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Christ Church Cathedral
August 15, 2015
The history of studies for the keyboard is a long an honorable one - stretching back as far as J.S. Bach, although arguably the earliest studies (or, to use the composers' own term, études) to be regularly performed in public were those of Chopin and Liszt.
When it comes to the violin, however, a search for the equivalents turns up such household names as Hans Sitt and Franz Wohlfahrt.
Bela Bartók's 44 Duos for Two Violins were composed in 1931 in response to a commission from Erich Döflein, who asked the composer to arrange some of his piano collection For Children. Instead Bartók decided to compose original duos, which he worked on in consultation with Döflein: the first duo he sent for consideration ultimately became the last duo; Döflein considered it more difficult than what he had in mind and so asked for something easier. Again, what Bartók provided was considered too difficult and Döflein asked for something simpler. This to'ing-and-fro'ing became a weekly event which continued until the collection was complete a year later.
Ultimately the experience would inspire Bartók to continue to work on his pedagogical piano pieces, resulting in the 153 pieces of the six-volume Mikrokosmos.
Although the four volumes in which the forty-four duos were collected were not intended for public performance, their musical interest is such that they deserve to be heard, although not necessarily in the published easy-to-difficult sequence.
And not necessarily played by two violinists.
Kenji Fusé and Mieka Michaux gave a superb performance of the entire set - all told it lasts around an hour. They began with that first duo as written (although published as number forty-four) "Erdéli" Tánc (Transylvanian dance) and immediately established the rhythmic vitality which was to be a feature of their performance.
It would be fairly pointless - and an immensely tedious procedure, both for the writer and the reader - to list and comment on every single piece. Suffice it to say that Fusé's and Michaux's reading of the complete set gripped the attention from beginning to end. Whether it was the livelier, bouncy pieces or the more lyrical, often highly atmospheric ones, each was a perfect - to use the composer's own term - microcosm.
Not only was this a truly marvellous way to spend an hour on a summer Saturday afternoon, it was also very well attended, which must have been gratifying to both performers and organisers, particularly as Bartók, even seven decades after his death, is still a notoriously "hard sell".
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