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Programme note
Elegy
My program, titled Elegy, features as its centrepiece the Viola Sonata by Dimitri Shostakovich, preceded by two Elegies written respectively by Alexander Glazunow and Igor Stravinsky. It explores the dark colours of the Viola and its use as a voice of grief.
Alexander Glazunov: Elegy for Viola and Piano, Op. 44
Glazunov’s Élégie for viola and piano, composed in 1893, is a wonderful example of the composer’s lyrical and expressive writing. This short work reveals Glazunov’s deep understanding of the viola’s colors and technical possibilities, as well as his gift for combining emotional depth with elegance.
Written as a single, continuous movement, the Élégie is characterized by a mood that is both melancholic and rhapsodic. It opens with a broad, singing melody in the viola, supported by gentle piano chords.
The form of the Élégie is free, less bound to classical patterns, following instead a natural, improvisatory flow that allows melodic and harmonic ideas to develop and vary organically. This flexibility contributes to the work’s emotional impact, leaving room for spontaneous expressiveness and deeply felt playing.
Dmitri Shostakovich held great respect for Alexander Glazunov, who was one of his formative role models. Glazunov served as director of the Leningrad Conservatory during Shostakovich’s studies there. Although he did not teach him directly, Glazunov supported the young composer and recognized his talent early on. Shostakovich valued Glazunov’s music and regarded him as an important representative of Russian musical culture. This respect always prevailed despite the later stylistic differences between them.
Igor Stravinsky: Elegy for Solo Viola
Igor Stravinsky’s Élégie for solo viola, composed in 1944, is one of the composer’s lesser-known works, yet it captivates through its depth and emotional restraint. Written in memory of Alphonse Onnou, the founder and first violinist of the Pro Arte Quartet, it reflects Stravinsky’s mature style and his ability to convey profound feeling with simple means.
The Élégie consists of a single movement of about five minutes. Despite its brevity, it communicates an intense mood of mourning and reflection. Stravinsky uses a reserved melodic line, creating a melancholic and contemplative atmosphere.
Particularly noteworthy is Stravinsky’s use of counterpoint. He weaves a continuous melodic thread, using double stops and complex voice leading that create the impression of a dialogue or duet within the solo instrument itself.
The harmonic language of the Élégie remains largely tonal, yet it features Stravinsky’s characteristic dissonances and unexpected harmonic turns. These moments heighten the work’s emotional intensity: dissonances often resolve in ways that suggest longing or unresolved tension. The melodic line requires great sensitivity in phrasing and nuance.
Dmitri Shostakovich had a complex relationship with Igor Stravinsky. Although he respected and was influenced by Stravinsky’s works, he often criticized what he perceived as Stravinsky’s formalism and political stance, especially his emigration from the Soviet Union, although it is hard to say which of Shostakovich’s statements reflected his own opinion and which were said out of self preservation. Despite these tensions, the impact of Stravinsky’s music on Shostakovich is undeniable.
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Dmitri Shostakovich: Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147
Dmitri Shostakovich, one of the most significant composers of the 20th century, wrote the Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147, in 1975. The sonata represents a profound reflection on his life and work. Originally conceived as a second cello sonata, he ultimately chose to write his final completed piece for viola, dedicating it to Fyodor Druzhinin, violist of the Beethoven Quartet. In doing so, he followed in the footsteps of great composers who, in their later years, turned to the viola—Bach (Brandenburg Concerto No. 6), Mozart (Sinfonia Concertante, Kegelstatt Trio), Brahms (Two Songs), and Bartók (Viola Concerto).
Shostakovich’s viola sonata, rich in quotation, bears a strong autobiographical character. It is often regarded as his musical testament—or even his requiem—and thus occupies a special place within his oeuvre.
1.Movement: Moderato
The opening movement unfolds in an introspective and contemplative tone. Though it follows a traditional sonata form, it is colored by Shostakovich’s unique harmonic language and subtle tensions. Viola and piano engage in a restrained yet intense dialogue. Notably, the movement begins with open strings in the viola—perhaps recalling Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto, another work haunted by illness and the nearness of death.
In the fourth bar, the piano presents the main theme, built from all twelve tones of the chromatic scale. The harmonies are often dissonant, creating a haunting atmosphere of uncertainty—an echo of the composer’s own life, marked by the political and social upheavals of his time. Themes are developed through variation and modulation, as Shostakovich alternates between sparse and intense textures. The movement
ends simply on the tonic C, marked morendo—dying away.
2.Movement: Allegretto
The second movement, Allegretto, is complex and full of contrast, roughly following a scherzo-trio pattern but bearing Shostakovich’s unmistakable fingerprints.
It opens with a lively, rhythmically striking theme in the viola, grotesque and dance-like in character—typical of Shostakovich. The movement abounds in contrasts of dynamics, tempo, and mood. Amid the playful, ironic episodes lie quieter, lyrical passages that lend deeper emotional weight. It is also noteworthy that the Scherzo section derives its materials entirely from Shostakovich’s opera “The gamblers”.
The central trio section introduces a more reflective atmosphere. Toward its end, the viola breaks into a lamentoso cadenza, reminiscent of Shostakovich’s early Suite for Two Pianos, Op. 6, written at age 16 after his father’s death (its falling fourths reappear in the sonata’s third movement). Yet Shostakovich’s penchant for contrast soon returns as the music revives its energetic opening material.
At the close, themes and moods intertwine, before the viola once again fades morendo, this time on F.
3.Movement: Adagio
The Adagio, forms the emotional core of the sonata.
This final movement contains numerous quotations: some obvious, others subtle or still undiscovered. Shortly after the beginning, the famous theme from Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata appears, a clear homage to a composer Shostakovich deeply revered. Less evident are fragmented references to his own symphonies (Nos. 1–15). There is also a quotation from
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Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote, perhaps hinting at the sonata’s origins as a cello piece and symbolizing Shostakovich’s lifelong, futile struggle against the “windmills” of the Soviet regime.
The harmony is rich and complex, often steeped in painful dissonance. The melodic lines are expansive and expressive, and the interplay between viola and piano is intimate and communicative. The sonata ends in quiet serenity, as if the music dissolves into silence. The longdrawn farewell and final lingering on the major third—again marked morendo—may remind some of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, a work Shostakovich loved deeply.
In its final “breaths,” the piece reiterates the descending fourths from his Suite Op. 6, as if reflecting on his fathers death in the face of his own, until only a single oscillating fourth remains, like a farewell both to his childhood and to life itself.
Wassili Wohlgemuth
