Sonata No. 3 for Piano and Violin
Composed by
Lera Auerbach
Premiered
by Lera Auerbach and Vadim Gluzman on February 5, 2006
One of the most widely performed composers of the new generation, Lera Auerbach is the youngest composer on the roster of Hamburg’s prestigious international music publishing company Hans Sikorski, home to Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Schnittke, Gubaidulina and Kancheli. A virtuoso performer, Lera Auerbach continues the great tradition of pianist-composers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Auerbach’s music is characterized by its stylistic freedom and juxtaposition of tonal and atonal musical language.
Lera Auerbach was born in October, 1973 in Chelyabinsk, a city in the Urals bordering Siberia. Since 1991 she has made New York City her permanent residence, while Hamburg remains her European home. She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in piano and music composition from The Juilliard School. She went on to study at and graduated from the prestigious piano soloist program of the Hannover Hochschule für Musik.
Original program notes: Ms. Auerbach writes about her Sonata for Violin and Piano: “Sonata No. 3 was completed in December 2005 in Bremen, Germany. I don’t want to write what the work is ‘about’, because ultimately music is not about anything, but the music itself. Extra-musical thoughts, of course, are inescapable and, as with other works of mine, explore thoughts of death, memories, violence, fear and hope, reaching beyond the frames of gravity, beyond the limitations of the everyday existence–reflections on the different faces of the Time we are living in.
“Although this work’s nature is powerful in its darkness, it made me very happy. Sometimes the pain needs to be addressed in order to be freed and released and perhaps this is why this sonata was a joy for me to compose.
Performances: May 2, 2006 Udine, Italy, by Stefan Milenkovich and pianist May 2006 Ravenna, Italy, by Stefan Milenkovich and pianist May 2006 Collomore, CT, by Stefan Milenkovich and pianist Sept. 2006 Bremen, Germany, by Anton Barahovsky (violin), Lera Auerbach (piano) April 2008 Basel, Switzerland Denise Goldfeld (violin), Lera Auerbach (piano) June 2009 New York, NY, by Philippe Quint (violin), Lera Auerbach (piano) June 2009 Boston, MA, by Philippe Quint (violin), Lera Auerbach (piano) July 2009 Verbier, Switzerland, by Julian Rachlin (violin), Lera Auerbach (piano) Oct. 2009 Wals, Austria by Julian Rachlin (violin), Per Rundberg (piano) Nov. 2009 Wladhofen an der Ybbs, Austria, by Julian Rachlin (violin), Per Rundberg (piano) Nov. 2009 Vienna, Austria, by Julian Rachlin (violin), Per Rundberg (piano) Dec. 2009 Boston, MA, by Philippe Quint (violin), Lera Auerbach (piano)
Published: Musikverlag Hans Sikorski GmbH & Co. KG ISWC: T-802.493.398-1 GEMA ID: 9552407-001 http://www.sikorski.de
Performances are available online:
VIDEO LINK:
http://www.leraauerbach.com/content/audio_video_audio_original.php?id=51&sort=s
Sponsored by: The Harry and Lea Gudelsky Foundation, in memory of H. Paul Gudelsky