| Violin Sonata No. 2 | |
|---|---|
| Chamber music by George Enescu | |
 Enescu in the 1910s | |
| Key | F minor |
| Opus | 6 |
| Composed | 1899 |
| Dedication | Joseph and Jacques Thibaud |
| Performed | 22 February 1900 Paris |
| Movements | 3 |
| Scoring |
|
The Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano in F minor, Op. 6, is the second violin sonata by the Romanian composer George Enescu, completed in 1899.
After six years of study in Vienna, where he acquired German discipline and experienced the grandiose cultural summit of the late romantic era, Enescu moved to Paris, where he continued his studies for another five years at the Conservatoire de Paris. His contact with the modernity of the French musical world gave him certainty, clarity of thought, measure, elegance in expression and sound color for refined detail, which he learned to blend with what he had learned in Vienna, together with a stream of freshness and optimism, love of life and people, which he had brought with him from his childhood home in Moldavia. The end of his musical apprenticeship was marked by the composition of his Second Violin Sonata in Paris in 1899 [1] The first performance of the sonata was given in Paris by Jacques Thibaud, violin, with the composer himself at the piano, on 22 February 1900, in a concert that was part of the Concerts Colonne series [2] The score is dedicated to Joseph and Jacques Thibaud. [3]
Enescu later acknowledged that this sonata, together with his next work, the Octet for Strings, marked the point where "I felt myself evolving rapidly, I was becoming myself . . . Until then, I was fumbling. From that moment I felt able to walk on my own legs, even if not yet to run very fast ...". [4]
The Sonata is in three movements,
The construction of each of the three movements is clear, though not entirely according to a textbook observance of the classical models. After the development section proper of the first movement’s sonata form, there is further development of the main theme, constituting a climax, full of dramatic tension. The slow movement is a ternary form with particularities caused by cyclical returns of musical ideas from the first movement. Unusually, this movement is written in the same key (F minor), as the first movement of the Sonata, which contributes to a blurring of contrasts in favour of a principle of slow and organic transformation of the musical substance. The finale is a rondo with a certain amount of freedom. It is prepared for at the end of the slow movement, which it follows without interruption. Perhaps as compensation for the lack of tonal contrast between the first two movements, the refrain theme begins in D minor, modulating to settle in C major. It is only in its final statement that the tonic of F is confirmed, but this time in major. [5]
The composer himself, as violinist, recorded the sonata on two occasions.
George Enescu, known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor, and teacher and is regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history.
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Vox maris, Op. 31, is a symphonic poem composed between 1929 and 1954 by the Romanian composer George Enescu, dedicated to the memory of the great Romanian pianist Elena Bibescu.
The two Romanian Rhapsodies, Op. 11, for orchestra, are George Enescu's best-known compositions. They were written in 1901, and first performed together in 1903. The two rhapsodies, and particularly the first, have long held a permanent place in the repertory of every major orchestra. They employ elements of lăutărească music, vivid Romanian rhythms, and an air of spontaneity. They exhibit exotic modal coloring, with some scales having 'mobile' thirds, sixths or sevenths, creating a shifting major/minor atmosphere, one of the characteristics of Romanian music. They also incorporate some material found in the later drafts of Enescu's Poème roumaine, Op. 1.
The Octet for strings in C major, Op. 7, is an octet composition for string instruments by the Romanian composer George Enescu, completed in 1900. Together with the Octet in F major, Op. 17 (1849) by Niels Gade, it is regarded as amongst the most notable successors to Felix Mendelssohn's celebrated Octet, Op. 20.
The Sonata No. 3 in A minor "dans le caractère populaire roumain" for violin and piano, Op. 25, is a chamber music composition written in 1926 by the Romanian composer George Enescu. The score, published in 1933, is dedicated to the memory of the violinist Franz Kneisel. It is one of the composer's most popular and at the same time most critically respected works.
Radu Paladi was a Romanian composer, pianist, and conductor. His compositions include stage and film music, choral works, vocal music and vocal-symphonic works, chamber music, symphonic music as well as concertos.
Symphony No. 2, Op. 17, in A major by the Romanian composer George Enescu was written in 1912–14. A performance lasts about 55 minutes.
The Symphony No. 3, Op. 21, in C major is a large-scale orchestral-vocal composition by the Romanian composer George Enescu. While it was first written in 1916–18. the composer revised it numerous times over the following decades.
The Symphony No. 4 in E minor is an orchestral composition by the Romanian composer George Enescu, left incomplete at the composer's death, but finished in 1996 by Pascal Bentoiu.
The Chamber Symphony, Op. 33, in E major, is a symphony written for twelve instruments, and the last work finished by the Romanian composer George Enescu.
Piano Quartet No. 2 in D minor, Op. 30, is a chamber-music composition by the Romanian composer George Enescu, written in 1943–44.
The Piano Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 16, is a chamber music composition by the Romanian composer George Enescu, written in 1909 and first performed in Paris the same year.
The Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 29, is a chamber music work by the Romanian composer George Enescu, written in 1940.
The Sonata No. 3 for Piano in D major, Op. 24, No. 3, is a piano sonata by the Romanian composer George Enescu, written between 1933 and 1935.
The String Quartet No. 2 in G major, Op. 22, No. 2, is a chamber music work by the Romanian composer George Enescu, composed mainly between 1950 and 1951, though it has a lengthy pre-history and received a number of revisions in 1952 and possibly early 1953. The score is dedicated to the American pianist, composer, and arts patron, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. A performance of it lasts about 25 minutes.
The Sonata No. 1 for Piano in F-sharp minor, Op. 24, No. 1, is a piano sonata by the Romanian composer George Enescu, completed in 1924.
The Cello Sonata No. 2 in C major, Op. 26, No. 2, is a sonata for cello and piano by the Romanian composer George Enescu, written in 1935. A performance lasts about 30 minutes.
The Decet for winds in D major, Op. 14, is a chamber music work by the Romanian composer George Enescu, written in 1906 and first performed in Paris the same year. A performance lasts about 23 minutes.
The String Quartet No. 1 in E-flat major, Op. 22, No. 1, is a chamber music work by the Romanian violinist and composer George Enescu, composed between 1916 and 1920. A performance of it lasts about 45 minutes.
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