Sibbe Live!: Vienna – Wars – Warsaw

Programme:
Johannes Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major, Op. 100 (1886)
Grażyna Bacewicz: Partita for Violin and Piano (1955)
Erich Korngold: Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 6 (1913)

Grażyna Bacewicz (1909–1969) received her first piano and violin lessons from her father before enrolling at the Warsaw Conservatory. After graduating at the age of 22, she continued her studies in Paris, where her composition teacher was Nadia Boulanger and her violin teacher was Carl Flesch. Following her studies, Bacewicz performed actively as a violinist with her pianist brother throughout Eastern Europe. She also served as concertmaster of the Warsaw Radio Orchestra, where she gained practical experience in orchestration. During the Nazi occupation in World War II, Bacewicz organized secret concerts and was involved in the resistance movement. In her music, one can hear the violence of society and the surrounding world, as well as the distress of the individual under oppressive regimes.

Violinist Carl Flesch and pianist Artur Schnabel premiered Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in G major, Op. 6, in Berlin in October 1913. The Flesch–Schnabel duo performed the sonata frequently during their tours, but over time, Korngold’s richly colored and monumental work faded from the standard repertoire. In her thesis (2016), researcher Jennifer Martyn explores reasons why this magnificent piece—composed by a child prodigy at the age of 15—has rarely been performed since the 1920s. As a Jew, Korngold fled to the United States and began composing film music in Hollywood, which led to his earlier European works falling into obscurity. His harmonic language, based on tonality, soon came to be seen as old-fashioned, especially when compared to the works of compatriot Arnold Schoenberg. Korngold’s violin sonata is profoundly beautiful and abundant music.

In collaboration with The Finnish Soloists’ Association.

Tickets 15€/12€, doors 18.00.