Maija EINFELDE (b. 1939)
Sonata for Violin and Piano No 1 (1980) [11:37]
Sonata for Violin and Piano No 2 (1985) [12:37]
Sonata for Violin and Piano No 3 (1990) [14:59]
Sonata for Solo Violin (1997) [11:11]
Magdalēna Geka (violin)
Iveta Cālīte (piano)
rec. 2020, Concert Hall Great Amber, Liepāja, Latvia
SKANI LMIC129 [50:32]
Maija Einfelde hails from Valmiera in Latvia, and began her music studies with her mother who was a church organist. Her education continued at Alfrēds Kalniņš Music School in Cēsis, then at Jāzeps Mediņš Music College in Riga. In 1966 she enrolled at the Conservatoire in Latvia and there studied composition with Jānis Ivanovs. Following graduation she took on several teaching posts in theory and composition at the Alfrēds Kalniņš Music School in Cēsis, Emīls Dārziņš Music College and Jāzeps Mediņš Music College. Her big break came in 1997 when she secured victory at the international Barlow Endowment for Music Composition Competition in the United States. Since that time, she has been the recipient of several awards. Her compositions mainly centre on choral and chamber music. The three Sonatas for Violin and Piano span a period of ten years between 1980 and 1990, with the Solo Violin Sonata penned in 1997.
Written in 1980 and premiered in 1981, the Sonata No 1 for Violin and Piano is structured in four movements. The first is a Recitativo which is improvisatory in character. Spiky and angular, Einfelde employs pizzicatos and harmonics to powerful effect. More energy is generated in the second movement, where the thrust is resolute. An ostinato bass, at one point, gives the music forward propulsion. The slow movement is marked Mesto. Its static quality generates a feeling of glacial stillness. The finale is one of verve and vigour.
Five years later came the Second Sonata. There are only three movements this time. It opens dramatically, described by the composer “like a window thrown open”. Gradually, the music becomes more introspective. The second movement is a beautifully constructed minuet. In the final movement, the piano is left to its own devices in the opening measures. The violin eventually enters, playing a long flowing line against a bubbly piano accompaniment. Then there are swirling scales on the violin, before the movement ends with "the clock of the soul-tick-tock".
In the third Sonata (1990) there are only two movements. In the first, more substantial at just over 10 minutes, the composer directs the players to play “as slow as possible”. The music has a mesmeric effect and builds to a forceful climax. The tension that has built up is relieved by the Adagio second movement, which acts as a consoling balm.
It was another seven years before Einfelde composed her three-movement Sonata for Solo Violin. She regarded her ideal as Bartók’s Violin Sonata No 2 and his Solo Violin Sonata. With regard to the latter, she states “I have not consciously stolen anything…….”. The first movement is an Adagio, furnished with long-breathed chords. The middle movement is an animated allegro, barbed and serrated. The work ends with a static mesto.
I applaud Magdalēna Geka and Iveta Cālīte for their pioneering spirit in recording these works, which merit greater currency. The liner notes, in English and Latvian, provide sufficient background information. The performances benefit greatly from Skani’s superb engineering. This release is well-worth exploring.
Stephen Greenbank
