244. New York to Paris, Nonstop

Work for harp by Salzedo performed by Catrin Finch, harp on April 14, 2001 and work for violin and piano by Ravel performed by Benjamin Beilman, violin and Alessio Bax, piano on May 17, 2015.

• Salzedo: Ballade
• Ravel: Sonata for Violin and Piano (1923)

Harpist and educator Carlos Salzedo was born in France and trained at the Paris Conservatoire in piano at the age of nine, before taking up the harp and returning to the Conservatoire to earn a degree in that instrument as well. In 1909, knowing no English whatsoever, Salzedo emigrated to New York, where he’d been invited by Toscanini to join the Metropolitan Opera orchestra. A few years later, he wrote this piece—a virtuosic showcase for the harp, firmly rooted in the harmonic vocabulary widely employed in France at the time. Salzedo would go on to found the harp department at the Curtis Institute and teach at Juilliard, splitting his time between Europe and the States, and his influences lives on, through his pupils and his compositions. We’ll hear the piece played by harpist Catrin Finch.

Next up, another Frenchman enamored of America: Ravel. His Sonata for Violin and Piano, written between 1923 and 1927, displays an interest in the uniquely American art form, jazz, which was all the rage in Paris at the time. Ravel wrote the piece before traveling to the States himself, in 1928, but the middle movement in particular (called “Blues”) was clearly inspired by the American music he’d heard performed in Europe.

We’ll hear the sonata played by violinist Benjamin Beilman and pianist Alessio Bax, from Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. First, the Salzedo, performed by Catrin Finch.