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Violin Sonatina (Sibelius)

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Violin Sonatina in E major
Duo by Jean Sibelius
The composer (c. 1915)
Opus80
Composed1915 (1915)
PublisherHansen (1921)[1]
Duration12.25 mins[2]
Premiere
Date6 December 1915 (1915-12-06)[1]
LocationHelsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland
Performers

The Violin Sonatina in E major, Op. 80, is a three-movement duo for violin and piano[2] written in 1915 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The main theme of the third movement was originally intended for the Sixth Symphony (Op. 104).[3]

History

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A 6 December 1915 advertisement promoting the premiere of Sibelius's Violin Sonatina

The Violin Sonatina received its premiere in Helsinki, Finland on 6 December 1915, on occasion of the semi-centennial of Sibelius's birth (during which there were many concerts celebrating the composer); the soloists were the Polish-American violinist Richard Burgin and the Finnish pianist Eino Lindholm [fi]. Also on the program was the String Quartet in B-flat major (Op. 4, 1890), the suite for solo piano Kyllikki (Op. 41, 1904), and the String Quartet in D minor, Voces intimae (Op. 56, 1909).[1]

Structure and music

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The Violin Sonatina is in three movements, as follows:

  1. Lento – Allegro
  2. Andantino
  3. Lento – Allegretto

The piece was published in 1921 by Edition Wilhelm Hansen.[1]

Movement I

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The first movement begins in 4
4
time before switching to 2
2
for the Allegro. It has a duration of about 3.75 minutes.[4]

Movement II

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The second movement is in 6
4
time and has a duration of about 4.5 minutes.[4]

Movement III

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The third movement begins 4
4
time before switching to 2
4
at the Allegretto. It has a duration of about four minutes.[4]

Discography

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The American violinist Diana Steiner and the pianist David Berfield made the world premiere studio recording of the Violin Sonatina in 1977 for Orion.[1] The sortable table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:

No. Violin Piano Runtime[a] Rec.[b] Recording venue Label Ref.
1 Diana Steiner David Berfield 11:54 1977 Orion
2 Ruggiero Ricci Sylvia Rabinof 10:22 1979 St. Andrew's Church Masters of the Bow
3 Yoshiko Arai [fi] (1) Izumi Tateno 11:50 1980 Munkkivuoren kirkko [fi] Finlandia
4 Yoshiko Arai [fi] (2) Eero Heinonen [fi] 1988 Kulttuuritalo Martinus [fi] Ondine
5 Nils-Erik Sparf [sv] Bengt Forsberg 12:51 1991 Danderyds gymnasium [sv] BIS
6 Kaija Saarikettu Teppo Koivisto [fi] 12:15 2001 Martti Talvela Hall, Mikaeli Alba [fi]
7 Manfred Gräsbeck [fi] Maija Lehtonen [fi] 14:23 2005 Tulinberg Hall, Oulun musiikkikeskus [fi] Fuga [fi]
8 Carlos Damas Anna Tomasik 11:34 Etcetera
9 Satu Jalas Folke Gräsbeck [fi] 2014 Ainola Ainola
10 Fenella Humphreys Nicola Eimer 11:22 2016 Church of St John the Evangelist, Oxford Stone
11 Maxime Gulikers Andrea Vasi 7 Mountain
12 Emma Arizza Stefano Marzanni 13:34 2022 Palazzo Cigola-Martinoni, Cigole Da Vinci Classics

Notes, references, and sources

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Notes
References
  1. ^ a b c d e Dahlström 2003, p. 349.
  2. ^ a b Dahlström 2003, p. 348.
  3. ^ Barnett 2007, p. 249.
  4. ^ a b c Dahlström 2003, p. 448.
Sources
  • Barnett, Andrew (2007). Sibelius. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11159-0.
  • Dahlström, Fabian [in Swedish] (2003). Jean Sibelius: Thematisch-bibliographisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke [Jean Sibelius: A Thematic Bibliographic Index of His Works] (in German). Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel. ISBN 3-7651-0333-0.
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