Tuesday 15 November 2005

Nice to find a new favourite work. I have been listening often to Albéric Magnard's sonata for violin and piano (played by Augustin Dumay and Jean-Philippe Collard). Weighing in at 43 minutes, it's not a work that yields its fascination quickly or easily. But it certainly repays repeated hearings (unlike, say, the wretched Berg Violin Concerto!) The more I hear it, the more I discover and enjoy.
The performance by Dumay and Collard strikes me as pretty well ideal; it can't be an easy work to play, since to keep interest flowing over the 43 minutes requires a wide range of subtle sound gradations and of colouring.

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