Vincent Persichetti: Works for Violin and Piano (2014)

Persichetti For Violin And Piano

Philadelphia-born Vincent Persichetti (1915 -- 1987) became an important American composer, teacher, and pianist. He taught composition at Juilliard for many years beginning in 1947. With the exception of his music for wind band, much of Persichetti's extensive compositional output has fallen into neglect. This new Naxos "American Classics" CD of Persichetti's works for violin and piano may spark an interest in his music.

There is a freshness to this CD as it consists in full of world premier recordings. In fact, the opening piece, the "Sonata for Violin and Piano" opus 15 had previously been unknown. The violinist on this recording, Hasse Borup, discovered the piece after a good deal of digging at the New York Public Library of the Performing Arts. It is valuable to have this work recovered and accessible. Violinist Borup and pianist Heather Conner will also likely be new to most listeners. Both these young performers have many recital appearances to their credit and both teach at the University of Utah. The University of Utah has sponsored this recording of Persichetti's music and of two of its young artists through a research grant. The recording was made at the Libby Gardner Concert Hall, Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2012.

The CD includes ten short works, including compositions for violin and piano, solo violin, and solo piano. The compositions range from early works written in the 1940s through late compositions from the mid-1960s. The earlier music shows an interest in varied musical styles, including atonality. The latter music is more neo-classical in scope. The pieces on this CD are accessible and short with a combination of lyrical and lively sections.

The newly-discovered sonata for violin and piano, Op. 15 is in two contrasting movements, a plaintive Lento and a contrasting Allegro fuoco. Another early work, the Sonata for Solo Violin, op. 10, is in four short movements and features contrapuntal writing alternating with slow passionate sections. The work makes frequent use of pizzacato and double stops. The third early work, the Serenade no 4 for Violin and Piano", op 28 is in four movements, each of which has a different romantic character. These three early multi-movement works are each well under ten minutes in duration.

In 1965, Persichetti composed a series of ten "Masques" for violin and piano. These are short, contrasting works with variations in tempo and mood. The entire set of these ten miniatures takes about eight minutes to perform.

The final group of works on this CD consists of six piano sonatinas beautifully performed by Heather Connor. Perischetti wrote twelve full sonatas during his life, many of which require a virtuoso technique. The six sonatinas on the CD make only moderate demands with the final three works suitable for relatively inexperienced pianists. The works range from the three movement sonatinas no. 1 and 4, the two movement sonatinas 3 and 5, and the single movement sonatinas 2 and 6. The longest of these sonatinas is no. 2, opus 45 which lasts all of four minutes. This work is probably the most interesting with a slow introduction in canon form followed by a lively bumptious Haydenesque conclusion. Each of these six sonatinas are worth study by amateur pianists.

This is a lovely CD of miniatures which Borup and Conner perform with enthusiasm and style. The CD would be of great interest to violinists and pianists who want to add some unusual yet accessible American works to their repertoires. The CD will also be valuable to lovers of American music. I have learned a great deal over the years from Naxos' American Classics series. Naxos kindly provided me with this CD to review.

Total Time: 53:00

Robin Friedman