Violin Concerto (Khachaturian)

Aram Khachaturian's Violin Concerto in D minor is a violin concerto in three movements composed in 1940. It was composed for David Oistrakh and was premiered on September 16, 1940 by Oistrakh.[1]


Composition

In 1940, Khachaturian was enjoying tremendous professional success and personal joy. [2] He worked on the concerto in the tranquility of a wood composer's retreat west of Moscow; he said of the composition that he "worked without effort ... Themes came to me in such abundance that I had a hard time putting them in order."[3] Many sections of the concerto are reminiscent of the folk music of Khachaturian's native Armenia—while he never directly quotes a specific folk melody, "the exotic Oriental flavor of Armenian scales and melodies and the captivating rhythmic diversity of dances" are throughout the work. [4] The work has been charactered by "an exhilarating rhythmic drive and vitality, and a penchant for intoxicating, highly flavored, languorous melody owning much to the inflections of his native Armenian folk music."[5] Having won the Stalin prize in 1941, it has since become one of Khachaturian's famous pieces, in spite of considerable criticism. [6]

Structure

Violin concerto in D minor (1940)

  • First movement: Allegro con fermezza (about 14 minutes)
  • Second movement: Andante sostenuto (about 12 minutes)
  • Third movement: Allegro vivace (about 9 minutes)

A movement in sonata form, the Allegro con fermezza opens with a melody that has been described as "energetic"[7] a "rollicking dance-like theme,"[8] and this yields to a "more lyrical"[9] secondary melody.

The Andante sostenuto has been described as "a rhapsodic slow movement that sweeps one into a brooding wintry landscape." [10] Geoffrey Norris wrote, "The ease and spontaneity, pungency and flexibility of Khachaturian's melodic inventions are most clearly laid out in the Andante sostenuto of the central movement, cast in a free-flowing, quasi-improvisatory manner redolent of the art of Armenian folk music."[11] The second movement is a free-flowing rondo.[12]

The concluding Allegro vivace has been called "a whirlwind of motion and virtuosity."[13] In this movement, "the folks element is specially pronounced in the dance-like vigor of the main melody and in the repetitive, insistent, wild virtuosity of the solo instrument."[14]

Discography
YearSoloistConductor,
Orchestra
1946David OistrakhAlexander Gauk,
State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation
1947Gerhard TaschnerArtur Rother,
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
1955David OistrakhAram Khachaturian,
National Philharmonic Orchestra
1956Ruggiero RicciAnatole Fistoulari,
London Philharmonic Orchestra
(stereo)
1964Henryk SzeryngAntal Doráti,
London Symphony Orchestra
1977David OistrakhAram Khachaturian,
Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra
1984Itzhak PerlmanZubin Mehta,
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
1989Valery KlimovEvgeni Svetlanov,
USSR Academy Symphony Orchestra
1990Lydia MordkovitchNeeme Järvi,
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
2004Julia FischerYakov Kreizberg,
Russian National Orchestra
2007Aaron RosandKees Bakels,
Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra
2008Nicolas KoeckertJosé Serebrier,
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
2010Ara MalikianJesús Amigo,
Extremadura Symphony Orchestra
2011Mikhail SimonyanKristjan Järvi,
London Symphony Orchestra
2014James EhnesMark Wigglesworth,
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
2018 Nemanja Radulovic Sascha Goetzel

Borusan Istanbul Philarmonic Orchestra

2020Antje WeithaasDaniel Raiskin,
Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie

References
  1. http://www.khachaturian.am/eng/konzert.htm
  2. Beaverton Symphony
  3. Khachaturian, Violin Concerto, EMI CDC 7 47087 2, CD liner notes by Geoffrey Norris
  4. Beaverton Symphony
  5. NAXOS Liner notes by Kevin Sutton
  6. https://worldmusicreport.com/reviews/cds/aram-khachaturian-violin-concerto-dimitri-shostakovich-string-quartets/
  7. Khachaturian, Violin Concerto, EMI CDC 7 47087 2, CD liner notes by Geoffrey Norris
  8. NAXOS Liner notes by Kevin Sutton
  9. NAXOS Liner notes by Kevin Sutton
  10. [http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/may04/Khachaturian_Violin_concerto.htm NAXOS Liner notes by Kevin Sutton
  11. Khachaturian, Violin Concerto, EMI CDC 7 47087 2, CD liner notes by Geoffrey Norris
  12. http://www.kennedy-center.org/artist/composition/2082
  13. [http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/may04/Khachaturian_Violin_concerto.htm NAXOS Liner notes by Kevin Sutton
  14. Khachaturian, Violin Concerto, EMI CDC 7 47087 2, CD liner notes by Geoffrey Norris


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