Sarasate - Concert Fantasy On Themes From Gounod's 'Faust'

The French composer Charles Gounod is remembered mostly for his operas, with Faust being his most popular. The opera was loosely based on Johann Goethe's play Faust : eine Tragödie, Part One.  The legend of Faust, a scholar that trades his soul to the devil so he can gain unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures, is a German legend that was first published in 1593, but the legend is probably much older than that.  Goethe's version was published in 1808, with a second part published after his death.

Gounod's opera premiered in 1859 but it wasn't until a revival of the work in 1862 that it became popular. At one time Faust was the most popular opera in the repertoire, and Pablo de Sarasate was evidently quite  taken with the opera, for he wrote two fantasies on themes from it, with the later opus 13 fantasy being the subject of this post.

The writing of fantasies on other composer's works was a mainstay of 19th century concert life as well as music publishing.  Tunes from popular operas (the 'hits' of the 19th century) were used by many performer/composers to showcase their virtuosity.  Hearing opera performed live was beyond many music lovers, and the fantasies, variations (or as Liszt called them paraphrases) on popular tunes was a way music lovers could hear the latest works.

Charles Gounod

Sarasate wrote Concert Fantasy On Themes From Gounod's 'Faust'  in 1874 for violin and piano and as with many of his other fantasies on popular works by other composers, he made a version for soloist and orchestra.

The work begins with dramatic chords played by the piano. The soloist enters and the fireworks begin straight away.  After some appropriately heavy and 'damned' music followed by more lyrical music, Sarasate segues to music from Act 2, At The City Gates.  Faust has already made his pact with  Méphistophélès. At the city gate Méphistophélès sings his aria Le veau d'or (The Golden Calf), a spiteful song about greed and the wickedness of man.  Sarasate translates some of the harshness of the original with the embellishments he gives to the aria.  The set of themes are from the Garden Scene, Act 3 of the opera. Méphistophélès and  Faust are in Marguerite's garden where Faust attempts to seduce her.  Faust kisses her, but she sends him away. But soon she longs for him and calls for his return. The final theme used is from the final scenes of Act 2, the famous Waltz From Faust.

Sarasate - Zigeunerweisen (Gypsy Airs) For Violin And Orchestra

A few years ago I purchased an inexpensive violin with the intent of learning to play it. Not expecting any kind of virtuosity, I thought I could learn enough to perhaps play in an amateur string quartet or something like that. I knew it would take time and be a lot of work, but I've been playing the piano for a long time and figured a different instrument would be a good change of pace.  The sounds that I produced would be accompanied by caterwauling from the stray cats in the neighborhood,  my fingers ached from pushing on the strings, my arm just didn't work very well as I tried to play on one string at a time.  While I'm not a quitter by any means, common sense told me I was not cut out to play the violin. But all was not lost. The violin hangs above my piano, next to a copy of a Renoir painting. It looks very nice there, and except taking it down for an occasional dusting, there it shall stay.

But there was also an added bonus from my attempts to play the fiddle. I can really appreciate how difficult it is to play the instrument after trying (in vain) to coax out more than a squawk from it myself. When I hear a piece like the Sarasate Gypsy Airs played by a virtuoso (and no one other than a virtuoso could come close to doing it justice) I marvel at the agility, reflexes, musical ear, talent and hard work that is required.

Sarasate was one of the top violin virtuosos of his time, and composed his Gypsy Airs in 1878 and premiered the piece the same year.   It is based on the music of the Roma, or Gypsy people. Many composers wrote pieces based on this type of music including Liszt, Brahms and Dvořák.

Zigeunerweisen is in one movement, and consists of two dance melodies preceded by an introduction. There are four tempo changes in the piece:
I.  Moderato - A dramatic, slow introduction begins with the orchestra with the violin entering. The violin restates the opening, with virtuosic flourishes.
II. Lento - The first theme is a sad, highly decorated tune played while the orchestra gently accompanies.
III. Un poco più lento - The muted violin continues to play the same sad melody.
IV. Allegro molto vivace - The tempo suddenly increases dramatically along with the volume with the beginning of the second theme  The violin crackles with energy as Sarasate has the violin play a manic friss, the rapid section of the traditional Csárdás dance.

Sarasate - Carmen Fantasy

The Spanish violinist Pablo de Sarasate was one of  the premiere virtuosos of his day, known for his purity of tone and elegance of performance. Many middle and late 19th century composers dedicated works to him, such as Camille Saint-Saëns' Violin Concerto No. 3 and his Introduction and Rondo capriccioso. He was also a talented composer and wrote many pieces for violin and orchestra, mainly virtuosic pieces that utilized themes from popular operas of the time, such as the Carmen Fantasy.

There is something about Spain and its music that has attracted and inspired many French composers. As Spain and France are next to each other, perhaps it is the close proximity and inevitable mingling of cultures and languages that accounts for this. Whatever the reasons, Bizet is in a long line of French composers that wrote music on Spanish themes. Georges Bizet's opera Carmen opened in  Paris in 1874 and was a failure. Critics panned it and the audience, while initially receptive, grew colder as the opera progressed. During its initial run, the composer Bizet died suddenly of a heart attack at age 36. The opera played a total of 48 performances in its first production, then was not heard again in Paris until 1883.  The failure of the opera in its initial run has been attributed to the realism of it and the loose morals of some of the characters in it. Tchaikovsky saw the opera in a performance during its initial run and thought it a work of genius.

The following year there was a production in Vienna and it met with more success. Brahms and Wagner saw it in Vienna and they both agreed with Tchaikovsky's assessment. After the Vienna production, the opera slowly began to gain momentum and performances until it became a world-wide success at the turn of the century and remains a staple of the opera repertoire.

Sarasate wrote his Carmen Fantasy in 1883, just as the opera was beginning to gain in popularity. It is in five sections, four dances and an interlude:
Aragonaise - A Spanish dance from the Aragon region, in triple time.
 Habanera- Originally a dance from Cuba, it was brought to pain by sailors.
 Interlude
 Seguidilla - An old Castillian folk song and dance form in triple time.
 Gypsy Dance

The Carmen Fantasy is a very technically demanding. It asks much of the violinist in the way of pure technique, but also it is a test of the soloists musicianship. It also exists in a version for piano and violin and is often played in violin competitions.