Eugene-Auguste Ysaye:
Sonata No 1 in G minor:
I. Grave (Lento assai)
II. Fugato (Molto moderato)
III. Allegretto poco Scherzoso (Amabile)
IV. Finale con brio (Allegro fermo)

Sonata No 2 in A minor ("Obsession"):
I. Obsession. Prélude (Poco vivace)
II. Malinconia (Poco Lento)
III. Danse des ombres - Sarabande (Lento)
IV. Les Furies (Allegro furioso)

Sonata No 3 in D minor ("Ballade"):
Lento molto sostenuto (In modo di recitativo) Allegro in tempo giusto e con bravura

Sonata No 4 in E minor:
I. Allemanda (Lento maestoso)
II. Sarabande (Quasi Lento)
III. Finale (Presto ma non troppo)

Sonata No 5 in G major ("Pastorale"):
I. L´Aurore (Lento assai)
II. Danse rustique (Allegro giocoso molto moderato)

Sonate No 6 in E major:
Allegro giusto non troppo vivo Allegretto poco scherzando

Viktoria Elisabeth Kaunzner:
Sojuchameleon

“The CD “Les Furies” showcases the Six sonates pour violon seul, op. 27 by Eugene Ysaye (1858-1931). An exuberant product of the Roaring Twenties, they are played on the 1735 Ex-David/Midori Guarneri del Gesu violin, a superb instrument that I wish I owned. The sonatas are joined, in a time-travelling leap forward to the hypermodern era, by my own composition, the Sojuchameleon for violin and field recordings. It was recorded in the zen-like atmosphere of a monastery, and complements the CD’s title, which campaigns for the introduction of a noise tax in urban areas. I hope you enjoy listening to it.

I first heard the Sonata No. 3 “Ballade” from the Six sonates pour violon seul, op. 27 in 1999, and was enchanted by its sonorous beauty; to me it sounded like the wind. After years of performing all six sonatas, I decided to record them. However, I came up against a paucity of information about Ysaye’s life. Only one book has been written about this “giant” (as his pupil at one remove Yehudi Menuhin called him), and it is in English only: Ysaye, His Life, Work and Influence, co-written by his son Antoine Ysaye and Bertram Ratcliffe. I find the lack of information strange, as Ysaye, described by Carl Flesch as the “violin incubator of Europe” and “the most outstanding and individual violinist I have ever heard in my life”, is at least on a par with that mysterious maverick Paganini, about whom there is no end of literature.”

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Six sonatas for violin solo opus 27 / Sojuchameleon