Francis Poulenc’s Violin Sonata is music born out of battle and tragedy.
It’s one among a sequence of defiant, politically charged works Poulenc composed between 1942 and 1943 whereas remaining in occupied France.* The Sonata was devoted to the Spanish poet, Federico García Lorca, who was arrested, imprisoned with out trial, and executed by Falangist forces throughout the outbreak of the Spanish Civil Struggle in 1936.
Poulenc, who wrote quite a few chamber items for wind devices, struggled to write down the Violin Sonata. (Earlier makes an attempt resulted in sketches which had been destroyed). The work was lastly accomplished on the insistence of the good French violinist, Ginette Neveu, who gave the premiere at Paris’ Salle Gaveau recital corridor on June 21, 1943 with the composer on the piano.
The primary motion (Allegro con fuoco) alternates between snarling ferocity and melancholy. It begins with an abrupt, percussive piano jab, which provokes a biting response from the violin, and ends with twangy pizzicato.
The second motion (Intermezzo) is a young elegy, marked “tres lent et calme.” The rating is inscribed with a quotation from García Lorca, “The guitar makes goals weep.” The violin’s pizzicati evoke the strumming of a guitar, an instrument on which the poet harmonized and recorded Spanish songs. Following the motion’s passionate climax, wherein the violin performs in sensuous thirds, the music turns into icy and mysterious. Out of the blue, it evaporates into the ether with an odd, haunting glissando.
The ultimate motion (Presto tragico) is each fiery and frolicking. Within the last moments, its seemingly unstoppable vitality dissipates, fading into the gloom of a funeral march. The Sonata ends with a hellish shriek, adopted by ghostly echoes.
I. Allegro con fuoco:
II. Intermezzo:
III. Presto tragico:
* Produced in Paris in 1942, underneath the noses of Nazi authorities, the rating of Poulenc’s ballet, Les Animaux modèles, was laced with references to the anti-German music, “Vous n’aurez pas l’Alsace et la Lorraine.” In September and October of the identical yr, Poulenc anonymously revealed settings of two resistance poems by Louis Aragon.
Recordings
- Poulenc: Violin Sonata, FP 119: Midori, Robert McDonald Amazon
Featured Picture: “Eiffel Tower from the Avenue de Versailles,” Maurice Utrillo
