GRIEG VIOLIN SONATA NO.2 IN G MAJOR

To bring out all the joy, innocence and darkness in this first movement, it is essential to understand its combined roots in classical composition and Norwegian folk music, explains Eldbjørg Hemsing

MASTERCLASS

From Grieg Sonata in G major op.13. Urtext edition, paperbound with marked and unmarked string parts. Eds. Ernst-Günter Heinemann, Einar Steen-Nøkleberg. Vn fingering and bowing Ernst Schliephake. Order no.HN 1105, ISMN 979-0-2018-1105-5. €17.00. Printed with permission of G. Henle Verlag, Munich © 2019

Grieg’s violin sonatas are not complicated to play technically. More difficult is to bring them alive with Norwegian sounds and colours, with the right balance of romanticism and lyricism. They should sound almost improvised, with a sense of freedom and playfulness in the tempos. They also need to sound clean and lyrical, without overly dramatic or emotional rubato but without ever sounding too ‘correct’ or metronomic. For a truly Norwegian feel, they need a character that is innocent and optimistic but has an underlying sense of darkness.

I grew up listening to Grieg’s music and I love this sonata for its incredible positive energy and enthusiasm. It shines in such a lyrical, pure way. Grieg wrote it in about three weeks in 1867, directly after marrying his first cousin, the great soprano Nina Hagerup. He was evidently in a very good mood and that makes it so much fun to play. It is very much in his own musical language, but it is also the most Norwegian sounding of the violin sonatas, for its incorporation of Norwegian folk materials. It’s a masterwork, the way he combines his different themes makes total sense, and it hits all the right spots for me.

Getting to grips with Norwegian folk music

Grieg was classically trained in Leipzig, but he was also heavily influenced by Norwegian folk melody. He travelled around Norway to annotate these sounds partly on the instigation of his aunt’s brother-in-law, Ole Bull. Known as the ‘Nordic Paganini’, Bull encouraged him to write music to represent Norway as a nation, because after his own world travels in the 1800s, he felt Norway lacked any real national identity. Nowadays we call Grieg ‘the sound of Norway’ because he worked so hard to note down the country’s folk melodies. For us Norwegians it is a pride and joy to play his music, because we feel that it really comes from the roots of the people.

THE SOLOIST

NIKOLAI LUND

NAME ELDBJØRG HEMSING

NATIONALITY NORWEGIAN

STUDIED WITH BORIS KUSCHNIR

RECORDS FOR SONY CLASSICAL

‘For us Norwegians it is a pride and joy to play Grieg’s music, because we feel that it really comes from the roots of the people’

Hemsing’s recording of Grieg’s three violin sonatas is available on the BIS label: bit.ly/3vJ62Mb

To build a good connection with Grieg’s music, it is very helpful to develop a clear understanding of Norwegian folk rhythm and phrasing. You have to feel the beat and rhythm in your body without interfering or trying to stretch the bars too much, and without imposing a classical sense of direction on the phrase. At the same time, of course, this is a classical piece, so it is important to find a balance between that folk feeling and Grieg’s language as a classical composer.

Uncertain directions

This first movement starts with a dramatic fortissimo chord and an improvisational passage that sounds like a mini cadenza. The pianist isn’t playing, so give yourself time to sing and let the music breathe. It doesn’t settle into a steady tempo until the clear piano pulse in bar 8, which lasts only until the violin is alone again from bar 20.

The repeated As in bars 20–22 remind me of calling for the cows to come home for the night in Norway. You’re calling again and again, trying to take them with you! Create some improvisational variety to the repeated tonality, to add interest. This whole improvisational introduction makes you wonder where Grieg is going to take you next! It is very difficult to know. Even after the first huge violin entrance, the lento that follows is so pure, innocent and singing, and after just a few lines, in bar 26, the music moves into a typical Norwegian folk tune called a halling –a groovy, acrobatic dance in 6/8, performed by males to impress the girls (see bit.ly/3M2vWQJ). It really makes you want to tap your foot! Now the music finally settles for a longer period, and the next change doesn’t come until the tranquillo from bar 90. Here the music is calmer and more inward-feeling, with less intensity than before, and the tempo naturally reduces.

Rhythm and articulation

One place where it really helps to feel a steady, swinging folk pulse, without moving forward or applying classical phrasing, is for the rhythmic repetitions in the animato from bar 136. It’s easy to make this sound too pretty when what it really needs is a backbone. This is all about impulse and feeling the beat. Wait until bar 156 before you flower into more romantic colours.

Grieg writes dots, accents and slurs on the minims (h) and crotchets (q) from bar 165, and later from bar 365. To me it is completely unnatural to accent and shorten these notes while trying to connect them under a slur when the music is building so clearly from bar to bar. I know many musicians who think these markings must be a mistake, because violinistically they are so out of context with the rest of the movement, with its clear lines and melodies. I find it more natural to sing through the line in legato, ignoring the dots and accents completely.

It’s easy to make this sound too pretty when what it really needs is a backbone

Dialogue with the piano

I love watching people’s faces when I perform this piece, particularly if they don’t know it, to see how engaged they become with its communicative, rhythmical and approachable themes. There is so much dialogue between the violin and piano parts, which repeat many of each other’s motifs. I especially enjoy the passage from bar 184, where the pianist plays a mystical phrase and the violinist has first to answer and then to fit into the pianist’s massive run. You have to play tightly together as the music grows. Then in bars 210–211 the pianist plays and the violinist responds an octave higher. The two parts are very much intertwined throughout the whole piece, with so much playfulness. You can really have fun with each other.

Varied repeats

The halling tempo returns in the up-beat to bar 250, but then from bar 258 the same pattern of notes and rhythms repeats four times. Here I recommend playing an accelerando and crescendo through the four sforzandos. If you play it exactly as written, it could sound a little boring. You can then return to a tempo in bar 266 for the repeat of the theme that first appeared in bar 68. After this, the tranquillo in bar 290 is very simple and pure. Don’t ruin it by being over-dramatic. Instead try to play it as though you are singing.

The tranquillo material of bar 89 returns from bar 289, no longer on the darker, more inward-sounding D string, but instead on the E and A strings. This gives the passage a far ‘shinier’ and more open sound, so try to find a different vibrato to reflect that. The passage from bar 336 is also quite different from its first appearance in bar 136. The first time this material comes, Grieg writes a dialogue between a higher voice and a darker voice. This time all the material is in the same range and builds up more slowly, without any fragmented changes.

An exciting end

The end of this movement is very exciting, particularly in concert. For me, bar 381 is a real ‘make-or-break-it’ spot, because it’s so easy for pianists to move forward while the violinist struggles to play the notes! Be careful to leave enough room to speed up into the final presto – although if necessary, you can stretch the animato of bar 394 a little into the sostenuto, to bring things back under control. After this, take off into the joyful G major presto from bar 409. For the repeated material from bar 412 it feels natural to play a crescendo, but try to keep a steady rhythm, without speeding up any more, to hammer this statement home before you land on the big G major chord to finish. It’s an exciting end to an energetic, fun movement.

INTERVIEW BY PAULINE HARDING

Sonate

Johan S. Svendsen zugeeignet Erschienen 1869. Revidierte Ausgabe 1887