GEORGE

ENESCU
Violin Sonata No. 3 in A minor, Op. 25, dans le caractre populaire roumain
Moderato malinconico
Andante sostenuto e misterioso
Allegro con brio, ma non troppo mosso

Born: August 19, 1881, in Liveni-Virnau, Romania
Died: May 5, 1955, in Paris
Work composed: 1926
World premiere: January, 1927, in Paris at the Salle Gaveau, with the composer as violin soloist
and Nicolae Caravia as the pianist

Like Bartk and Kodly in Hungary, and Vaughan Williams in England, Enescu drank deeply at
the well of his countrys folkloric tradition, drawing from it both inspiration and a rich source of
musical ideas. Romania, then as now, was an East-West crossroads, and its music reflects the
timeless journeys of nomadic visitors from the Orient. Enescu noted the potent blending of
Egyptian, Gypsy, Magyar and Slavic ingredients contributing to its exotic qualities.

Laid out in three movements, the sonata bears an undercurrent of bittersweet melancholy that
acts as an emotional thread reflecting the memorial intent of the music. At the same time, it is
an unmistakable celebration of Romanias fertile musical heritage.

Strongly eastern in flavor, the highly rhapsodic Moderato malinconico derives from two distinct
themes, the one subdued, the other animated. Eerie glissandi contribute to the pervasive
melancholy. Here, indeed everywhere in the piece, his writing for the violin is idiomatic and
inventive. The slow movement claims primacy as the heart of this deeply-felt score. Ghostly in
its evocative use of disembodied violin harmonics and shifting off-key tones set against a
relentless, though generally quiet, ostinato in the piano, the music cannot fail to remind one of
its kinship with the night music of Bartk, even Mahler. A haunting loneliness impels an
empathetic response from the listener.

The work concludes with a distinctly rustic dance-rondo. Beginning rather jauntily if
comfortably, the music sharpens considerably with the sudden appearance of tone clusters in
the piano that add rhythmic and harmonic tension to the soaring and explorative violin line. The
music takes on an increasingly serious demeanor, ending forcefully with the violin surging over
thundering harmonies on the piano.