Notes and Editorial Reviews
Back in the late-'50s/early-'60s, my violin teacher sent me home after each week's lesson with a handful of LPs--recordings of famous violin pieces, transcriptions, and arrangements performed by the world's greatest violinists--Heifetz, Stern, Milstein, Menuhin--which (as she knew they would) never failed to inspire a young student to practice, practice, practice. After all, how could you resist wanting to work as hard as it took to be able to play such magical musical gems as well as the masters--to make your own instrument sound those beautiful melodies, your bow skip over the strings with such ease, and your tone charm all who would listen with its vibrant resonance?
With this new
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release, violinist Rachel Barton Pine and Cedille recall the glorious era of the headline-inducing violin recital, the art of the arrangement and transcription, and the thrill of virtuoso performance for its own sake. And yes, Pine's choice of music and her brilliant playing could serve as inspiration to a new generation of prospective string players, just as those by the old masters did during the days of the LP.
Pine's own focus and inspiration come from Maud Powell (1867-1920), the "first great American violinist", who not only was a phenomenal performer and accomplished transcriber/arranger, but who in her pioneering recitals also was a champion of new works by American composers, including African Americans and women. Pine has already proven her formidable technical and interpretive skills--in Bach, Brahms, Joachim, and Bruch, among many others; here she treats us to 18 works from the 19th and 20th centuries, most of which were either dedicated to or arranged by Powell. From Amy Beach's gorgeous Romance to Dvorák's Humoreske, Sibelius' "Musette" from King Christian II, Carl Venth's Aria, and Cecil Burleigh's Four Rocky Mountain Sketches, Pine and her very able piano partner Matthew Hagle treat us to a true celebration of the violin in its several guises--as singer, percussionist, poet, and even humorist.
There are beautiful melodies everywhere--the kind that musicians used to unashamedly perform both in parlors and on concert stages--and there are also purely entertaining novelties and virtuoso show-off pieces, from Chopin's "Minute" Waltz to Herman Bellstedt's dazzling Caprice on Dixie for Unaccompanied Violin. Two of the disc's highlights are spirituals arranged by Powell--Deep River and Nobody Knows the Trouble I See--the latter of which Pine smartly chose to quietly, reverently end her recital.
Pine revels in every double-stop passage and soaring melody, takes full advantage of opportunities to "dig in" or softly float; she shows her sensitive side in the muted harmonics of Massenet's Twilight and in one exquisite section of Max Liebling's Fantasia on Sousa Themes. In fact, she never leaves any doubt that she's having a great time with this music (listen to the surprising "Stars and Stripes Forever" conclusion to the Liebling!), or that she truly respects and is inspired by "the art of one of the greatest violinists ever." The sound is unfailingly vibrant and ideally balanced between violin and piano (not always an easy feat), allowing Pine's 1742 Guarneri violin to freely express itself. Highly recommended!
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com
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Works on This Recording
1.
Romance for Violin and Piano, Op. 23 by Amy Marcy Beach
Performer:
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin),
Matthew Hagle (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: by 1893; USA
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 7 Minutes 31 Secs.
Notes: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois (10/2006 - 11/2006)
2.
Molly on the Shore for Violin and Piano by Percy Aldridge Grainger
Performer:
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin),
Matthew Hagle (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1914; USA
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 3 Minutes 15 Secs.
Notes: Transcribed for Maud Powell; revised by Maud Powell in 1914.
3.
Zigeunermelodien (7), Op. 55: no 4, Als die alte Mutter by Antonín Dvorák
Performer:
Matthew Hagle (Piano),
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1880; Bohemia
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 1 Minutes 49 Secs.
Notes: Arranger: Maud Powell (1916).
4.
King Christian II, Op. 27: no 3, Musette by Jean Sibelius
Performer:
Matthew Hagle (Piano),
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1898; Finland
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 1 Minutes 45 Secs.
Notes: Arranger: Maud Powell (1914).
5.
Up the Ocklawaha, Op. 6 by Marion Bauer
Performer:
Matthew Hagle (Piano),
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1912; USA
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 5 Minutes 30 Secs.
Notes: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois (10/2006 - 11/2006)
6.
Waltzes (3) for Piano, B 164/Op. 64: no 1 in D flat major "Minute Waltz" by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Maud Powell (),
Matthew Hagle (Piano),
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1846-1847; Paris, France
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 2 Minutes 00 Secs.
