Bela Bartók:
- Works for Violin and Piano
Bartók:
- Sonata for Solo Violin, BB 124, Sz. 117
- Violin Sonata in E minor, BB28
- Romanian Folk Dances, Sz.56 (arr. Székely for violin & piano)
- Hungarian Folk Songs (1947), Sz 42
- 10 Hungarian Folk Tunes for violin and piano
- Sonatina, BB 69, Sz. 55
Performed by James Ehnes (violin) and Andrew Armstrong (piano)
Here are some Spotify audio highlights of James Ehnes that I posted earlier this month to publicize his San Francisco concert:
James Ehnes has previously recorded Béla Bartók’s concertos for violin and for viola, which I reviewed on this blog.
The Sonata for Solo Violin (without accompaniment) was the last work that Bartók wrote for the instrument. This work was written for violinist Yehudi Menuhin. Bartok was so impressed by a recital performance by Menuhin, that he had no hesitation in accepting the violinist’s commission for a sonata that, like Bach’s, would be unaccompanied.
Additionally on this CD we get to hear three groups of Bartók’s Romanian and Hungarian folk dances, folksongs, and folk tunes James Ehnes also highlights the Romanian influences in Bartók’s Sonatina for piano, transcribed for violin by André Gertler, a student of Bartók’s.
Here is James Ehnes playing the Wieniawski Etude-Caprice Op. 18 No. 4
And here’s more of Ehnes, as performed on a violin crafted by Giuseppe Guarneri in 1737:
Tags: James Ehnes, Bartok, Violin Sonata