PEKING SONATA

for Solo Violin 1990

David Hellewell

The sonata was written for, and dedicated to, the Chinese violinist Min Yang, whose brilliant, virtuoso playing inspired the work. It was intended that the piece would receive its premier in Peking during the composer’s visit there for a festival of his music in September, 1990, under the aegis of the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music and the Beijing Central Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra. However, due to unforeseen circumstances the performance did not take place, but Min Yang did subsequently record the work in England for a music video of the composer’s garden in Bournemouth, in which she is featured. The sonata is closely linked with the work which subsequently followed Hellewell’s highly-successful visit: The Forbidden Symphony (1990-92), a symphonic work for chorus, instrumental soloists (including Min Yang) and orchestra, commissioned by the Vice-Director of the Central Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, Mr Liu Jun.

The influences/inspiration for the sonata were from two sources: on the one hand, works in Min Yang’s (and other violin virtuoso’s) classical repertoire (eg. Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto; Bach Partitas; works by Ysaye; Sarasate; Paganini), and on the other, some of the ‘alternative’ styles of virtuoso violin playing: Jazz (eg. Stephan Grappelly); Folk; Country and Western; Celtic Reels; etc. (some of these already explored in the Spring Rock Sonata of 1981). Elements of the oriental pentatonic scale (which also permeates black and American popular music) are also present. Indeed, the Sonata is a fusion of the cultural and musical elements that preoccupied the composer at that time, namely: the classical/popular music ‘problem’, and its relationship to modern Chinese culture. The warm and enthusiastic reception Hellewell received from the Chinese musicians and audiences confirmed the successful cross-cultural nature of his music. The work lasts 11 minutes.