M. K. Čiurlionis - Symphonic Poem "In the Woods", transcription for violin and piano (transcription for violin and piano by M. Kerem and R.
Players:
Mihkel Kerem, violin
Rokas Zubovas, piano
About the programme
Violinist-composer Mihkel Kerem and pianist Rokas Zubovas present a new concert programme Dreaming of the Sonata in the Forest. The programme seeks to immerse the listener in a realm of fantasy and dreams, and therefore symbolically begins with Mihkel Kerem's miniature for violin and piano "Asleep". And to round off the programme, the performers have decided to prepare a version for violin and piano of Čiurlionis' symphonic poem "In the Woods", thus responding to the 19th century practice of making symphonic works more accessible to listeners by adapting them for various instrumental ensembles. The programme focuses on sonatas for violin and piano by three of their contemporaries, M.K. Čiurlionis, M. Ravel and L. Janacek. The relationship of all three composers to this genre is shrouded in a haze of mystery.
It is known that the Czech composer Leoš Janaček wrote violin and piano sonatas twice during his student years, the first while studying in Leipzig and the second in Vienna. Unfortunately, neither sonata has survived. It would be thirty years before the Czech classical composer touched the genre again.The Sonata for Violin and Piano, written in 1914, is filled with a foreboding of the imminent outbreak of war, as the composer himself later confessed, "...In the 1914 Sonata for Violin and Piano, I could almost hear the clash of the blades of steel ringing out in my restless head..."
For a long time it was thought that the French composer Maurice Ravel had composed a single sonata for violin and piano, but almost four decades after his death, on the occasion of the celebration of Maurice's 100th birthday, another, much earlier work by the composer, for the same ensemble, was discovered and published. It seems that, while studying with Gabriel Faure at the Paris Conservatoire, Maurice Ravel composed this one-movement sonata in the last years of the 19th century. It is not known whether this work was ever performed during the composer's lifetime.
Also in the last years of the 19th century, while studying in Zygmunt Noskovsky's composition class at the Warsaw Institute of Music, Čiurlionis also began to compose a Sonata for violin and piano. No historical knowledge has survived as to whether the sonata was completed, but it is clear that it was a multi-movement work, as fragments of manuscripts of the first and second movements were discovered in the early 21st century. These fragments were insufficient to reconstruct the composer's work in its entirety, so violinist and composer Mihkel Kerem took it upon himself to incorporate the discovered fragments, like precious artefacts from the past, into today's musical language, thus giving them a chance for a new lease of life.
Mihkel Kerem embodies the tradition of renowned violinists who are not only virtuoso soloists, but also concertmasters of famous orchestras, versatile chamber music performers, and renowned composers. Kerem's current oeuvre comprises some 200 works, including eight symphonies, concertos for various instruments with orchestra, string quartets and chamber sonatas. As a violinist, Kerem is Second Concertmaster of the Royal Liverpool Symphony Orchestra and performs extensively as a soloist and in various chamber ensembles. This is his fifth appearance in Lithuania.
Pianist Rokas Zubovas has performed in South and North America, Asia, and many European countries. The works of M. K. Čiurlionis (1875-1911) occupy a very important place in his repertoire. Rokas Zubovas is the only pianist in the world to have recorded all of Čiurlionis's piano works on 6 CDs (in 2010, released by Impetus musicus). He organises music festivals, writes articles on various music and cultural issues, played the lead role in the feature film "Letters to Sophie" (2012, directed by Robert Mullan, UK), and has presented papers on various issues related to the study of the works of M.K. Čiurlionis at international conferences in Lithuania, Estonia, Belgium, Argentina and the USA.