Solo Violin sonata (2006)

MOVEMENTS

I - Prelude-Toccata “a citizen’s routine”

II - Christmas Melodies

III - Capriccio after “the flight of bumble-bee”

IV - Chaconne

V - Finale: Dances in the form of a Rondo

Program Notes

To set about writing a composition for a solo instrument involves, in my case, thinking about a piece where this individuality can be emphasized and developed. The improvised cadences of the concerti for solo instruments of the so-called classical period are examples of this will to feature such individuality. Nowadays, improvisation is somewhat separated from performance, and this is why there is a need to reinforce this individuality without forcing performers to resort to an improvisation technique they are not used to.

This is not a handicap, but rather a simple consequence of the present time, which leads us to consider other forms of interaction between the soloist and the piece. Regarding this Sonata, I have taken this interaction as the culmination of the creative process. If we looked at this process in layers, the performer would provide the final layer, without having to master improvisation technique. This is why there are many elements in this piece that are presented as open, suggesting that different interpretations can take place. Likewise, the character indications of each of the pieces require the performer’s personal touch to transmit them.

Despite the absence of improvisation, it can be said that in many places the music intends to simulate an “improvisation” style. At the same time, the writing together with the above comments intends to achieve the most natural approach possible to the music written in this sonata.

In the following paragraphs, I would like to call attention to certain elements in each of the movements.

I – Prelude-Toccata “A citizen’s routine”

The general idea of this movement is focused on the apparent contradiction in the association of the urban routine, or a routine encapsulated within certain stress and within constant unforeseen events that are not ordinary in themselves but are continuously present. Therefore, we tend to accept as ordinary an unexpected break- down or delay in the subway service...or that we need to queue more or less time as we wait for something.

Musically, we have the constant presence of A3 which is interrupted by other notes, forming something more or less coherent and predictable, and in other moments without much coherence. The general idea is that almost the whole movement becomes a legato in a continuous line which is more or less disorganized by the notes that seek to escape from this monotony.

Whenever the repeated A3 note appears, a structure arises like the one in the first bar, distributed in the 2nd and 3rd strings to achieve the continuous legato effect. The exception is found in bar 22, which would be difficult to play, and at the same time, because it has a more pronounced character, welcomes an escape from this legato. The changes from sul ponticello to ordinario have to be interpreted as a color variation in this legato line of repeated notes. The idea is to do a kind of O-Sp- O bowing during the A note repetitions. Consequently, this bowing will be as variable as the repetitions. In the other notes, we will always find an ordinario, unless the score indicates otherwise. It is for this reason that when there is more space, more continuous repeated notes, it is possible to play closer to the bridge, and when there are fewer, the bowing is less pronounced. It is important to point out, though, that the degree of freedom in this aspect is broad, and that what is most important is the idea of the need to play with these changes of bowings.

The fragment between bars 24 and 29 is calmer and freer in terms of beat. In bar 30, where a line similar to ascending trills appears, the idea of legato continues, as is indicated in the second bar (sempre legato sino fine). The bowings of bar 36 onwards should help to reinforce the melodic line above. In other words, each beat in bar 36, and every two beats in bar 37, for example. Finally, from bar 54 to 58, it is important to emphasize the gesture of accelerando, while at the end the sensation of very pronounced rhythm is important.

II – Christmas Melodies

This movement serves as the calmer movement in a sonata although without becoming a slow movement. It is clearly inspired by the Christmas season, present in two different melodies. The first one has no clear reference but has the typical Christmas spirit, while the second melody is a sort of reminiscence of the traditional Catalan song El desembre congelat (Frozen December).

The indication of open tempo should be interpreted not only as the possibility to choose a tempo within the interval but as a frame within which to adapt slightly the tempo in each fragment, with the objective of achieving a greater naturalness that fits together with the idea of a song and reinforces its expressivity.

From bar 49, it is important to be able to feel free in the tenutos, understanding that it is natural that these notes are a little longer, and allowing the presence in two sound levels of two or more simultaneous lines.

The sottovoce, misterioso of bar 73 can obviously be accompanied by a bigger tempo fluctuation. The poco sul pont of bar 88 intends to help transmit the icy sensation, and it is in this sense that it should be understood and interpreted. The moments that are closest to the original song should be a little more emphasized.

III – Capriccio after “the flight of bumble-bee”

This movement becomes an intermezzo in the form of a little scherzo, based on Rimsky-Korsakov’s piece “the flight of bumble-bee” and Ysaÿe’s sonata “Obsession”, in which the composer uses a procedure similar to that used in J. S. Bach’s Prelude of the 3rd Partita. The title Capriccio is based on the desire for this movement to be highly virtuoso and full of effects.

This movement, then, has to be thought of as virtuoso and fun at the same time, and it is on these two concepts that the interpretation of the music should be based while making sure that it doesn’t become something grotesque (bars 57-60), or perhaps even ridiculous.

IV – Chaconne

The Chaconne is a continuous piece in the form of variations where the bass, which is usually moving downwards like the Passacaglia, becomes a very important element. The Chaconne is what J. S. Bach included in his second Partita for solo violin, one of the greatest pieces of all time.

