Vladimir Sommer: Violin Concerto in G minor (1950)
Vladimir Sommer
Born on 28 Feb. 1921 in Dolní Jiřetín near Most, Czech Republic;
died on 8 Sept. 1997 in Prague
First performance:
13 May 1950 by Milan Škampa and the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra Prague under Karel Ancerl
Recordings (Youtube):
Ladislav Jásek (under Václav Jiráček)
Václav Snitli (under Václav Neumann)
I discovered this violin concerto by chance. It arrived in my CD drawer at just the right moment and immediately swept me away with its hammering and resolute presence. It immediately put me
in a good mood and gave me half an hour of pure pleasure, caressing me with its melodiousness and musical humour. It seemed very youthful and neoclassically modern, reminding me somewhat of
Prokofiev. No wonder, as I found out, it was the graduation work of a 29-year-old Czech composer from 1950 and was probably characterised by a certain spirit of optimism after the years of the
Second World War. I neither knew the name of the composer, Vladimir Sommer, nor had I ever met him before. And what I did find out was little. MGG online provided me with biographical
information: "Sommer first studied at the Teacher Training Institute in Bíliň, Louny and Prague, later at the Prague Cons. He studied violin with B. Voldan and composition with K. Janeček
(1941-1946) and continued his composition studies at the Academy of Performing Arts (AMU) with P. Bořkovec (1946-1950; 1951/52 aspirant course without a degree). He worked in the music department
of the Czechoslovak Radio's foreign channel (1953) and was secretary of the Association of Czechoslovak Composers between 1953 and 1956 (together with Václav Dobiáš, he was one of the
association's reformers who achieved its departure from the Ždanov line). From 1955 to 1960 he worked as a specialist assistant and finally as a lecturer in the Department of Composition at the
AMU, from 1960 as a lecturer and from 1968 as a professor in the Department of Music at Charles University (until 1986). Sommer wrote several articles for the Zss. Hudební rozhledy and Kultura
and was co-translator of A. Honegger's Je suis compositeur and D. Šostakovič's Memoirs."
The Czech music information centre musicbase.cz characterises Vladimir Sommer's music as follows: "The composition is characterised by Sommer's melodic talent, his ability to provide basic
musical structures with changeable meanings, his sense of pure instrumentation and, above all, soaring emotionality. The composition met with a great response not only at home, but also at
performances abroad. Sommer's developed visual thinking and dramatic flair also helped him to be successful as an author of film music. A strong autocritical attitude is a characteristic feature
of Sommer's personality, which is why he only presented a relatively small number of compositions to the public." In addition to the violin concerto, his oeuvre includes a cello concerto, a vocal
symphony (conducted by Václav Neumann!), string quartets and a Sinfonia da Requiem for soloists, choir and orchestra.
Listen here!
Listening companion:
I. Allegro Risoluto
A hammering rhythm supports the energetic risoluto entry of the solo violin, whose first theme is immediately present and brings with it a great deal of energy. The violin repeats the rousing
risoluto motif once again. The orchestra also adopts the motif, but the violin calms the initial momentum, ascends to the highest registers, the rhythm recedes and the second theme is a melody
played by the solo violin with wonderful sweetness (like a melody in Prokofiev!) and sings itself out in violinistic melodiousness.
The resoluto theme can be heard again from the depths; the initial rhythms also characterise the development and vary back and forth in a playful manner. The solo violin returns to the foreground
with increasing vigour and determination until a striking horn signal puts a stop to it and the sweet theme once again ingratiates itself. The music oscillates between melodic joy and gentle
irony and humour. A youthful work, cheeky, but also composed with relish for effect.
The orchestra effectively prepares the solo cadenza, which is presented with virtuosity by the violin. The risoluto motif quietly creeps into the orchestra at the end of the cadenza, reminding
the violin of its motif. But the violin gently abandons itself to a melodious melodiousness, as if it had already landed in the second slow movement. Only at the end does the violin summon up all
its energy once again and concludes the movement in youthful exuberance, as was to be expected.
II. Andante cantabile
The harp accompaniment introduces a lilting violin melody, a melody that spreads its wings and is sharply, but unmixedly, distinct from kitsch. It lingers for a moment in beauty and then returns, easily recognisable from the motivic beginning of the melody. In the middle section of the movement, the orchestral accompaniment accelerates, drives the violin forward and builds to an orchestral climax, first in the violins, then in the brass. After this outburst of the orchestra dies down, the violin trills its way back to its melody with harp accompaniment. And once again we follow this flowing and seductive melody of the violin playing. The delicate sound of the violin and the melody are then lost in the highest heights.
III. Allegro
The deep rumbling of the orchestra introduces the accentuated, dance-like and fast-paced first theme of the violin with verve. The violin drives the stressful music forward at a lively tempo
until a few inhaling bow strokes leave the bassoon to begin the following slowly breathing melody. But as soon as the violin has caught its breath, it drives the music forward at a breathless
pace. But only until it comes up with a melody that brings some calm, because the violin lingers on this melody even when the orchestra tries to drive the music forward again with soft rhythms.
But now the violin stays with the melody, because music is melody, you think you hear it say.
Only a wild clarinet solo succeeds in dispelling the melodiousness and driving the music forward again. Even if the violin returns to its melody and its broad calm, it is part of a fast-paced
final movement that it ends with vigour and wild bravura. However, one feels as if one has heard a flash of musical humour in the final chords.