Violin Sonata No. 3 (Medtner)

The Violin Sonata No. 3 in E minor, Op. 57, given the name Epica, is a four-movement work for violin and piano, written by Nikolai Medtner from 1935 to 1938. The piece was dedicated to his late brother Emil Medtner.^[1]

History

When in Paris in 1935, Medtner started work on writing a violin sonata, but failed to make significant progress.^[2] It was only over two years later, after having completed his Sonata-Idyll, that he returned to work on it: throughout 1938 he worked on the piece, completing it in October of that year.^[1]

Structure

The sonata is written in four movements, beginning and ending in the key of E minor. It employs cyclic form. The entire work takes approximately 45 minutes to perform.

Introduzione: Andante meditamente – Allegro (E minor). The movement begins with a slow 6/8 introduction which leads into a long sonata form in 6/4 time.
Scherzo: Allegro molto vivace e leggiero (A minor). The movement, in common time, opens with a vigorous main theme, which prominently features rhythmic dance-like features. This is followed by a graceful and melodic second theme, which greatly contrasts the first, before, after a short transition section, both themes are repeated, and the movement ends in an energetic coda.
Andante con moto (F minor). The work's slow movement, in 3/4 time, opens with a series of longing chords in the piano, which give way to a melodic section in the Aeolian mode. This is followed by a second theme, in B major, before the two themes come together in the movement's lyrical finish.
Finale: Allegro molto (E minor). The sonata's last movement, fast in tempo and in 3/4 time, continues on from the end of the third movement without a pause. It begins with an assertive first theme in G major, which is contrasted by a more melodic second theme in D major. At the end of the exposition of the two main themes, there appears, for a short moment, a fragment of the church chant Christ is risen, which undergoes 11 variations in place of a conventional sonata development, before the movement ends with a recapitulation of the first theme and a coda.