“Very slowly, with issue, squeezing it out observe by observe, I’m writing a Violin Concerto,” Dmitri Shostakovich confided to a pal within the spring of 1967, including, “In any other case every little thing goes splendidly.”
The Violin Concerto No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 129 is a shadowy, introverted work. It’s mournful and endlessly singing. “Gone are the immediately memorable photos, the brightly etched colours and coruscating ferocity,” writes commentator Gerard McBurney. “As a substitute we discover ourselves in a world of half-lights, confessions and deceptions.” Most violin concertos are set in good open-string keys akin to G, D, A, or E. Shostakovich’s selection of the veiled, distant key of C-sharp minor inhabits a distinct harmonic world.
Shostakovich’s closing concerto, it’s music from the composer’s twilight years, written amid declining well being. (The First Violin Concerto was accomplished practically 20 years earlier). It was supposed to function a sixtieth birthday reward for violinist David Oistrakh, to whom the work was devoted. In truth, Shostakovich miscalculated Oistrakh’s age by a yr. (He was born in Odessa in September of 1908). Regardless, Shostakovich wrote the Concerto with Oistrakh’s soulful, noble sound in thoughts.
The primary motion (Moderato) begins with a single ominous melodic line within the low strings. It emerges as a sequence of faltering fragments which coalesce and develop. The solo violin enters with a lamenting four-note theme. Coming into in succession, the clarinet and better strings weave new contrapuntal threads. All through the Concerto, the solo horn turns into a distinguished voice. Quickly, we hear the sardonic sounds of a Klezmer road fiddler. There are fragments of a Jewish road vendor’s track from Odessa, Kupite bublichki! (“Come purchase my bagels!”) Every of the Concerto’s three actions features a cadenza for the solo violin. Within the first motion, the cadenza takes the type of weaving contrapuntal strains. The motion fades away with the beat of a tom-tom drum.
Set in G minor, the second motion (Adagio) once more begins within the gloomy depths of the orchestra. Quickly, the darkness is punctured by the radiance of the solo flute’s countermelody. This music pays homage to the counterpoint of Bach, and the austere accompanying strains of the Baroque interval. With harsh chords, the solo violin enters right into a duet with the timpani. The distant echo of a horn name leads immediately into the ultimate motion’s sluggish introduction.
The ultimate motion (Adagio – Allegro) is a livid rondo. It’s a peasant dance stuffed with gruff humor and biting sarcasm. This wild, exuberant fiddle music is accompanied by crude retorts by the horn and woodwinds. The ultimate cadence is punctuated by tom-tom and timpani raps.
I. Moderato:
II. Adagio:
III. Adagio – Allegro:
