KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI
(born 1933 in Dębica, Poland)

Violin Sonata No. 2 (1999)

1. Larghetto
2. Allegretto scherzando
3. Notturno
4. Allegro
5. Andante

Krzysztof Penderecki's Second Sonata will likely be considered as one of the greatest duo works written for violin and piano at the turn of the 21st century. Premiered in April 2000 by Anne-Sophie Mutter and her duo partner, Lambert Orkis, the Sonata exhibits complexities amidst logic, and vice-versa, along with surprises and unpredictability; the combination of these elements highlights the creativity and the craft of the composer.

Like his contemporary, Witold Lutoslawski, and other Polish musicians of his generation, Penderecki experienced a turbulent childhood, ravaged by the violence, trials and tragedies of having been born in that particular time and place. As a consequence of German and Soviet occupation during World War II, artistic expressions were heavily censored in Poland until the late 1950s. By the time of Penderecki's graduation in 1958 from the Krakow Academy (which he had entered initially as a violin student before gradually switching his dedication to composition) the "thaw" had allowed for some freedom and increasing experimentation in music composition. Influenced by Bartók and John Cage, Penderecki tried his hand with sonorities and aleatoric technique. His 'metamorphosis' stage came later in the 1970s, when he drastically altered his musical and compositional style. The cutting-edge experimentalism of his early works was gone, replaced by an experimental and more direct approach, clearly influenced by the atonality of Berg and the cynicism of Shostakovich. More recently, and evidenced in the Second Violin Sonata, Penderecki's style has grown to be a wonderful sum of all that came before; with comfort in his experimentation, building blocks reminiscent of Bartók, atonality of the 20th century masters, and improvisation, all combined to create his own unique language.

While the violin was Penderecki's main instrument as an aspiring musician, and he has written two concertos (in 1976 and 1995) for it, he has not been too active in utilizing the violin in a chamber setting. His first Sonata for Violin and Piano, although published in 1990, dates from his student years, and his Three Miniatures for Violin and Piano is from 1959. The Second Violin Sonata is by far the most substantial and mature work for the violin in the current Penderecki catalogue. The Sonata is an epic, beginning with the birth of ideas that are developed as the work progresses and then gradually terminated at the conclusion. Overall, the two instruments are presented in an equal partnership although the writing is more idiomatic for the violin. Penderecki utilizes a great range of registers, from the very low to the extremely high, and special sound effects are used sparingly - only short sections are muted and besides the more standard pizzicato and harmonies, there is little use of the "gimmicks" often employed by modern composers to explore new sonorities.

Cast in an arch form with five movements, the Second Violin Sonata is a grand work with the emotional core in the middle (third) movement. All movements are tied compositionally by the use of half-step motivic material throughout as well as their symmetrical construction. The first two movements are connected (one movement continuing without pause into the next), as are the last two; the third movement is the only self-contained movement, further attesting to the important weight placed upon it.

The work opens with a violin monologue, dominated by semi-tone motions, initially in pizzicato. When the piano joins, the music's urgency increases and reaches its maximum intensity rather quickly; the momentum is then released by the three 4-note chords on the violin and the chord cluster on the piano. This section serves to introduce the movement, which is in itself an introduction of the whole work. The main body of the Larghetto begins with the opening pizzicato material presented in four-voice polyphony. Much of the movement is in a rhetorical, monologue style, and transitions smoothly into the first scherzo of the sonata.

The scherzo takes a "Russian" mood, in the tradition of Prokofiev and Shostakovich. The playful and sarcastic combinations of moods of the main themes prevail throughout. The second movement almost takes on aspects of a sonata form - where three sections (ABA) state, develop, and restate the opening section. When the last section recalls themes from the beginning of the movement, it has additional components of cynicism and somberness.

Notturno, which serves as the epicenter of the sonata, sinks into a dark, tumultuous atmosphere as foreshadowed by the end of the preceding scherzo. Initially characterized by non-emphasis of strong beats (notes are often tied across bar lines on both instruments), there is the impending feel for the mysterious and continuous search. The use of chromaticism adds to the rich sonorities and the unstoppable flow in producing the heavy, ominous mood. After the initial rumbling and stormy section, a haunting chorale-like second theme serves as the emotional climax of the Notturno. In the coda section, Penderecki summons back all of the materials presented in this movement, and even a short snippet from the scherzo, to end the heart of the work.

The fourth movement does not start with the half-step motif, but instead with a repeated rhythm of single-note of D's. Like a tarantella, this movement is fast, a bit crazed and anxious, with sparkles and flashes of excitement. Like a burlesque of the post-war era, there are hints of glitter, fear, surrealism, and agitation, blended with pseudo-romanticism in brief lyrical passages. The movement comes to an excruciating heat and momentum only to be released by a fantastic abruption of the piano cluster and the tremolo arpeggio on the violin. The final note(s) of the movement is a unison D - the same as the opening-trilled and held. As the violin holds this to-the-point note, the opening statement of the entire sonata, this time presented by the piano, marks the beginning of the epilogue or the fifth and final movement. Here Penderecki brings back themes as he did in the coda of the Notturno, all important themes from the entire work, à la nostalgia, in something of a muted trance. With soft rumblings on the piano, taken from the Notturno, the violin ascends to the highest note of the entire work before both instruments disappear into silence.