Sonata No. 1

Composing her First Sonata in 1929, the barely 20-year-old Grażyna Bacewicz, a student of Kazimierz Sikorski’s composition class, Józef Jarzębski’s violin class and Józef Turczyński’s piano class at the Warsaw Conservatory was taking her first steps in the world of chamber music. At that time, Bacewicz was hugely influenced by the music of Karol Szymanowski (then director of the Conservatory), while at the same time seeking her own individual style. Studying both violin and piano at the same time gave her the perfect opportunity to perform her own works in concerts and thereby verify her compositional ideas. One of the first works which Grażyna Bacewicz completed as a student of the Conservatory is the First Sonata for violin and piano. Together with the Second String Quartet and the Symphonietta, it formed part of the programme of her composition exam. Yet it has never been included in the official catalogue of her works.

My proposed fingering and bowing are based mostly on ideas and hints contained in the numerous sketches for this work. Occasionally they include contradictory notes made by the composer, which allows the performer huge freedom in interpreting this work.