Heino Eller (1887-1970)
Works for Violin and Piano
Andres Kaljuste (violin)
Sophia Rahman (piano)
rec. 2021, Arvo Pärt Centre, Harjumaa, Estonia
First Hand Records FHR149 [67]
In order to keep alive the programming of Heino Eller’s works for violin and piano, FHR has interspersed works from his various compositional periods – the early works, the Tartu years and the Socialist-Realist. That said, the label leads with Eller’s two biggest works for the medium, the Violin Sonata No.2 of 1946 – shortly before the Zhdanov Decree – and the Fantasy for solo violin of 1931. The remainder of the programme, though thoughtful and characterful, cannot help but seem anti-climactic, given the brevity and the occasional nature of most of the pieces.
Eller is known for his piano compositions much more than those for the violin, not least because of the sheer bulk of his work for the instrument. However, he was a violinist himself whose promising beginnings were derailed by overstraining his hand during his first year studies at the St Petersburg Conservatoire by which point he had already begun composing pieces for the instrument. The Violin Sonata No.2 dates from his Tallinn years and was written four years after the murder by the Germans of his Jewish wife. It’s marked by clear lines, crisp lyricism and by a central slow movement distinguished by a charmingly flighty ‘B’ section with lilting rhythms. Lightness also informs the finale where Eller’s use of folkloric material ensures geniality, and a certain winsome quality, prevails. The Fantasy for solo violin is an earlier work dating from the middle of his Tartu period. It is, apparently, according to Stan Lassmann’s booklet notes, the first solo violin work by an Estonian composer. Free flowing and flexible it has a certain intricacy and a welcome slow central panel. It shows no sign of reflecting Bachian precedent or any Regerian influence.
Much of the rest of the programme is far simpler, either conforming to conventional drifts in compositional diktat or espousing folkloric charm. The Valse mélancolique occupies what the notes wittily call the ‘limbo between modernist and national idioms’ and brings a little acidic element to an otherwise affirmative dance movement. The Allegretto has a charming post-Fauréan lyricism whereas the Dance of 1951 is a two-minute exercise in Soviet simplicities. Such conjunctions are recurrent features of these little pieces – the Adagio of 1956, for example is a simplified, possibly codified version prevailing to acceptable orthodoxy whilst the Lyrical Song is just what it says, a simple, refined piece of the morceau kind.
The early In Moonlight dates from 1918 and offers Andres Kaljuste more opportunities than other pieces for personalisation even of the more supple kind – finger position changes and quick portamenti that vest a lively romanticism to it. The six-minute Fantasy was composed in his early St Petersburg period when he was sitting legal examinations and composing on the side. Significantly, perhaps, the piano piece Evening Song (1921) was arranged for violin in 1952. It sounds rather more serious-minded than the other charmers in this selection whereas the Berceuse of c.1920 is romance pure and simple. The most famous Eller piece here is the last, Pines, composed in 1929 and a slice of Estonian evocation that draws on his violin-playing youth for some stock fiddle figures. You can see ‘Eller’s Pine’ on the cover photograph along with a couple of fine photos of Eller, one playing the violin, the other a portrait photograph.
Violinist Andres Kaljuste was trained in Stockholm but now teaches in Tallinn and makes a fine case for these works, though is careful not to over-vibrate or to draw the ear from the central simplicity of many of them. Sophia Rahman is a well-known chamber musician, sometimes also active in Tallinn and she accompanies with sympathy and assurance. It would be gratifying to hear her in Eller’s solo piano music.
The recital was finely recorded in Harjumaa, Estonia.
Eller had to negotiate a tricky path during Estonia’s turbulent history and this recital faithfully reflects some of those tensions.
Jonathan Woolf
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Contents
Violin Sonata No. 2 in D minor (1946)
Fantasy for solo violin (1931)
Valse mélancolique (1933)
Allegretto in D major (1917)
Dance in G minor (1951)
Moment musical (1912)
Adagio in A minor (1956)
Three Pieces, No.1: Lyrical Song (1949)
In the Moonlight (1918)
Fantasy in G minor (1916)
Canzonetta in G major (1912)
Dance in G major (c. 1953)
Evening Song (1921 arr 1952)
Berceuse (c.1920)
Nordic Tune (1912)
Pines (1929)
