Progetto Martha Argerich

italiano

Works

César Franck

Sonata in la maggiore

 

The Sonata in A Major for violin and piano, composed in 1886 and dedicated to the violinist Eugène Ysaÿe, is probably César Franck’s most well-balanced piece of chamber music – the one in which the Franco-Belgian composer was most successful in combining two apparently irreconcilable aspects of his musical personality: warm, passionate, full-bodied romantic melodic invention, on the one hand, and, on the other, a taste for broad, solid formal structures. Unlike the tormented, cerebral String Quartet in D Major or the torrential Piano Quintet in F minor, the Sonata in A Major is as enjoyable to listen to as it is impeccable from an architectonic point of view; indeed, the sobriety implicit in resorting to a so-called “cyclical form” lends a dash of originality to a work that takes great liberties with the formal schema of the classical sonata, although it is intimate and profoundly coherent. The first movement, Allegretto molto moderato, juxtaposes two themes in the traditional way, but it completely lacks a development section and a recapitulation and feels more like a free, lyrical outpouring. The second movement, a richly developed sonata-form allegro, is more incisive and dramatic. The third movement, Recitativo-Fantasia, molto moderato, begins with a repetition of the first movement’s main motif, and in the final fourth movement, Allegretto poco mosso, we at last find a festive, peaceful atmosphere, as well as the impassioned and somewhat ingenuous impulsiveness of Franck’s most original melodies.

listen to Real Media recording

1. Allegretto moderato
2. Allegro
3. Recitativo - Fantasia
4. Allegretto poco mosso

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Performance