Debussy, Fauré, & Saint-Saens – Violin Sonatas

Louisa Stonehill – Violin & Nicholas Burns – Piano

Program

Debussy – Violin Sonata

Fauré – Violin Sonata No.1 in A Major, Op.13

Saint-Saens – Violin Sonata No.2 in D minor, Op.75

Debussy’s Violin Sonata was his last completed work, written in 1917 during a bleak winter in Paris when both food and coal were in short supply. Debussy was also in the final stages of battling what would prove to be terminal cancer. Despite the such huge obstacles, he nevertheless produced a work of startling originality. It demands unique colors from both instruments, all within a succinct, three-movement work.

Gabriel Fauré’s first Violin Sonata was written in 1875 and was decades ahead of its time. Reviewing the first performance, Fauré’s former teacher Saint-Saëns had this to say “In this sonata you can find everything to tempt a gourmet: new forms, excellent modulations, unusual tone colors, and the use of unexpected rhythms,” he wrote. “And a magic floats above everything, encompassing the whole work, causing the crowd of usual listeners to accept the unimagined audacity as something quite normal. With this work Monsieur Fauré takes his place among the masters.”

As for Saint-Saëns himself, his Violin Sonata in D minor from 1885 was jokingly referred to as the “hippogriffsonata” by the composer himself… as he concluded only a mythical creature could summon the virtuosity required to bring this music off the page with sufficient electricity!