Therese DeGenova Plays Bach Violin Sonata for Cecilian Music Club

On
December 8th, 2017, Therese DeGenova began the Cecilian
Music Club's Music Hour by outlining the decisions a performer must
make in order to interpret a piece of music – in this case, Bach's
Sonata in g minor for violin. Many elements must be taken into
consideration, including tempo, dynamics, tone and color,
articulation, phrasing, and ornamentation. And then there is
historical accuracy. How would Bach have used these elements to play
this music? And must the performer, playing on a modern violin, make
the same decisions he would have made?

For
example, should phrases, or musical sentences, gradually fade away at
the end, or do they end more abruptly? And what about chords? The
violin cannot play all four notes of a chord at once. The chord could
be broken up into four separate notes or played in groups of twos.
Ms. DeGenova chose to vary the way she ended her phrases, some
tapering off gradually, some ending more abruptly. For the opening
chords of the piece, she chose to group the chord in twos, producing
a very striking effect. She explained that in Bach's time the violin
was very different, so the performer should feel free to make
different musical choices than Bach might have, in order to express
the music on the instrument we have now. She concluded the discussion
with a powerful, moving rendition of the first movement of the
sonata.

Ms.
DeGenova, a recent graduate of The College of New Jersey, is an
active chamber musician and teaches privately at Freehold Music
Center. She can be reached at therese.degenova@gmail.com

The
Cecilian Music Club, founded in 1883, is an organization of teachers,
performers, and music lovers dedicated to the study and performance
of classical music. For more information, or to be become a member,
visit our website at www.cecilianclub.org.