Claude Debussy (1862–1918) was already ill with the cancer which prematurely ended his life, when he began to compose his Violin Sonata in G minor. He began to sketch the work in 1916 and completed it the following year. It was to be his final composition.
Its three short movements provide an astonishing range of moods and emotions within a relatively short time span and, according to a typically self-deprecating remark by the composer, it represents ‘an example of what may be produced by a sick man in time of war’.
In 1910, Debussy had met a gypsy violinist in Budapest and been fascinated by his flamboyant style of playing. This may have subconsciously colored the style and mood of parts of the sonata, especially the Finale.
Debussy composed this last movement first and it references material in the two preceding movements. The opening Allegro vivo is deeply felt with its typical theme of falling 3rds supported by ravishing harmony, while the middle movement Intermède: Fantasque et léger, seeks to dispel the sombre mood, being unusually bright and capricious.
While the finale (marked Très animé) undoubtedly returns to the earlier mood, it nevertheless builds to an ecstatic conclusion, which sounds a surprising and definite mood of optimism, in spite of Debussy’s own tragic circumstances.
Here is violinist Janine Jansen to play this music for you:
