Sonata in A major for Flute and Piano

Pan - Journal of the British Flute Society

This review first appeared in Pan, the journal of the British Flute Society and is reproduced with permission. Join the BFS: membership starts from £25 a year.

This is an Urtext edition of Franz Linden’s arrangement of the Franck Violin Sonata for flute and piano. This arrangement is now an established part of the flute’s repertoire, so this well-produced edition is a welcome addition. As with all Bärenreiter Urtext editions, the music is printed on quality cream paper and features a detailed preface with scholarly information about the work.

The Violin Sonata in A major was written in 1886 and was influenced by Beethoven and Saint-Saëns. It was dedicated to Ysaÿe, who was an important influence in the piece’s popularity. The Sonata was published by Hamelle, who also published a version for cello (with the agreement of the composer), solo piano and piano four hands. The flute version, along with a version for viola, appeared in 1910, and became popular with Jean-Pierre Rampal, who performed it many times and contributed to its place in the flute’s repertoire (information taken from to the preface of this edition, written by Gudula Schütz).

Schütz’s preface includes some fascinating contextual information about the piece, and is recommended reading for anyone preparing a performance of it. The edition brings together a number of sources, including the piano part of the cello version, which corrected some errors in the first edition of the violin version. The critical commentary includes detailed notes on the variations between the different sources used and outlining any ambiguities.

This is a high quality, well laid-out and academically rigorous edition, which belongs on the shelves of any flute library.

Carla Rees

From the Publisher

César Franck’s Sonata for Piano and Violin is one of the most highly esteemed works in the violin literature, a masterpiece of cyclical form – with its grace and expressiveness it is virtually paradigmatic for the epoch of musical romanticism. The sonata was composed in 1886 and is dedicated to the Belgian violinist and composer Eugène Ysaÿe.

After Franck’s death the publisher of the sonata’s original edition, Julien Hamelle of Paris, supplied not only an additional version for piano and cello authorized by the composer (BA 10917), but other arrangements, including a version for flute prepared by Hamelle’s in-house arranger Franz Linden (ca. 1910).

This Urtext edition for flute and piano is based on Linden’s arrangement, a copy of which was only recently unearthed by the editor, and on the sources of the original Violin Sonata, especially for the piano part. Linden’s version largely adopts the original violin part, with particular violin techniques rendered playable on the flute by means of alternative notes. In this way the sonata’s characteristic qualities, including the highly cantabile solo part, sound perfectly natural on the flute, lending this version its special appeal.

An informative introduction by Gudula Schütz (Ger/Fr/Eng) on the genesis and reception history of the sonata as well as a Critical Commentary (Eng) round off the edition.

• Urtext edition of Franck’s Violin Sonata in Franz Linden’s version for flute and piano
• With an informative text part on the genesis and reception history of the violin sonata and the version for flute (Ger/Fr/Eng)

Performance duration (approx): 28'

Contents

1. Allegretto ben moderato
2. Allegro
3. Recitativo-Fantasia
4. Allegretto poco mosso

Item Details

Instrumentation

• Part 1: Flute
• Part 2: Piano