Par CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO MARIO. Born into a family that had lived in Florence since the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968) entertained only a distant relationship with the music he heard at synagogue: a Renaissance church held more appeal for the Florentine artist than the Oriental décor of his forefathers' place of worship. It was only when he discovered Schelemo, a rhapsody for cello and orchestra written in 1916 by Ernest Bloch, that he began to understand what ' Jewish music” could be. It would take until the death of his maternal grandfather, and the discovery of a collection of prayers set to music among his papers, for the young Castelnuovo-Tedesco to begin to explore Jewish music. In 1928, two years after publishing the Dances of King David, he wrote this Vocalise-E tude for medium voice and piano at the request of vocal teacher Amédée-Landély Hettich, who wanted to include it in the Répertoire moderne de Vocalises-E tudes published by Leduc. The piece became so popular that it led to several adaptations, and the composer asked his close friend Gioacchino Maglioni (1891-1966) to transcribe it for violin and piano. Divided into three sections, the work opens with a poignant lamento that grieves the tragic fate of the Jewish people. Countering what he felt to be a tendency of Jewish music to transform into a ' Wailing Wall”, Castelnuovo-Tedesco follows the lamento with a folk dance whose brisk, ' lively and stubborn” movement has great panache. The third section returns to the initial poignant theme before briefly reiterating the dance motif, allowing the piece to conclude on a hopeful note./ Répertoire / Violon et Piano

Any violinist who hears the name Sitt nowadays will probably just think of the author of studies and exercises that have long been a familiar feature in instrumental lessons. Of course the Prague violinist, music teacher and composer Hans Sitt (1850-1922) made a significant impact on methods of violin teaching, but he also wrote a whole series of other works worth listening to: concertos for violin, viola and cello and chamber music for various combinations of instruments. Sitt studied the violin in Prague and was then appointed first as leader of the orchestra and then as musical director in Breslau (now called Wroc?aw).After posts as director of music in Prague, Chemnitz - where he championed the work of Smetana - and Nice, he was eventually appointed professor of violin, orchestral playing and score reading at the Leipzig Conservatoire from 1884-1921. Besides this he also played viola in the Brodsky Quartet, organised concerts and was conductor of the Bach Society. The composers Franco Alfano - who completed Puccini's unfinished opera Turandot- and Frederick Delius studied with Sitt, as did the conductor Václav Talich. Three Album Leaves op. 13 were also composed during his time in Leipzig, published by Bosworth and Co in 1894. Romanesca, #1 in that collection, is a pretty, slightly melancholy piece of music with romantic appeal that draws out lyrical and expressive playing and is thus eminently suitable for tuition purposes and concert performances. / Violon Et Piano