VIDEO

Thierry Escaich : Variations Litanique for Violin and Orchestra (2024) Belgian National Orchestra (dir. Anthony Hermus) BOZAR, Brussels Live recorded by RTBF, VRT during 2024 Queen Elisabeth Competition

Belgian National Orchestra (dir. Anthony Hermus) BOZAR Brussels, Henry Le Bœuf Hall, Belgium D. Shostakovich : Violin Concerto No.1 in A Minor, Op.77 I. Nocturne 00:52 II. Scherzo 13:40 III. Passacaglia 20:36 Cadenza 29:56 IV. Burlesque 35:04 Recorded live by RTBF and VRT, during 2024 Queen Elisabeth Competition

K. Szymanowski : Myths : III. Dryades et Pan Op.30 Live recording from the 2024 Queen Elisabeth Competition Flagey, Brussels, Belgium Violin : SongHa Piano : Yukako Morikawa

INTERVIEW CLIP | Robert Dunand Prize 2024 Excerpt of P. Vladigerov : Bulgarian Rhapsody "Vardar" Violin : SongHa Piano : Noriko Sugiyama Many thanks to Villars Institute and Mei Fa Tan's production team! • About the piece • "A single cry is heard" Момите кръшни песни пеят на български език Едничък глас се там разнася, едничък чуй се вик Ний българи сме с чест и слава Ний кичим нашата държава.. (The girls are singing songs in Bulgarian A single voice is heard there, a single cry is heard We are Bulgarians with honor and glory We adorn our country.. Lyrics by L. Bobevsky) Pancho Vladigerov is a 20th century Bulgarian composer, pedagogue and pianist. He was a founding member of bulgarian contemporary music society, and contributed greatly in translating bulgarian folk elements to traditional classical music through his compositions. He received his first lessons under the tutelage of Dobri Hristov in Sofia, and later furthered his musical education in Berlin, at the Staatliche Akademische Hochschule für Musik (UdK) with Leonid Kreutzer, Georg Schumann and Friedrich Gernsheim. Though nowadays relatively unknown outside Bulgaria, he gained fame in Europe during the 1920s, through multiple publications of his work in Universal Edition, as well as recording LPs with the Deutsche Grammophone. His music was greatly admired by other musicians such as Dmitri Shostakovich, Richard Strauss and Aram Khatchaturian. He also worked as a music director at Deutsches Theatre in Berlin, alongside Max Reinhardt. Vladigerov returned to Sofia in 1930s, to pursue his passion for pedagogy at the State Academy of Music, which is now named after him. His other notable works include the Jewish Symphony, 5 piano concerti and folk song arrangements for voice and choir. The Bulgarian Rhapsody "Vardar" was written in 1923, during Vladigerov's residence in Berlin. One late evening of October 1922, Vladigerov found himself with his close friends in a pub in Berlin. A friend drunkenly sings a song, which Vladigerov immediately proceeds to notate down on a piece of manuscript paper. He was then asked if he could compose a "Bulgarian work" based on this melody, and he has happily agreed to do so, by writing the rhapsody. He later finds out that the tune was in fact not an improvised melody of his friend, instead a popular patriotic Macedonian folksong written by his old teacher, "One can hear a cry". "Vardar" is the name of a river situated in the north Macedonia, and the rhapsody was dedicated "To the Bulgarian youth fighting for independence in Vardar".  A Rhapsody defines itself as a "one-movement work that is episodic yet integrated, free-flowing in structure, featuring a range of highly contrasted moods, colour, and tonality". After an introduction of Hristov's song, the piece unfolds itself in a medley of folk tunes and multiple hora (dances) that are connects to the successive tune in an improvisatory manner. In a typical Bulgarian fashion, there are 6 individual episodes laid out in an open structure. Folk features and techniques such as using a variety of ornamentations, block chord pizzicati to imitate the sound of tambura, and glissando/scordatura to convey the effect of gaida (bagpipe) and gadulka. (Written by SongHa)

B. Bartók : Violin Sonata No.2, Sz. 76 I. Molto Moderato 00:00 II. Allegretto 08:34 Live recording from 2024 Queen Elisabeth Competition, Brussels Flagey, Studio 4 Violin : SongHa Piano : Yukako Morikawa •About the Piece• The father of ethnomusicology, a prodigy pianist and composer, the national treasure of Hungarian music scenes. These titles were all later given to Béla Bartok. While on a holiday in Transylvania, the young Bartok had overheard a nanny singing folk tunes to her children, and this occasion ignited his initial passion for folk music, to which he dedicated himself for the rest of his life to research, collect and transcribe. By the 1920s, Bartok had already been acquainted and influenced by composers such as Debussy, Stravinsky and Strauss. He continued his ethnomusicological research in countries such as Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia, but after the war, the tense political situation in Hungary among its neighbour countries prohibited Bartok to continue his folk music research outside Hungary. Having experienced the impact of the first world war on the division of Hungary as well as witnessing severe destruction of his birthplace Banat, his writing style reached its peak of dissonance, aggression and complexity. The two violin sonatas were written in 1921-1922, following the birth of The Wooden Prince and the Miraculous Mandarine. The sonatas were dedicated to violinist Jelly d'Aranyi as a token of his infatuation over her and her violin playing. They gave successful premieres of the works in London, with the composer himself on the piano, and the reviews and reception by the public were glowing. Bartók claimed that the Second Sonata was his favorite of the two, and that the work was set in the key of C major, though aside from the very last chord at the end, the tonality barely goes near the Key of C major at all. Bartok dropped the traditional tonal practice and classical form in this continuous 2 movement work. Unlike a typical folk tune which utilises only four or five notes, Bartók uses of all 12 notes accessible in Western music in his melodies. His use of fiddling technique such as glissando and portamento, as well as rhythmic pizzicato is frequently implemented throughout the piece. In the midst of its harmonic and structural complexity, the influence of Transylvanian folk is evidently present, though this sonata is definitely not a simple transcription of a naïve Hungarian roma (gypsy) song.  (Written by SongHa)

Krönungskutschensaal, Berlin, Germany Piano : Yukako Morikawa Violin : SongHa Sound Engineer : Joshua Youngwoo Park