Hilary Hahn - Ysaÿe: 6 Sonatas for Violin Solo, Op. 27 (2023) [Hi-Res]

Three-time Grammy winner Hilary Hahn presents her new recording of Eugène Ysaÿe's Six Sonatas for Solo Violin op. 27. Inspired by J.S. Bach, the legendary Belgian violinist and composer Eugène Ysaÿe wrote the first work of a cycle of six sonatas in June 1923. 100 years later, Hilary Hahn, "one of the most important violinists of our time" (The New York Times), has recorded this cycle - driven by the upcoming 100th anniversary.

"I never cease to marvel at my good fortune to be in this line of musical tradition" says Hahn. "Twenty years ago, these pieces were kind of foreign to me, they seemed to hold secrets I would never unravel. Now I think I can play these sonatas in his spirit and still be absolutely true to myself."

Eugène Ysaÿe (1858-1931), widely regarded as one of the first modern violinists, created technical and artistic standards for his instrument that remain valid today. Luminaries such as Franck, Debussy and Chausson composed important works for him. In the last decade of his life, Ysaÿe concentrated more on composing. He began writing the six sonatas for solo violin after hearing the Hungarian virtuoso Joseph Szigeti play Bach's Partitas and Sonatas for Solo Violin.

Ysaÿe dedicated each of the sonatas to a violinist of the next generation, such as Szigeti, Jacques Thibaud, Fritz Kreisler and George Enescu, which helped to ensure that his pieces continued to be cultivated and played by these excellent musicians in the decades that followed. Like Bach, he uses the violin's ability to play more than one sound at a time and thus complex polyphonic lines and chords. And like Bach's partitas and sonatas, his six sonatas for solo violin are among the highest tests of a violinist's technique and artistry today. Hilary Hahn sums up their importance, describing them as "legendary, they have shaped generations of violinists and are a wonderful tribute to the instrument".