Violin Sonatas

Both Zygmunt Noskowski and Wladyslaw Zelenski were leading exponents of Polish nationalism in the period from the last quarter of the 19th century. Noskowski is best remembered as a symphonist but his large-scale Violin Sonata in A minor is an imposing work that suggests the influence both of Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata and of Brahms. Zelenski was as eminent a teacher as he was a composer, seeking to broaden Poland’s provincial outlook through works such his opera Janek (Naxos 8.660521-22). His Violin Sonata in F major typifies the essentially conservative idiom that Zelenski pursued in his maturity.