Music from “La Belle Époque”
Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (1858 –1931) Deux Mazurkas de Salon, op 10
César Franck (1822 –1890) Violin sonata in A major
Pauline Viardot (1821 –1910) Sonatine
André Caplet (1878 – 1925) Deux petites pièces
Georges Bizet (1838-1875), arr. Pablo de Sarasate Fantaisie sur des thèmes de l’opéra, “Carmen”
The years between the end of the Franco- Prussian War of 1871 and the start of the Great War in 1914 came to be known as “La Belle Époque” in France. Paris, especially, became a Mecca for innovation whether it was in the arts, music or the sciences. All the works in this programme were composed in this period by composers who, though not necessarily of French origin, came to regard Paris as their home.
The 1st half of the programme is dominated by possibly the best-known 19th century sonata for violin and piano. Born in Liége in Belgium, César Franck settled in Paris where he was mainly known as an organist, famous for his improvisatory skills. Later in life, he became a professor at the Paris Conservatoire which required him to take French nationality. In 1886, he composed this violin sonata as a marriage present for the 28-year-old virtuoso violinist, Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe. This is now considered to be one of Franck’s most celebrated works and it has even been posited that this sonata is one of the candidates for Marcel Proust’s fictional Vinteuil Sonata in his famous novel, “In Search of Lost Time”.
The programme opens though with two short mazurkas by Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe. Like César Franck, he was also born in Liége. After initial studies in Belgium, he also trod the path to Paris to study violin at the Conservatoire with Henri Vieuxtemps, thus continuing the legacy of the Franco-Belgian school of violin playing. Later in life, due to ill health, he turned to teaching, conducting and his early love of composing. Among his most famous and challenging works are the six Sonatas for Solo Violin. The Mazurkas de Salon, op 10 were composed in 1884 when he was merely 26 and already demonstrate some of the technically challenging demands he would make on violinists.
Although of Spanish heritage, singer Pauline Viardot was born in Paris and regarded France as her spiritual home despite a life and career which took her around the globe including a permanent stint at the Opera in Saint Petersburg, Russia from 1843 to 1846. Her most notable role was that of Orphée in Gluck’s opera Orphée et Eurydice which she sang over 150 times in Paris in 1859. It was directed and arranged for her by Hector Berlioz. Most of her composing was done after her retirement including this Sonatine for violin and piano. The haunting Baroque style 1st movement gives way to a second movement in which her Spanish background shines through. The third movement, though virtuosic retains an elegance betraying the influence of France.
2025 marks the centenary of the death of French composer, André Caplet who died tragically young at 46. He collaborated closely with the more well-known composer, Claude Debussy, who nicknamed him “the Angel of Corrections”, as Caplet proof-read and orchestrated several of Debussy’s works. After his time spent in the trenches in WW1 his works became increasingly dominated by spiritual themes but his early works such as the Deux petite pieces, originally composed for flute in 1897, demonstrate a sensuousness and beauty which prompted Debussy to write to a friend, “This Caplet is an artist. He knows how to find a sonorous atmosphere and, with an attractive sensitiveness, has a sense of proportion; something which is more rare than one would believe in our haphazard musical epoch…”
George Bizet, composer of the opera “Carmen” also died young aged only 36 from a heart condition. Even more tragic was that this famous opera was a total flop when it premiered in 1875 at the Opera Comique in Paris and Bizet would never witness his opera become a huge success. 2025 marks the 150th anniversary of the premiere of “Carmen” as well as Bizet’s death. The “Fantaisie” which is an adaptation of themes from the opera for violin and piano, was composed by the Spanish violinist and composer Pablo de Sarasate, who, like so many European musicians of the time, studied at the Paris Conservatory.