FROM IMITATION TO INNOVATION: A STUDY OF THE COMPLETE VIOLIN SONATAS BY GEORGE ENESCU, GABRIEL FAURÉ AND JOHANNES BRAHMS

Abstract

Each of George Enescu’s three violin sonatas is in such a radically different style from the others that it is almost as though they had been written by three different composers. The first sonata is in a decidedly Germanic style, somewhat like Brahms. The second is even more decidedly in the style of Gabriel Fauré, with whom Enescu studied while at the Paris Conservatoire. In the third, he abandons tradition to a remarkable extent, going off on his own exploration of the Romanian folkloric style. This dissertation is a study of Enescu’s violin sonatas in relation to those of the two older masters that he so clearly imitated. By studying and performing the works of Enescu alongside those of Brahms and Fauré, one sees the subtle relationship between following tradition and looking to the future. This relationship is explored both within each composer’s body of work, and by comparing the composers to one another. One can find that extraordinary innovation comes not from disconnection to the past but, rather, from firm rootedness in the past. This is a performance dissertation consisting of three recital programs and a written document. The three recitals were performed on the campus of the University of Maryland in the Gildenhorn Recital Hall and the Ulrich Recital Hall. Recordings of all three recitals can be found in the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).