Tag Archives: violin

Pedrini: Sonate X en ut mineur (violin)

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Teodorico Pedrini (1671-1746)

Teodorico Pedrini was an Italian priest, musician, composer, and missionary.  He served as a missionary at the Imperial Court of China for 36 years.  Pedrini was the music teacher to three sons of one of China’s emperors.  He was the co-author of the first treatise on Western Music theory written in Chinese.

The Sonata no.10 is written for Violin and continuo. Here is a recording of it played by a group called Le Baroque Nomade. It is one of several sonatas written for the Kangxi Emperor. Enjoy!

Lekeu Violin Sonata

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Guillaume Lekeu (1870-1894) Was a Belgian composer.  He was born in Heusy, Belgium (a small village in Belgium).  It was there that Guillaume took his first music lessons in piano from the conductor of the local conservatory brass band, Alphonse Voss.

Lekeu’s family moved to Poitiers, France in 1879 and he continued to study music with his physics teacher.  Under this teacher he learnt about the music of J.S. Bach  and Beethoven.

He wrote his first composition when he was 15 years old.

Lekeu studied music composition with Cesar Franck and Vincent d’Indy (two very important composers).

Lekeu composed about 50 compositions.  Unfortunately most of his works are incomplete.  Among his most important compositions are a violin sonata (commissioned by the great violinist Eugene Ysaye), and an orchestral Fantasy.  He also composed several works for piano.

Here is a beautiful recording of Lekeu’s Violin Sonata played by Jonathan Morton on violin, and Carole Presland on the piano.  Enjoy!

Ion Voicu – Hora mărțișorului

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Ion Voicu (1923-1997) was a Romanian violinist and conductor.  He is one of the world’s great violinists.  In 1969 he founded the Bucharest Chamber Orchestra which is an internationally acclaimed ensemble.  The list of conductors and musicians that Ion Voicu has performed with is incredible.  Voicu was a very high level music pedagogue. He taught at many of the world’s leading music institutions.  Ion Voicu made hundreds of recordings.  Here is a recording of a piece played by Ion Voicu.   This piece is quite a catchy tune.  I was amazed  how he played the piece as I am sure you will be as well.

Ion Voicu plays Hora mărțișorului.

 

Django Reinhardt & Eddie South – Somebody Loves Me – Paris, 23.11.1937

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Eddie South (1904-1962) was a black American jazz violinist.  He has been referred to as the “Black Angel” of the violin.  Eddie was a child prodigy who was trained as a classical violinist.  He later switched to jazz violin because there were more opportunities for black musicians in jazz than in classical music.

In the 1920s Eddie visited Europe and was influenced by Hungarian folk music and gypsy music that he heard.  He later incorporated Hungarian music and gypsy music into his style of playing.

In the 1930s Eddie performed and made recordings with guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli of the Quintet of the Hot Club of France.

Here is a recording of Eddie South and Django Reinhardt playing “Somebody Loves Me.”  The recording was made in Paris in 1937.

Eddie South (violin) and Django Reinhardt (guitar) :

You can find mp3 recordings of Django Reinhardt and Eddie South on the website http://www.Amazon.com. The piece ‘Somebody Loves Me’ is also on the cd Classics and Rarities: Django Reinhardt which can also be found on http://www.Amazon.com.

Gypsy violinist Roby Lakatos – ‘Két Gitár’ (Music Show, ABC Radio National)

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Roby Lakatos  is a Hungarian violinist who was born into a family of well-known gypsy violinists descended from Jano Bihari (known as the ‘King of Gypsy Violinists’).  Roby Lakatos is an incredible virtuoso on the violin and is also very versatile.  He can play any type of music (classical, jazz, gypsy music).  Roby is also a composer and arranger.  He has performed all over the world in various music festivals and halls in Europe, Asia, and America.  He has performed with several major orchestras, various groups of musicians, and his own ensemble.

Here are two recordings of Roby Lakatos performing live at a radio station with a pianist who is as virtuosic on the piano and Roby is on his violin.  The pianist’s name is Frantisek Janoska.

Arvo Pärt – Spiegel im Spiegel (mirror in a mirror)

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Arvo Pärt (1935-)  is an Estonian composer.  The majority of his musical works are choral pieces.  He has also composed short instrumental pieces.  His music is simple but very beautiful.

Spiegel im Spiegel (mirror in a mirror) is a very simple and touching piece for violin and piano.  It has also been arranged for cello and piano.

Here is a recording of Spiegel Im Spiegel (Violin And Piano):

The recording begins at 0:37.

Joseph Boulogne – Violin Concertos

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Joseph Boulogne (1745-1799), was a black violin virtuoso, swordsman, equestrian, composer and conductor who was an important musical figure in Paris during the second half of the eighteenth century.  He wrote music similar in style to his contemporaries W.A. Mozart and J. Haydn.  He was also known as le Chevalier de Saint-Georges.  Marie-Antoinette was very fond of his music.

Here is a recording of Joseph Boulogne’s Violin Concerto in D Major.  It is performed by the renowned early music ensemble Tafelmusik.  The violin soloist is Linda Melsted. This recording is from a DVD and CD set entitled “Le Mozart Noir, The Life and Music of Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint Georges.” The first audio file is the first movement of the concerto.  The second audio file is the 2nd and 3rd movements of the concerto.