Sofia Gubaidulina - Rejoice! sonata for violin and cello (1981) [Радуйся!] [Freue dich!]

Rejoice! sonata for violin and cello (1981) [Радуйся! (Raduysya!)] [Freue dich!] Composer: Sofia Gubaidulina (b. 1931) Performers: Frédéric Bednarz, violin; Pierre-Alain Bouvrette, cello (from Quatuor Molinari) I - Your joy no man taketh from you: 0:00 II - Rejoice with them that do rejoice: 2:49 III - Rejoice, Rabbi: 7:28 IV - And he returned into his house: 17:05 V - Listen to the still small voice within: 22:46 _______________________________________________ "The background to Sofia Gubaidulina's Rejoice!, as Laurel Fay's sleeve-note informs us, is in the spiritual lessons of Grigory Skovoroda, an eighteenth-century Ukrainian philosopher and religious thinker. These supply the sub-titles (rather Messiaen-like in resonance) of each of the five movements. The composer herself cautions, ''It should not be assumed that I wanted to illustrate the theme of joy in my music… the religious theme is experienced metaphorically''. It is meant to be experienced musically as well, through the juxtaposition of 'normal' sounds and harmonics: 'The possibility for string instruments to derive pitches of various heights at one and the same place on the string can be experienced in music as the transition to another plane of existence. And that is joy.' " Source: www.gramophone.co.uk/review/shostakovich-string-qu… "The title of the substantial sonata for violin and cello, Rejoice! (also known as Raduysya! and Freue dich!), ought not be taken literally, the music less expression of outward joy than metaphoric contemplation upon its stated theme. Composed in 1981 and premiered in 1988 by its dedicatees, Natalia Gutman and Oleg Kagan, at Kuhmo in Finland, each of the work’s five movements takes its title from an aphorism by the Ukrainian religious philosopher Hryhorii Skovoroda (1722-94) who embraced the simple life and sympathized with the underprivileged. 'Your joy no one will take away from you' (I) opens with the solo violin meditating upon a handful of high notes that alternate with harmonics. The cello then rises up from its depths, eventually matching its partner with a harmonic of its own. The two don mutes in 'Rejoice with joy' (II), whose chromatic, humming figures suggest a pair of insects buzzing around one another. In 'Rejoice, Rabbi' (III), the solo cello’s grinding low clusters, flailing tremolos, harmonic double stops and pizzicato chords establish wild contrast in technique and mood as the movement’s organizing principle. A frenzied violin cadenza collapses into a magical moment — perhaps the work’s heart — in which ethereal double-stop harmonics sing like a distant choir of heavenly voices. The ponderous 'And he returned to his own abode' (IV) traces a gradual descent from the stratosphere of pitch where glacial tones in the violin combine with wind-like whistling in cello harmonics. 'Heed thyself' (V) offers by far the most overtly joyful music in the sonata, a rhythmically-precise, energetic figure in the violin playing out over a drawn-out chant in the cello. Earthly joy in the form of giddiness thus makes an appearance — but has not the last word: a coda steers us back into a world of introspection, the 'still small voice within' surely finding expression in the concluding soft chord in harmonics." ~Robert Rival Source: CD booklet _________________________________________________________________ For education, promotion and entertainment purposes only. If you have any copyrights issue, please write to unpetitabreuvoir(at)gmail.com and I will delete this video.