Download Booklet
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
BIS-CD-625 STEREO FEDI Total playing time: 56'51 SIBELIUS,Johan (Jean)Julius Christian (1865-1957) Five Pieces, Op.8l rr"*"t 14'24 E I. Mazurka (1915).Commodo e congracia 2',15 tr II. Rondino (1917).Allegretto grazioso 1'51 tr III. Valse(1917). Poco con moto 3'03 tr ry. Aubade (1918).Andantino con moto 3'02 E V. Menuetto (1918).Moderato assai 3'55 tr Novellette, Op.102 (1922).Allegro rwut z',39 Five Danses Champ6tres, Op.1O61g2S) rwut 18'37 E I. Largamente assai - Viuace '',02 @ II. AIla polacca 2',25 tr ru. Tempomoderato 4'rg @ IV. Ternpodi menuetto 3'19 E Y. Poco moderato - Allegretto 3'11 2 Four Pieces, Op.L15 (1929) @reitkopfl 10'05 tr L On The Heath. Andantino 2',2"1, tr II. Ballade. Allegro moderato 3'54 @ IIII. Humoresqu,e.Tlanquillo - Allegretto z',15 tr IV. The Bells (Capriccietto). Presto l'20 Three Pieces, Op.116 (L929) @reithopt) 9'19 E I. Scdnede danse.Tbrnpo moderato z',06 E II. Danse caract6ristique. Tempomoderato 2',40 @ III. Rondeauromantique. 4',20 Largamente - Tempocornmodo Nils-Erik Sparf, violin Bengt Forsberg, piano A s a teenager Sibeiius would go for long walks in the countryside and A ty the sea with his violin under his arm, and the close contact with .4. Inature which he experienced in these formative years had a profound effect upon his later output as a composer. He dreamed of becoming a master violinist and his failure to do so irked him for years afterwards. In 1915, while composing the Sonatina in E major for violin and piano, he noted in 'Dreamt his diary: I was twelve years old and a virtuoso'. Yet his special sympathy for the violin is reflected in the frequency of his compositions for it, of which the Violin Concerto in D minor is by far the best-known. His output for violin and piano falls into two main phases - during his student years, and in the decade and a half following the outbreak of the First World War. Among the pieces in the first phase there are several serious attempts at larger structures including three sonatas, in D minor (1887-88?),A minor (1884) and F major (1886-87); these remained unpublished during the composer's lifetime. These works are part of the large body of chamber music which Sibelius wrote before Kulleruo and his interest in them declined as his mastery of the orchestra grew. After this, and with a pause only to revise the Ttlo Pieces, Op.2, in 1911, Sibelius abandoned the medium of violin and piano until the First World War. Moreover the second period, from 191-4until 1929, brought forth only miniatures with the sole exception of the Sonatino, Op.80, a work of modest proportrons. In his Op.81 Sibelius gathered five well-contrasted pieces written between 1915 and 1918. The fit:st, Mazurko, is a display piece with huge leaps and frequent pizzicati. No.2, Rondino, on the other hand, is a study in moderation. Its main theme moves within a narrow range and it has a simple, unobtrusive, effective accompaniment. The Valse whtch follows is pleasant and placid - and one of the easiest to play of all Sibelius's violin compositions. Not so the fourth piece, Aubade, the second half of which makes extensive use of double-stopping techniques to decorate its stylish 4 theme melody.The last piece,Menuetto,has more fireworks though its main on a simple trilllike motif. is* based par h lt" Noleltitte, op.102, Sibelius reveais himself as a tunesmith piecesin excellence.Sibelius intended to composea seriesof companion the piece is ,l_1", ,tyr", but these never materialized. Despite its brevity. late as i"ii atlractive and easily flowing melodies' Composed-as busy e,"go.VS"pt"mber"f 1922,when the .ornpos"t,penniless as usual' was the *ifi, tt Sixth andSeuenth Symphonies, it belongsstylistically alongside lighter wartime" miniatures and is ateautifully crafted example of Sibelius's music.-tn"fiveDansesChampatres,op.l06,werewritteninlg25.Thefirstpiece land-scape is broad and majestic liargameite asi'sai),a bleak and chilling our iff"-i""t"J ty flashes of hfhtning. In passing through this countryside "earthy, (Viuace).The second aiterrtion is twice aiverteJ-to an bucolic dance AIIa polacca,is beautifully proportioned,animated-and optimistic; iince, in Sib;1i;;;h""ki1y parodies the slow movement of his own Fifth Symphonv the it, .to.ing bars. e breaks in the third-piece' Te,mpom.oderato' "torm rhythms. ;;;;;ffit;r.avity of which totalty overwhetmsthe dance-like .