Joshua Bell, violin
Program
Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24 “Spring”
Edvard Grieg Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45
Additional works to be announced from the stage
PROGRAM NOTES
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Born in Bonn, Germany, December 15 or 16, 1770; died in Vienna, Austria, March 26, 1827
Sonata No. 5, in F, for piano and violin, Op. 24, ‘Spring’ (1800-1) (23’)
Beethoven did not name his ‘Spring’ Sonata, but the nickname suits this, one of the best-known and loved of all classical violin sonatas. He wrote it between 1800 and 1801 for one of his early patrons, the banker Count Moritz von Fries, alongside its companion, the A minor Sonata, Op. 23. The sonatas contrast sharply, suggesting Beethoven intended them a a complementary pair. They were meant to be published together, but a formatting error in the violin part led to separate opus numbers. The A minor Sonata opens confrontationally, with terse, argumentative exchanges. The ‘Spring’ Sonata, by contrast, begins with an elegant, expansive melody—first on violin, with the piano supporting, then reversed, with the violin accompanying. Throughout, the two instruments remain in equilibrium.
The sonata’s F major tonality is Beethoven’s ‘pastoral’ key, and its radiant slow movement anticipates the Scene by the Brook from the Pastoral Symphony, composed seven years later. Hints of birdsong appear first from the violin, when the main theme returns, rich in baroque ornamentation, then again after a minor-key variation, in a profusion of trills. The whimsical Scherzo no sooner begins than it is over, though it does inject dynamic contrast before an amiable Rondo concludes the sonata. The nickname arose after Beethoven’s death.
Edvard Grieg
Born in Bergen, Norway, June 15, 1843; died in Bergen, September 4, 1907
Violin Sonata No. 3, in C minor, Op. 45 (1886) (24’)
“I am furious at not being a string player,” Edvard Grieg told violinist and composer Johann Halvorsen, a fellow Norwegian, in 1901. But, like Brahms turning to Bruch and Joachim, Grieg made up for his lack of skill on the violin by seeking the counsel and friendship of professional violinists. He was aware of how far he had travelled over the course of his three violin sonatas: “They are representative of the three periods of my evolution, the first naïve and full of melodic ideas, the second nationalistic, and the third turning to much vaster horizons.” First performed in 1887 by the renowned Russian violinist Adolph Brodsky and the composer himself at the piano, the Third Sonata was an immediate success. Within three months he told a friend: “Just think, the new sonata has already sold about 1500 copies.”
The opening movement blends drama and passion with Grieg’s characteristic lyricism. It begins powerfully, with an urgent, passionate theme rising from the violin’s lowest string, soon evolving into a more vulnerable secondary theme over tremolo piano chords. The two themes are related, reflecting the thematic unity that underpins the sonata. The slow movement opens radiantly, high in the piano. Its outer sections convey gentle nostalgia enveloping a playful intermezzo. The finale revives the urgency of the first movement, mellowed by a noble, modal second theme. The contrast between these ideas drives the music to a triumphant coda.
— Program notes copyright © 2025 Keith Horner.
Joshua Bell
Peter Dugan
With a career spanning almost four decades, GRAMMY® Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell is one of the most celebrated artists of his era. Bell has performed with virtually every major orchestra in the world, and continues to maintain engagements as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, conductor and as the Music Director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
Bell’s highlights for the 2024-25 season include the August release of two new albums: Thomas De Hartmann Rediscovered (featuring conductor Dalia Stasevska), released on Pentatone, and an album of Mendelssohn piano trios with Jeremy Denk and Steven Isserlis, released on Sony Masterworks. Bell will rejoin Denk and Isserlis in November 2024 for a series of concerts at Wigmore Hall. He appears as guest soloist with the New York Philharmonic, conducts and plays with DSO Berlin, and tours in recital throughout North America, South America, Australia, and mainland China.
Bell has been nominated for six GRAMMY® awards, was named “Instrumentalist of the Year” by Musical America, deemed a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum, received the Avery Fisher Prize, and was named an “Indiana Living Legend” in 2000. He has collaborated with peers including Renée Fleming, Daniil Trifonov, Emanuel Ax, Lang Lang, Chick Corea, Regina Spektor, Chris Botti, Anoushka Shankar, Dave Matthews, Josh Groban, and Sting, among others. He has performed for three American presidents and the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. Bell participated in President Barack Obama’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities’ mission to Cuba, resulting in an Emmy-nominated PBS Live from Lincoln Center special.
Bell performs on the 1713 Huberman Stradivarius violin.
Peter Dugan prizes versatility as the hallmark of today’s musician and advocates for a classical music culture that is inclusive and welcoming to all. That approach has manifested in a multifaceted and dynamic career as a pianist, composer, collaborator, and radio host. A musician equally at home in classical, jazz, and pop idioms, Peter has appeared as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician across North America and around the world—his performance of the Ives Fourth Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas was described by the Los Angeles Times as “stunning” and by the San Francisco Chronicle as “fearlessly athletic.” He is heard on radios nationwide weekly as host of NPR’s From the Top; is an active and passionate collaborator who has toured extensively with violinists Joshua Bell and Charles Yang, and vocalists John Brancy and Kara Dugan (his wife); and is a composer who has performed his own works everywhere from Carnegie Hall to Joe’s Pub and had his arrangements released by Disney+.
Acknowledgments
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