September / October 2013

Emil Sjögren Works for Violin and Piano

Emil Sjögren (1853-1918) along with Franz Schubert and Hugo Wolf is acknowledged as one of the finest art song writers. It is for his many song cycles that he was known and remembered. They were often performed throughout Europe during the last decades of the 19th century and the first of the 20th when the genre of the art song was much in vogue and heard in recitals. Besides vocal music, Sjögren's tremendous lyrical talent lent itself to the string instrumental sonata. He found the singing quality of the violin particularly to his taste and devoted much of his time and effort to producing what are without doubt some of the finest romantic era works for this combination. His five violin sonatas are without doubt the equal of anything being written during this period and it is truly sad that they are not known or played outside of his native Sweden. Violinists who take the time to acquaint themselves with these works will not be disappointed and will have a superb concert repertoire at the fingertips.

Each of the five sonatas is worthy of consideration. They are all big works, full of drama and excitement, but also tender and lyrical. But the sonatas only represent a part of what Sjögren wrote for the violin. Of particular note are his Poème for Violin & Piano, Op.40 and the wonderful Morceau de Concert for Violin & Piano, Op.45. Both of these works are first rate recital pieces. In addition to these, he wrote several lyrical and fantasy pieces.

Lastly, there are three very appealing collections of the most beloved of Sjögren's songs from various song cycles. These were transcribed, with Sjögren's approval, by the famous Swedish violinist Tor Aulin, who was a good friend of the composer. These collections appeared in sets of three and four but never in one large group. We have, for the first time collected 10 of these song-transcriptions from three different song cycles and created an album. Any one of them makes a fine encore, but they can be mixed and matched to create an entire recital program if desired.

We hope that violinists will have a look and a listen. You can hear generous soundbites of the all of these works on our website and, of course, the sheet music to all is available from Edition Silvertrust.