\0""y Serenade ift" ilr"iting itself is but as with the G minor "ff".ii"u, the.majorkey for violin"i"il" and orchestra,Op.OO No.Z, the unexpectedending in di Me.nuetto is an unconvincing touch.'The fourth dance is marked Tempo it contains an ^"a, ufifto"gh the opening is somewh^a^t.heavy-footed' Tilr"tv *iaal. sZction. The fifth dance opens w!!h,a brightly swift but uneasy uIJJl""l"pp"uii"gfv muscular melody (Pocomod'erafo) leading to a the Danses dance(Allegretto)i at the"end, brightness prevails' Overall' blend of grand champatres are an ,rr"rr"rr-."i'of p"ieceswith an awkward stylish goodhumoui(No.2) and heavy,uninspired searching mark a significant "i.i""'-O".fl,for musical directions'iNot.a and 5)' Neverthelessthey piano; henceforth the i""jit""i"g of style in dibelius's music for violin and pieces would be characberized by greater acerbity ofmood, more adventurous harmonies and a wider emotional range. Tlr: Four pieces,Op.116, _ Pieces, Op.11E, and the T-hree all date from 1929. By this time Sibelius had already produced his'last g."ut o".t er1"J *o"t , the.tone^poem Tapiola (1926): other projects, including"a S"itn Sor-iiiin and string orchestra and, of course, tne bighin sympiony, -e1e a"sii"ea to remain (the unpublished suite has recenily been rediscovered and its world premidre recording is available on BIS-CD-5ZE). The first piece of the Op.115 s9t; Ory The Heath, is a fine piece of small-scale tone_painting. among tfre rich coloristic effects which sibelius creates from a minimum of material and by the simplest means is the cry of his beloved migratory li"as. iiie-rrigrrry- charged, ominous violin motif at the start of the Billad" i"a"rgo"r1orioo.,r, virtuosic variation, searching for form and direction, before u7f^t", motif in the piano guides it into the form of a demonic dance which e"""i"uily ."r-, down to peaceful a conclusion. The Humore.sque which folows is less dramatic; the-simple device of a dotted rhythm in the violin set-against constant crotchets in the piano contrasts with the nostalgic u.,ru of ri.h harmonies in the free, romantic middre section. The Betis rCiii:ii"ntta presents an incessant whirl from the muted violin against an accompaniment of unique_simplicity in siberius's @uvre. The strikingly unconventional sound of this music must be savoured while it lasts; i-hl piece passes as swifbly as a whiffof breeze. The bold, . spikily restless viorin line of scane d.e d,anse,the first piece of the op.116_set, is anything but conciliatory in mood. This piece'urra it. successor, Danse caractdristique, represent the culmination of Sibelius's attempt to 'modern' startle the listener with jagged rhythms, harmonies and violent changes of mood, and one wo.rders whether the Eigii'i---{y;;hony might have exhibited a similar intensely turbulent audacity.-The conliuaing Rondeau romantique, on the other dand, returns us unexpectedlv vet o wartime pieces: charming, gay, and unequivocally to the stylistic world of the ,"ur.orittg as its companion pieces are unsettling' And'rew Barnett ". Nils.ErikSparfisdescendedfromalonglineofDa]ecar]ianfiddlersand toeether with his father' He began playing folL-music ui-u early age """v of Music in Stockholm his profession.iirii"*g-"i tfr" novif College received p"ague. joined the Royal pru.". uu-"i, lrr-.t"ai"g In rszs tt" and in various in 19?9for the Roval Operaorchestra i" ii"lilr'"-rt""-*fii94 f,e left is now leader of the Uppsala Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra' He BIS records' 6ir;;;;;-o".hestra. He appears on 10 other Collegeof was born in 1952' He studied at the Gothenburg Bengt Forsberg in 1975 and tt" qlrJri"a u" o"gu"ist and precentor Music, whence Ingemar ;';-;ir;; "' soloisiin 1978 after studies with obtained his diploma He is ri,"'tr*t tt"dies in copenhagen and London' ;:.;;i;i;. E" oia.rtoor. and he I ir""ru""" .otoi't, tttu-l"r musician attd accompanist' ;#il;;;;t member of the ;;;";i"J;;i'"-'tlv ;clected music' He is a ilffi;i;;l.t; and television recordings.He Kornsold piano Tlio u"alr* *!J. man! radio upp"utt on 3 other BIS recordings' seiner Jugend Jn machte Sibelius, seine Geigeunter dem Arm tragend, lange spaziergiinge I auf dem Land und in einem s;..--Ii;;; rverbindung mit der Natur, die er in dresenprdgenden Jahren erlebte,""g. hatte eine tiefgehende u,rr ."i., .pat..ur s"chaffenui. ro.rrporrr.t. Er triiumte davon, {irkung ein Geigeniirt,roru ,r'*urden und das Nichterreichen diesesZieles machte ihm noch Jah.e da.rachzu schaffen.191b sein schrieber in Tagebuch:,,Ich triiumte, ich sei 12 und ein virtuose... auch so ,oiu*"rt .i.r, in der Hdufigkeit seiner Komposition"" r", c"G'.Ii.rl"u-""r'orra"." sympathie ftir diesesInstrument wie'der,wobei das viorinkonzertd.-mort die bei weitem bekanntesteist. seine werke ftir violine und Kravier kcinnenin zwei Hauptabschnitteein- geteilt werden - seines,tudentenjahre andertharbJahrzehnte nach dem Ausbruch des ""Jii" 1.