Research

“It was in 1997 that I came across one of my old manuscripts dating from 1977. One could observe the desperate efforts of a fifteen-year-old musician awkwardly trying his hand at composition, but also the presence of a fairly well-structured theme that I felt deserved a second chance. Thus, twenty years later, I decided to take it as the first theme of a sonata movement which, after four years of work often interrupted by other pieces written in response to pressing commissions, became the Sonata da camera, Op. 67.”

This is how the composer introduced his new work at its premiere.

After an early period in which serial aesthetics lay at the heart of his music, Nicolas Bacri has, for the past decade, turned towards a language closer to classical grammar.

Marked by great sensitivity, his works for strings highlight in an exceptional way the specific timbre of each instrument and make optimal use of their instrumental techniques. His earlier works for viola already bear witness to this mastery: 2 Lieder for viola and piano (1981), Une prière (premiered by Gérard Caussé and the Montpellier Philharmonic Orchestra), Quasi variazioni for viola and piano (premiered by Laurent Verney and François Killian), Folia and Requiem for viola and strings, both recorded by Laurent Verney.

The Sonata da camera is classical in form, consisting of four movements. According to Nicolas Bacri, it represents “a kind of perpetual variation on a youthful theme filtered through the ‘classical’ forms of the bi-thematic sonata and the scherzo. Even the new theme that undergoes variations in the final movement ultimately reveals its kinship with the main theme by superimposing itself upon it in the last variation.”

Indeed, this youthful theme, conceived by the composer twenty years earlier, appears in the first movement, Andante (Example 1). The sonata-allegro form provides a clear structure to this movement, which alternates between gentleness and vigor.

This is followed by a sparkling scherzo, Presto misterioso, in which, through a virtuosity characteristic of Nicolas Bacri’s style, spiccato notes alternate with more sustained slurred passages (Examples 2 and 3). Serving as a trio, a brief and brilliant viola cadenza precedes a progression of consonant chords evolving into clusters—dissonances that lead us away from any harmonic convention.

The third movement, Pezzo elegiaco, imbued with poignant melancholy, recalls the atmosphere of Shostakovich, particularly the third movement of his sonata.

The finale presents a theme and variations, a form also dear to Brahms (Example 4). These continuously unfolding variations emphasize contrasts of dynamics, dialogue between piano and viola, changes of tempo, and mixtures of ternary and binary rhythms (Example 5). A reverie—this time unmistakably Schumannesque—brings this progression to a close, and the work’s opening theme reappears, superimposed on the finale’s theme (Example 6).

The work is magnificent but demands great virtuosity from the performers. In the fast movements, the viola plays a prominent role with long passages of spiccato, exploiting a wide range for numerous soaring gestures. The slow movements, on the other hand, require maturity and refinement to sustain and shape long phrases. With the exception of a few specific passages, balance between piano and viola poses no major difficulty: the registers of both instruments are skillfully employed so that each voice emerges clearly.

The score of this sonata was published in 2001 by Peer Music (New York–Hamburg).”

Vinciane Béranger

(for the journal Les amis de l’alto, 2000)