Miniatures for Violin and Piano (arrangement for Viola and Piano) Dora Pejacevic

Along with classic chamber forms, she composed a series of miniatures for violin and piano with programmatic titles. Her early compositions in the genre were the explorations of the young artist, written before 1908, and went no further than the level of attractive drawing-room music. The Canzonetta Op. 8, the Menuett Op. 18 and the Romanza Op. 22 nevertheless demonstrate a sound knowledge of the possibilities of the violin - it should be mentioned that the composer was a skilful violinist - but they speak out in conventional Romantic idiom. However, two short compositions for violin and piano written during the time of the composer's full creative maturity, and very near to the time of the major chamber works, are distinctive works. They are the Elegy Op. 34 (1913) and Meditation Op. 51 (1919). Dedicated to the memory of Johannes Nádherny, the dead brother of the composer's close friend, Sidonia Nádherny von Borutin, the Elegy has the character of a dramatic lament whose expressive force is in dense, chromatic post-Wagnerian harmony. Similarly, the Meditation is carried along by the tenseness of the harmonic progressions and conceived in one great arch which stills only in the final bar of the composition. Here, Dora Pejacevic also created a new relationship between the violin and the piano, distancing herself from the traditional relationship of the instrument providing melody and its accompaniment. (Koraljka Kos)

Inhalt / Content:

• Canzonetta op.8
• Romance op.22
• Menuett op.18
• Elegie op.34
• Meditation op.51