Solo Violin Sonatas 1-6 Op. 27 Solveig Steinthorsdottir

• Eugène Ysaÿe (1858 - 1931): Sonata No. 1 in G Minor:
• 1 Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 1 in G Minor: I. Grave: Lento assai 05:02
• 2 Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 1 in G Minor: II. Fugato: Molto moderato 04:22
• 3 Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 1 in G Minor: III. Allegretto poco scherzoso: Amabile 04:20
• 4 Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 1 in G Minor: IV. Finale con brio: Allegro fermo 03:02
• Sonata No. 2 in A Minor:
• 5 Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 2 in A Minor: I. Obsession: Prélude - Poco vivace 02:32
• 6 Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 2 in A Minor: II. Malinconia: Poco lento 02:05
• 7 Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 2 in A Minor: III. Danse des ombres: Sarabande 04:36
• 8 Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 2 in A Minor: IV. Les furies: Allegro furioso 03:21
• Sonata No. 3 in D Minor:
• 9 Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 3 in D Minor: „Ballade“: Lento molto sostenuto - Allegro in tempo giusto e con bravura 06:55
• Sonata No. 4 in E Minor:
• 10 Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 4 in E Minor: I. Allemanda: Lento maestoso 05:08
• 11 Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 4 in E Minor: II. Sarabande: Quasi lento 03:14
• 12 Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 4 in E Minor: III. Finale: Presto ma non troppo 03:24
• Sonata No. 5 in G Major:
• 13 Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 5 in G Major: I. L’Aurore: Lento assai 04:24
• 14 Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 5 in G Major: II. Danse rustique: Allegro giocoso molto moderato 05:32
• Sonata No. 6 in E Major:
• 15 Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 6 in E Major: Allegro giusto non troppo vivo 07:37
• Total Runtime 01:05:34

Info for Solo Violin Sonatas 1-6 Op. 27

In summer of 1923, Eugene Ysaÿe heard his friend Joseph Szigeti perform one of J.S. Bach’s Solo Violin Sonatas. Afterwards, on his way to a sojourn at the beach in Le Zoute, Ysaÿe couldn’t stop thinking about the performance: “When one hears an artist like Szigeti, who is able to accommodate his playing to the rectangular lines of the great classics as easily as he can to the expressive melodies of the romantics, one feels how absorbing it would be to compose a work for the violin whilst keeping ever before one the style of one particular violinist.” On arrival at the resort, Ysaÿe disappeared into his room for a couple of days and emerged with sketches of Six Violin Sonatas (Op. 27), each imagined with the sound and style of a specific artist ringing in his ears.

The first of these Op. 27 sonatas is dedicated to Szigeti. Ysaÿe’s Sonata No. 2 was written for Jacques Thibaud. The Sonata No. 4 was written for Fritz Kreisler.

The other three sonatas move away from Bach in their style and substance, focusing more exclusively on the violinist dedicatees. No. 3 was for the Romanian violinist and composer George Enescu. The Fifth Sonata, written for Ysaÿe’s favorite student Matthieu Crickboom, is in a completely different mood than the others. Ysaÿe’s final entry in the set, written for the Spanish violinist Manuel Quiroga, is a sequence of dances and arias linked by improvisatory cadenzas.

Solveig Steinthorsdottir, violin

Sólveig SteinÞórsdóttir
Icelandic violinist Sólveig Steinþórsdóttir made her solo debut with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in 2013, playing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. She has since been featured as a soloist with various orchestras in Iceland, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, performing works by Vivaldi, Bach, Saint-Saëns, Sarasate, Chausson and Sibelius. Sólveig regularly gives recitals and chamber music concerts in Iceland and across mainland Europe.

She has participated in master classes with Augustin Hadelich, Alexander Markov, Shlomo Mintz, Hagai Shaham among others.

Sólveig started playing the violin at the age of three at the Allegro music school in Reykjavík with Lilja Hjaltadóttir and later studied with Guðný Guðmundsdóttir at the Reykjavík College of Music. She completed a bachelor’s degree at the Berlin University of the Arts studying with Erika Geldsetzer and a master’s degree at the Zurich University of the Arts with Rudolf Koelman, both with distinction.

Sólveig has received grants from the Lyra Foundation Switzerland, the S. Eustachius Foundation Switzerland, the Rotary Foundation of Iceland and the Ingjaldssjóður Scholarship from the University of Iceland.

She plays on a violin made in 2011 by Icelandic luthier Hans Jóhannsson.

Booklet for Solo Violin Sonatas 1-6 Op. 27