Notes: Arranger: Maud Powell (1888).
7.
Aria by Carl Venth
Performer:
Matthew Hagle (Piano),
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin)
Period: 20th Century
Written: circa 1911; USA
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 5 Minutes 5 Secs.
Notes: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois (10/2006 - 11/2006)
8.
May Night, Op. 57 no 4 by Selim Palmgren
Performer:
Maud Powell (),
Matthew Hagle (Piano),
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1907; Finland
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 2 Minutes 14 Secs.
Notes: Arranger: Maud Powell (1918).
9.
Negro Melodies (24), Op. 59 no 1: no 10, Deep river by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Performer:
Matthew Hagle (Piano),
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin)
Period: Romantic
Written: by 1905; England
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 4 Minutes 46 Secs.
Notes: Arranger: Maud Powell (1910).
10.
Humoresques (8) for Piano, Op. 101/B 187: no 7 in G flat major by Antonín Dvorák
Performer:
Matthew Hagle (Piano),
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1894; Bohemia
Date of Recording: 10/2006
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 3 Minutes 42 Secs.
Notes: Arranger: Fritz Kreisler (1905); revised and adapted by Maud Powell in 1906.
11.
Silver Threads among the Gold by Hart Pease Danks
Performer:
Matthew Hagle (Piano),
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin)
Written: pub 1873
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 3 Minutes 6 Secs.
Notes: Arranger: Maud Powell (1914).
12.
Caprice on Dixie by Herman Bellstedt
Performer:
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin)
Period: Romantic
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 3 Minutes 41 Secs.
Notes: Revised and adapted by Rachel Barton Pine in 1998.
13.
Marionettes by James Gilbert
Performer:
Matthew Hagle (Piano),
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1911
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 3 Minutes 00 Secs.
Notes: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois (10/2006 - 11/2006)
14.
Poème pastoral: no 5, Crépuscule by Jules Massenet
Performer:
Matthew Hagle (Piano),
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1872; France
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 2 Minutes 22 Secs.
Notes: Arranger: Maud Powell (1891).
15.
Nobody Knows the Trouble I See by John Rosamond Johnson
Performer:
Matthew Hagle (Piano),
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1917; USA
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 4 Minutes 43 Secs.
Notes: Arranger: Maud Powell (1919).
16.
Romance for Violin by Henry Holden Huss
Performer:
Matthew Hagle (Piano),
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin)
Period: 20th Century
Written: circa 1906; USA
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 5 Minutes 19 Secs.
Notes: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois (10/2006 - 11/2006)
17.
Rocky Mountain Sketches (4) for Violin and Piano, Op. 11 by Cecil Burleigh
Performer:
Matthew Hagle (Piano),
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1913; USA
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 9 Minutes 56 Secs.
Notes: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois (10/2006 - 11/2006)
18.
Fantasia on Sousa Themes by Max Liebling
Performer:
Matthew Hagle (Piano),
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1905; USA
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 7 Minutes 31 Secs.
Notes: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois (10/2006 - 11/2006)
19.
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen by Traditional
Performer:
Rachel Barton Pine (Violin),
Matthew Hagle (Piano)
Written: USA
Venue: WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 4 Minutes 43 Secs.
Notes: Arrangers: Maud Powell; John Rosamond Johnson.
WFMT Radio Studio, Chicago, Illinois (10/2006 - 11/2006)
Sound Samples
Als die alte Mutter (Song My Mother Sang)
King Kristian II, Op. 27 (arr. Powell): King Christian II Orchestral Suite: Musette
Up the Ocklawaha, Op. 6: Up the Ocklawaha, Tone Picture for Violin, Op. 6
Minuet Waltz, Op. 64, No. 1
Deep River, Op. 59, No. 10
Humoreske, Op. 101, No. 7
Silver Threads Among the Gold (Song)
Caprice on Dixie for Unaccompanied Violin
4 Rocky Mountain Sketche, Op. 11: At Sunset
4 Rocky Mountain Sketche, Op. 11: The Rapids
4 Rocky Mountain Sketche, Op. 11: Up the Canyon
4 Rocky Mountain Sketche, Op. 11: The Avalanche
Poemes Pastorale: Twilight (Crepuscule)
Nobody Knows the Trouble I See (American Negro Melody)
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