Bacewicz was one of
the most distinguished and remarkable
of all twentieth century violinist-composers.
To maintain her level of technical virtuosity
whilst simultaneously devoting herself
to composition was a considerable accomplishment
though she was later, from 1955, to
devote herself entirely to writing (with
a solitary
exception to premiere her own Sonata
for Solo Violin). Born in Łódź
she rose to fame as a violin soloist
though she was also a more than capable
pianist. At the age of twenty-six, in
1935, she received an honourable mention
at the now famous Wieniawski Competition
won by Neveu, who beat Bacewicz’s near
contemporary David Oistrakh into second
place. She studied violin with Flesch
and composition with Nadia Boulanger
though until the later 1950s it was
almost exclusively as a performing musician
that she was known. Collectors will
be aware that she made a number of recordings
of her own music for Muza, including
four of the sonatas and the Third Violin
Concerto. I think it’s high time, in
the light of her increasing hold on
the discography of which this Chandos
is the latest, and distinguished entrant,
that those LP discs should be reissued.
Her music, needless
to say, is written with a practitioner’s
understanding and a command of balance
between the two instruments. The Fourth
Sonata of 1949 opens pensively before
some folk inflected fluency seems to
take the music towards the middle ground.
It’s more overtly dramatic than a mentor
of hers such as Szymanowski whilst showing
strong Francophile affinities; the end
of the opening Moderato is distinctly
Debussian. The drive and panache of
her Scherzo (it’s a four movement work)
are ideally complemented by a dancing,
twisting finale – more Prokofiev than
Szymanowski. The Fifth Sonata followed
two years later and is more compact,
tense work with Prokofiev once again
a point of reference - her slow movement
has an unsentimental aloofness and is
the most impressive of the three.
The Oberek No.1, which
dates from the same year as the Fifth
Sonata is one of her best known miniatures
– certainly one of the most recorded
- and generates tangible drive with
whistling harmonics à la Sarasate
to keep fiddlers on their intonational
toes. The Polish Capriccio, which gives
the disc its putative title, is another
1949 composition moving from melancholy
to lightness. With the Sonata No.2 for
solo violin we don’t move toward Ysaÿe
territory though she must have known
his six solo sonatas. Hers has considerable
thematic and metrical freedom and some
furious displays of bowing in the finale
with three big, blatant pizzicati to
end the sonata. The Partita exists in
two versions – for full orchestra and
for violin and piano and was written
during her recovery after a bad car
accident. The oscillating piano writing
and violin’s spun and questioning line
do point to a moment of interior drama
- even though the Toccata is lithe and
quick and seems to have dissolved the
perplexity of the first movement. But
in the Intermezzo the tolling piano
and disconsolate violin generate introspection
of a particularly intense kind, keening
off pitch as the movement develops.
The finale banishes care – fulsome,
frolicking and optimistic.
This is a splendid
opportunity to get to grips with a large
body of Bacewicz’s chamber music. It’s
true that her sonatas have been recorded
before and fairly recently but the focus
of interest in those cases tend to be
the Fourth Sonata (Olympia and Chamber
Sound). It’s the latter that most nearly
approximates this one – where the Fourth
is coupled with Oberek No.1, the Polish
Capriccio, the Sonatina and four Caprices.
For Chandos both Kurkowicz and Chien
make a formidable case for the music.
The violinist is technically eloquent
but there were moments when I wished
for a greater range of tone colours
– she tends to be rather monochromatic
with a single paced vibrato. But that’s
carping – if you’re attracted to Prokofiev’s
chamber music or to the Bartókian
in violin sonatas try to give Bacewicz
a listen.
Jonathan Woolf
Joanna Kurkowicz (violin)
