Berio: Sequenza VIII for violin

Violinist Herwig Zack puts the spotlight on the unaccompanied four strings of his instrument, with J. S. Bach as the foundation, inspiring the 20th century composers Ben-Haim, Berio and Bloch.

Violinist Herwig Zack, who produced a compelling and imaginative solo recording with Essentials (AV2155), follows with an equally inspired recital that casts the spotlight on the “4 strings only” of his unaccompanied violin. With J. S. Bach providing the foundations on which arguably all solo violin repertoire was created, Zack places his Second Sonata at the heart of the program and surrounds it with four mid-20th century works which were indelibly inspired by the Baroque master. The two Solo Suites by Ernest Bloch were among his last works, and find Bach’s personality lurking in the Swiss composer’s modern polyphony and harmony. Israeli composer Ben-Haim’s Solo Sonata blends neo-Classical elements with and Eastern Mediterranean exoticness, whilst Berio’s Sequenza VIII is an overt homage to Bach’s Solo Partita in D minor, specifically the celebrated chaconne.

Unlike the piano, the king of instruments, only a small percentage of works has been written for solo violin. As everyone knows, a piano recital is a recital for solo piano. A violin recital, however, is usually a duet for violin and piano. Since the violin is mainly a singlemelody- instrument, it is always a special challenge for the violinist to study the solo works, simply because most of them comprise both the melodic line and the accompaniment normally given to the piano.....

Although it was a tradition in classical music for centuries that performer and composer were one and the same person, this custom sadly faded in the twentieth century. But we are fortunate in having some of the greatest masters of the violin, including Kreisler, Heifetz and Milstein, who composed or arranged many pieces for their instrument.

Although Kreisler composed few solo pieces except his cadenzas for a number of violin concertos, his Recitative and Scherzo-Caprice is surely one of the most popular pieces among all those famous Viennese desserts. And the Paganiniana by Milstein, so cleverly based on variations by Paganini, forms a violin master's tribute to the all-time iconic violinist.

On this recording I have also included two modern pieces for solo violin. These works by Berio and Schnittke are no conventional 'easy-listening'. But like all great modern art, they give us a new vision, allowing us to create new sound imagery from the violin.

Ning Feng

Wibert Aerts, violinist of the Het Collectief ensemble, successfully tackles two classic Berio and Zimmermann pieces, a neglected masterpiece: the 2nd Sonata of Karl Amadeus Hartmann and the first recording of the Malayan composer Kee Yong Chong, recently championed by Peter Eötvös.

Luciano Berio greatly enriched the repertoire for solo instruments and voice with his series of sixteen Sequenzas and works such as Psy, Gesti, Rounds and Fa-Si. Written between 1958 and 2002 and spanning almost five decades of Berio's creative career, these solo compositions reflect some of his most crucial aesthetic ideas and compositional techniques

The first COMPLETE recording of the Sequenazs: This set includes the world premiere recording of Sequenza XIV for solo cello, written for ex-Arditti Quartet cellist Rohan de Saram, who performs the Sequenza here.

The first COMPLETE recording of the alternate Sequenazs: At the request of many soloists, Berio arranged several of the Sequenzas for alternate instrumentation. This set compiles all of Berio's alternate Sequenzas for the first time, also with some first recordings.

Plus all of Berio's works for solo instruments: Also collected together for the first time, Berio's solo works and personal arrangements (with the exception of those for solo piano, which would be a full CD in itself) are included.

All Sequenzas are preceeded by verses of Edoardo Sanguineti performed by Enzo Salomone.