Composition for violin and piano by Nikolai 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.