César Franck

Sonata in A - Mélancolie

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

At the first performance at the Société nationale de musique in Paris, cellist Jules Delsart, a friend of Franck's, was so enthusiastic that he adapted the work for his instrument. The first edition of this arrangement, published in 1887, on which the new critical-practical edition is based as the main source, presented the separate cello part in a piano score with the title "Sonate pour piano et violon ou violoncelle", which was used from then on for both the violin and cello editions - the version for piano and violoncello by Jules Delsart is therefore the only one in the series of existing arrangements for other instruments that César Franck authorized.

The edition also contains the "Mélancolie" for violin or violoncello and piano, first published posthumously (1911), a small single movement based on a solfège exercise: a musical gem that shows the composer at the height of his creative powers.

An informative text section (German/French/English) on the history of the composition and reception of the two works as well as a complete list of sources, notes on the edition and a critical report (English) round off the edition.