On the 100th anniversary of Shostakovich’s birth, I have chosen to use as the second heading of this Chaconne the notes of this composer’s motive: D-Es-C-H.

Likewise, there are a series of references to Bach’s Chaconne (and also to Bartok’s sonata) in the writing and conception of the piece, which I am going to comment on in some more detail.

In this Chaconne, my intention is to reflect a personal view without any historical bent on Bach’s Chaconne, based on the idea that it was a consequence of his first wife’s death. This would have unleashed a feeling of contradiction or clash between a highly religious personality and the rage towards God caused by an unjust situation. In this position of contradicting feelings, the clash between two wills within a single individual is what I have wanted to base this movement on, extrapolating this initial situation to the more general one of opposing conscience.

At the beginning of the Chaconne, I have included a note indicating that the written tempi only figure in order to guide the contrasts in tempo changes (and are therefore in []). The decision to include these metronome indications was not taken until the end when I observed that the number of tempo changes could lead to chaos and uneasiness. The point is that tempo changes can and should happen between the Chaconne variations. In other words, the tempo should also be a means of expression. All the metronome indications are there to give broad guidelines (only to compare tempo changes) and, in general, even the tempo changes are approximate. The overall idea is to keep a tempo in mind, which is within the interval indicated at the beginning of the piece, and to have a similar interval in which to “fluctuate” during the interpretation.

Each of the variations is separated by a double line, to help to the understanding of the piece, but without meaning to indicate any obligatory separation between them,

The first variation (bar 9) uses the texture of one of the variations of Bach’s piece, with the objective of creating two sound and emotional levels within the idea of the clash mentioned above. Each of them has its own character, intensity, attack, and beat. The second variation (bar 17) is a first attempt to unify these two levels resulting in a clear predominance of one over the other. It is important always to maintain the clear melodic line over the notes of the chords which serve to reinforce the tempi and tension. In the third variation (bar 25) there is, in contrast, a predominance of the other level which leads us to a new mixture/battle in the fourth (bar 33) and fifth (bar 41) but from two different viewpoints. In this way, these three variations constitute a progressive block. The sixth variation (bar 49) which also follows one of Bach’s, becomes a point of dramatic reflection from a certain instability which leads us to an uneasy and upsetting improvisation which is the seventh variation (bar 57). This process culminates in the eighth variation (bar 65) with forceful drama, and which brings its own corresponding process of reflection/introspection in variations nine (bar 73) and ten (bar 81). The eleventh variation (bar 89) which should be very free and almost unreal, leads us to an opposed situation (within this conception of contradiction) from variation eight to the twelfth variation (bar 97) of “celestial” or idyllic character. This contraposition is also found in the thirteenth variation (bar 105) which takes Wagner’s Lohengrin as a model, reflecting the use of the As in the first act, where a harmonic progression is used to change from the idyllic AM of Lohengrin to the CM of the horsemen. This is the beginning of a final coda and it is quite a light variation. The meno mosso of the fourteenth variation (bar 113) should be understood as coming from the fast movement, the accelerando, and where the elements of the theme melody meet again in the middle of a kind of flurry of 32nd notes. With the fifteenth and last variation (bar 121) the dramatism, the heaviness in opposition to the lightness of the preceding variations, and the references to Bach’s Chaconne are retaken. With the reappearance, at the end, of the initial theme, it is important to bear in mind Heraclitus’ aphorism “everything flows; nothing remains” or “No man ever steps in the same river twice” and remember that, even though the theme is the same as the one at the beginning, it can never be the same as it is the consequence of a process.

V – Finale: Dances in a Rondo form

Where the third movement was gracious or scherzoso, this is ironic in character. Formally it follows the structure of a classic rondo ABACA, built up by different pieces without any relationship among them, except that they share the same background of the dance. One could say that it fits within a creative process based on destruction which means that the different elements are presented in their “pure” state without being combined or developed, with the aim that this process occurs internally in each listener. The predominately eclectic character of this movement helps to reflect the idea of irony.

The clearly marked separation of each of the parts is important, while the distinctive features between them are reinforced. In what could be called part A, the accentuated notes are crucial along with the continuous staccato, combining the sudden descending flurry I with some legato sequences which should be clearly distinct from the others in staccato. The Trio I, as is indicated, should have all the ingredients of a romantic waltz, while the Trio II should incorporate the elements of a gigue.

We can establish a certain concordance between these parts I of the three first movements of the Sonata: the mechanistic system of the first movement with the accentuation of this A theme, the Christmas style with the Waltz of Trio I, and the velocity and stress of the Capriccio with the Trio II. Likewise, the contrast among all these elements can remind us of the Chaconne. This way, the movement takes on the role of a synthesis of the whole Sonata from an ironic point of view.

This is how the end of this rondo should be viewed: as an ironic glance towards the typical finales of the classical period where there is a contrast between the abusive sensation of conclusion and a good response to it by the listeners.