Sei Solo - Music for unaccompanied violin

If one asks lovers of baroque music to mention works for violin without accompaniment, they will immediately mention the Sonatas and Partitas by Johann Sebastian Bach. Some may also point to Telemann's Fantasias and the Passacaglia from Biber's Mystery Sonatas. And that is probably it. However, there is much more, but that largely escapes the interest of the music world. Fortunately there are performers who are willing to look beyond the obvious, and leave the trodden paths. This review is devoted to several releases with music for unaccompanied violin.

"Sei Solo" - that is the title of Bach's Sonatas and Partitas. It has been pointed out that this is a grammatical error: it should be "Sei Soli". However, as has been suggested, Bach may have meant it literally: "you are on your own". That seems an appropiate title for a recording of music for an instrument without any accompaniment and, for that matter, of a review of such recordings.

In the recordings to be discussed here, Bach's Sonatas and Partitas are not included. Bach is not entirely absent, though. Rachel Podger [1] starts her recording with a transcription of the Toccata and fugue in d minor (BWV 565), Bach's most famous organ work. That is to say: if it is of Bach's pen and if it was originally conceived for organ. Both are matters of debate among scholars and performers. The truth will probably never be revealed. Podger plays a transcription by Chad Kelly. It is interesting, but I am not entirely convinced. I have heard versions which I liked more.

It is probably no coincidence that most of the repertoire Podger plays is from Germany and Austria. Violin playing in the German-speaking world had reached a high level of technical virtuosity, and Bach's Sonatas and Partitas are among its last specimens. Two of its main representatives are Johann Paul von Westhoff and Johann Joseph Vilsmayr. The former's suites for violin solo may have inspired Bach to compose his Sonatas and Partitas. Podger plays a separate suite which Westhoff played before Louis XIV in France and which was then published in the Mercure galant. Vilsmayr was a pupil of Biber and the six partitas for violin solo are the only works of his pen that are known. The track-list does not mention which of them is played: it is the No. 6 in A.

A major contribution to the literature for solo violin are the Sonate piccole by Giuseppe Tartini, which he used for his own performances. In the interest of others he added a basso continuo part, but preferred the solo version. They are inspired by literature, and reflect Tartini's ideal of 'naturalness'. Podger closes the recording with one of them. She also plays some pieces from unknown sources, such as a collection of preludes, published by John Walsh (whether they are indeed by the composers mentioned and intended for violin solo is hard to say - with Walsh one never knows), and a collection of pieces by a certain Pedro Lopes Nogueira from Portugal. There are also pieces from the so-called 'Klagenfurt manuscript' and a Fantasia by Nicola Matteis - not the rather well-known father, but by his son.

It is all brilliantly played, as we come to expect from Rachel Podger, who produces a beautiful tone. Her interpretation is based on a thorough knowledge of rhetorics, with a clear, speech-like articulation and marked dynamic contrasts, including differences between good and bad notes. It is to be hoped that this is not her last recording of music for unaccompanied violin.

Whereas Rachel Podger entirely focuses on early music, Isabelle Faust [2] covers a wide repertoire, from the baroque period to the present. She is equally versed in playing the modern violin as its baroque counterpart. Her recording with solo pieces from the 17th and 18th centuries, under the title "Solo", attests to that. There are similarities between their programmes. Both play a Fantasia by Nicola Matteis the younger, and it is a matter of good fortune that from the set of two, they chose a different piece. The one Faust plays, focuses on the technique of arpeggio, but in her hands it never is a purely technical matter. She makes music of it. It is nice that this piece is followed by three pieces by the father, showing from whom the son inherited his talent.

Like Podger, Faust plays a partita by Johann Joseph Vilsmayr, and again we are lucky that she took a different one: the No. 5 in g minor. It is a bit of a mystery why these works receive relatively little attention. Only Gunar Letzbor recorded them complete; another recording, by Vaughan Jones, is a kind of hybrid performance, which does not really satisfy. Faust and Podger show what fine works these partitas are. Faust closes the programme with the passacaglia from Biber's Mystery Sonatas. An isolated performance could easily miss the point: this is not a musical exercise, but has a spiritual meaning. Faust shows that she is aware of that. It is a worthy conclusion of her recital.

Podger selected also pieces by hardly-known masters, from somewhat obscure sources. Faust does the same, with a selection from Amusement pour le violon seul Op. 18 by Louis-Gabriel Guillemain. Gilles Colliard recorded a large selection in comparison, Faust selected eight pieces, which show that this is an interesting collection which deserves more interest than it has received. Guillemain was a pupil of Leclair, and just as gifted as his better-known peers.

Lastly, Johann Georg Pisendel, who knew Bach personally and whose only piece for unaccompanied violin, the Sonata in a minor, shows strong similarity with Bach's Sonatas and Partitas. It is technically challenging, but also musically compelling stuff. Isabella Faust brings its qualities out in a most convincing manner. Her disc is a worthy companion to Rachel Podger's and a delight from start to finish.

Johan Helmich Roman (1694-1758) is called the 'father of Swedish music'. He was the first professional composer born in Sweden, where until then foreign composers dominated the music scene. He travelled across Europe, which allowed him to become acquainted with the musical fashions of his time. Although in the course of time some of his music has been recorded, only a small part of his oeuvre is available on disc.

