When I was planning for my wedding in June of 2023, the very first thing I planned was the music. Of course. What more would you expect from one of the artistic directors of Garth Newel?
Actually, to be totally honest, it started with the instrumentation. I had a hankering for solo violin and drum set, and I had one particular violinist in mind for the unusual combination.
I’ve known Jennifer Curtis since my student days at Yellowbarn music festival, and have always been drawn to her gutsiness as a musician as well as the robust beauty of her sound. I knew her unique creativity could fulfill my imagining of the violin+drums rendition of Bach’s Double Violin Concerto, Albeniz’s Asturias, Pärt’s Fratres, and Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze.
I tell you this extended background to show you why it was then perfect to have Jennifer join me for a Valentine’s Day concert featuring Franck’s violin sonata, which was written as a wedding gift for Eugène Ysaÿe.
Ysaÿe was known as one of the greatest virtuoso violinists of all time, which might inform you of the scope power and brilliance of the sonata. Franck also valued Ysaÿe’s opinion, changing his original conception of a slow first movement to the violinist’s interpretation of a more Allegretto start.
Dedicating his violin sonata to Ysaÿe was a very smart move for Franck, for not only was the violinist the leading performer of his time, but he was a great champion of new French chamber music. Ernest Chausson dedicated his Concerto for violin, piano, and string quartet and Poème to him, and Debussy his String Quartet. And Ysaÿe, true to form, performed Franck’s violin sonata frequently on his tours, making sure audiences from all around the world knew that he played it “con amore” (with love) because it was a wedding present.
Franck’s violin sonata is beloved for many reasons, not the least because it is lush and powerful, virtuoso in its writing but also incredibly tender and unabashed in its expression. It is a truly cyclical work, where music from the beginning are brought back in subsequent movements in evolving transformations of emotion and color.
Also on the program will be two very different Romances by Amy Beach and Henryk Wieniawski. Amy Beach’s is a passionate narrative that takes the listener through the extremes of an emotional journey. Wieniawski’s Romance (from his 2nd violin concerto) is a soulful song, which the renowned violinist Leopold Auer is quoted to say is “… sung in away to make us forget the instrument.”
Not only is this concert a celebration of love, it is a tribute to the heights of music that love inspires.
So if you want to make this Valentine’s Day special – or if you’ve accidentally forgotten to make plans (because we’ve all done it), come out to Garth Newel for an evening of great music and memorable food.
