technical elements; a violin master "must be a violinist, a thinker, a poet, a human being, he must have known hope, love, passion and despair, he must have run the gamut of the emotions in order to express them all in his playing."

Tracklist
01. Sonata No.1 in G Minor, Op. 27: I. Grave (Dedicated to Joseph Szigeti)
02. Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 27: II. Fugato (Dedicated to Joseph Szigeti)
03. Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 27: III. Allegretto poco scherzoso (Dedicated to Joseph Szigeti)
04. Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 27: IV. Finale: con brio (Dedicated to Joseph Szigeti)
05. Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 27: I. Obsession; Prelude (Dedicated to Jacques Thibaud)
06. Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 27: II. Malinconia (Dedicated to Jacques Thibaud)
07. Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 27: III. Danse des Ombres; Sarabande (Dedicated to Jacques Thibaud)
08. Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 27: IV. Les furies (Dedicated to Jacques Thibaud)
09. Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 27: Lento molto sostenuto; Allegro (Dedicated to George Enescu)
10. Sonata No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 27: I. Allemande (Dedicated to Fritz Kreisler)
11. Sonata No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 27: II. Sarabande (Dedicated to Fritz Kreisler)
12. Sonata No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 27: III. Finale (Dedicated to Fritz Kreisler)
13. Sonata No. 5 in G Major, Op. 27: I. L'Aurore (Dedicated to Mathieu Crickboom)
14. Sonata No. 5 in G Major, Op. 27: II. Danse rustique (Dedicated to Mathieu Crickboom)
15. Sonata No. 6 in E Major, Op. 27: Allegro giusto non troppo vivo (Dedicated to Manuel Quiroga)