The programme of the chamber concert featuring Christian Danowicz and Robert Morawski includes very colourful works, full of intriguing sound effects. The work of Józef Elsner will complement the well-known, liked and appreciated compositions by Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Karol Szymanowski.

Elsner was considered one of the greatest Polish artists of the first half of the 19th century. He enjoyed great authority not only as a composer, but also as a teacher and concert promoter as well as the founder and rector of the Warsaw conservatoire. Despite these numerous achievements, for many years he was remembered mainly as the teacher of Frederic Chopin. Elsner’s compositional output has come back into favor only recently. This is the case of the energetic Sonata in D major for violin and piano op. 10 no. 2, which was published in 1805 and consists of three movements: Allegro, Scherzando. Allegretto and Rondo. Allegro moderato.

The Sonata in G minor is Debussy’s last major work. It was created in 1917 and was intended to be the third link in the cycle of six sonatas for various instruments. However, the French composer did not manage to finish it. Debussy took part in the premiere of this piece as a pianist. It was his last public appearance. The work is characterized by tasteful tone colours and a narrative varied in terms of articulation with lace-sounding harmonics. There are also many episodes in which the composer ordered the violinist to play sur la touche (also known as sul tasto), i.e. on the fingerboard, which gives a soft, slightly muted and dark sound. The Violin Sonata in D minor is Szymanowski’s early work, still late Romantic and devoid of the striking originality of his later compositions. However, the composer’s melodic gift, combined with the ability to build a poignant and engaging narrative for the listener, made this sonata a work of great interest to the audience. Although the composer himself did not like the sonata in his later years, he stated that it was “a popular thing in every respect:. In The Fountain of Arethusa, the first of the three poems for violin and piano in the Myths series, Szymanowski sought new means of expression, a brave and radical experimenter not afraid to cross boundaries. The palette of compositional tools is very rich here: the violin sometimes plays sul ponticello, i.e. next to the bridge, which gives a sharp and bright sound, there are flickering trills and tremolandos, ethereal harmonics or sensual glissandos kept here for a long time. All these perfectly reflect the flickering and murmuring of the eponymous fountain, and the whole is complemented by a flexible, arabesque melody. Szymanowski was fully aware of the value of the Myths; he wrote about them: “my favorite pieces, sonically and technically very original, and at the same time good music”.

While in London in 1922, Ravel met the Hungarian violinist Jelly d’Arányi, who was performing his Sonata for violin and cello in one of the salons. The composer later asked her to play some Hungarian and Gypsy melodies. They ended up making music together until dawn. Ravel then decided that he would write a new, witty and virtuoso piece for d’Arányi. This is how the Tzigane rhapsody, which will end the concert, was created. It is a pastiche and a parody of effective (and often even showy) violin pieces written at the end of the 19th century on the wave of interest in Gypsy music.