KREUTZER SONATA

NOVEMBER 16, 2017
Italian Academy of Columbia University

Mark Steinberg, violin
Ignat Solzhenitsyn, piano
Ariel Quartet

Illustrated talk by Ignat Solzhenitsyn

PROGRAM

Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major, Op. 47 Kreutzer Sonata
Tchaikovsky String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 11
Janácek String Quartet No. 1 Kreutzer Sonata

Beethoven's ‘Kreutzer Sonata’ for violin and piano (dedicated to Rodolphe Kreutzer, a French violinist who never performed it) is the centerpiece of Tolstoy's disturbing and controversial novel ‘The Kreutzer Sonata’. The novel in turn inspired the Czech composer, Leos Janácek, to write his eponymous, intense and feverish first string quartet.

Tolstoy, deeply responsive to music, had a particular passion for folk music (the second movement of Tchaikovsky's First Quartet, based on a folk song from Tolstoy's childhood, brought tears to his eyes). However, he was highly selective about the works of Western composers. While Tolstoy admired Beethoven and was captivated by his music, he was also of the view that the composer had brought about the decline of musical art.

The musical narrative of Janácek's String Quartet No. 1, "Kreutzer Sonata", seems to mirror the unfolding marital tragedy of Tolstoy's novel, while the third movement of the quartet is modelled on the second theme of Beethoven's ‘Kreutzer Sonata’.