Sonata for violin and violoncello (Ravel)
The sonata for violin and violoncello is a composition by Maurice Ravel and is considered one of the most important for a string duo . It bears the dedication “A la mémoire de Claude Debussy”.
Origin, structure and style
Ravel composed the first movement in 1920 for a special edition of the music magazine La Revue musicale , in which other prominent composers also published works in homage to Claude Debussy , who died in 1918 , including Paul Dukas , Béla Bartók and Igor Stravinski . Around two years later, Ravel added further movements to a sonata , which he also dedicated to Debussy. The sentences are:
- Allegro
- Très vif
- Lent
- Vif, avec entrain
The simple motifs of the first movement are contrapuntal, partly spread out as a canon , a constant change between major and minor gives rise to unusual dissonances. The fast-paced Scherzo exhausts the tonal palette of the string instruments from rattling pizzicati to spherical overtones . The slow third movement begins with a cello solo, which rises to an expressive, almost shrill accusation with the onset of the violin, until the movement ends harmoniously. The finale, which ties in with the virtuosity of the scherzo, is in turn determined by dance rhythms.
reception
The sonata was premiered on April 6, 1922 in Paris by Hélène Jourdan-Morhange and Maurice Maréchal , who were not up to the new and demanding subject at the first performance. After the performance, critics accused Ravel of having committed a “massacre” of the soloist. Like other works by Ravel, the sonata prevailed after initial rejection and was soon performed frequently.
A few years later, Ravel himself described the work as a turning point in the development of his work. Ravel's interest in linearity , bitonality and other forms of modern music are particularly evident in this work.
literature
- Arbie Orenstein : Ravel. Man and Musician. Columbia University Press, New York 1975, ISBN 0-23103-902-6
- Arbie Orenstein: A Ravel Reader. Correspondence, Articles, Interviews. Columbia University Press, New York 1990, ISBN 0-23104-962-5
Web links
- Martin Lehmann: A machine for two instruments , in: Schweizer Musikzeitung , March 6, 2014
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gerd Sannemüller : The sonata for violin and violoncello by Maurice Ravel in: Die Musikforschung 28/4, p. 408
- ^ "Je crois que cette sonate marque un tournant dans l'évolution de ma carrière", quoted from: Arbie Orenstein : A Ravel Reader. Correspondence, Articles, Interviews. Columbia University Press, New York 1990, p. 43