Part of that oeuvre are pieces for violin without accompaniment. The best-known of them are called Assaggi (trials, specimens), although only two of them bear that title. They consist of various movements in contrasting tempi. It is telling that Sue-Ying Koang [3] recorded three of them that have never before appeared on disc. The other category consists of pieces with the title Övning: exercise, study. This suggests that they may have been intended as pedagogical material. I can't remember ever having heard such pieces before.

What Assaggi and Övningar (plural of Övning) have in common is that they display a variety of compositional and playing techniques, such as scales, broken intervals, double stops, chords and bariolage. They also cover a wide range, and include wide intervals. Some chords (up to nine notes) can only be played as arpeggios. These pieces give us some idea of Roman's own skills, which must have been impressive.

Equally impressive are Sue-Ying Koang's skills, whose performances seem effortless, and are technically immaculate. What is more important is that she shows that these pieces are not merely demonstrations of playing techniques, but fine music that can be enjoyed without knowing anything about technical matters. It is hard to understand why these pieces are given relatively little interest (although it needs to be added that in recent years several recordings of the Assaggi have been released).

Sue-Ying Koang's recording is highly recommendable and makes one curious about other parts of Roman's oeuvre that have not been recorded as yet.

The Fantasias by Georg Philipp Telemann have always been overshadowed by Bach's Sonatas and Partitas. A comparison makes little sense. It is not known why and for whom Bach composed his works for unaccompanied violin, but they were certainly intended for a Kenner: a professional player. Telemann, on the other hand, wrote his twelve Fantasias - like most of his chamber music - for the growing number of Liebhaber, as amateurs were called in his days. That does not mean that they are without technical challenges: one should not underestimate the skills of at least some amateurs of that time.

It was the challenge to the composer to write music that was not too difficult, but also not too easy, and entertaining to play and to listen to at the same time. If there was one composer who could meet that challenge, it was Telemann. He developed into the most famous and revered composer in Germany, and his reputation was to a large extent based on his music for amateurs.

Telemann was a man who liked to mix different styles, both 'national' (German, French, Italian, Polish) and 'aesthetic'. The latter aspect dominates the Fantasias, some of which are reminiscent of the past through the use of counterpoint (fugues, multiple stopping), whereas others are written in the galant idiom. In the entire set Telemann mixes them, but overall the 'old' style is dominant in the first half of the set, and the 'new' style in the second half.

It is notable that in recent years several recordings of these Fantasias have been released. The one by Alina Ibragimova [4] is an especially impressive account of these works. She is a brilliant violinist, who has a wide experience in performing on period instruments, for instance with her Chiaroscuro Quartet. She shows here that she knows exactly how to bring to life these fantasias in a manner that does justice to the German style. The clear articulation, the dynamic shading, with a marked difference between 'good' and 'bad' notes, and a feeling for the dance-like aspects of these pieces result in a compelling interpretation that makes one wonder why these pieces are not more often performed. The slow movements are played with subtlety, the faster movements have an infectious vigour. It is hard to imagine a better performance of Telemann's Fantasias.

The last production to be discussed here is different from the others. It is the result of a concept that has developed in the course of the career of Enrico Gatti [5], one of the pioneers of baroque violin playing in Italy. The choice of music is very personal, and closely connected to philosophy and literature, as the accompanying booklet shows, which includes quotations of philosophers and authors from different times, in their original language and in translations.

From his liner-notes I quote: "I believe that there are not only the five physical senses (touch, sight, smell, taste and hearing): we are also endowed with five spiritual senses, which are emotion, imagination, intuition, consciousness and inspiration. Life goes far beyond the physical dimension. Through all these senses, the path that describes a life from various points of view has been outlined."

I am sure that Gatti saw connections between the quotations in the booklet and the music, but they may well escape most listeners. That at least goes for me, taking into account that I just have no antenna for literature whatsoever. One could listen to this recording as it comes. There is just one little catch: a number of tracks open with soundscape, such as birdsong and the sound of water or a thunderstorm, which is then repeated after the music. Fortunately the music is clearly separated from it, but I wonder how many are willing to listen to some soundscape every time they return to this recording.

There is every reason to do so, because of the selection of pieces and Gatti's superb playing. He was one of the pioneers of the baroque violin, and has lost nothing of his technical skills and stylistic insight. Anyone who likes the (baroque) violin will greatly enjoy these outstanding and incisive performances. The project's concept may not appeal to everyone, but the quality of the music and the performances should overcome any reservations. (A more detailed review of this recording is here).

[1] "Tutta sola"
Rachel Podger, violin
Channel Classics CCSSA44422 (© 2022) details
[2] "Solo"
Isabelle Faust, violin
Harmonia mundi HMM 902678 (© 2023) details
[3] Johan Helmich Roman: "A Violino Solo"
Sue-Ying Koang, violin
Indesens IC038 (© 2024) details
[4] Georg Philipp Telemann: "Fantasias for solo violin"
Alina Ibragimova, violin
Hyperion CDA68384 (© 2022) details
[5] "Praeconium solitudinis"
Enrico Gatti, violin
NovAntiqua NA81 (© 2024) details