Classical Piece of the Week: Polonaise Brillante in D Major

Woohoo, it's Friday!!! And you know when it's Friday, there's Classical Piece of the Week! ^-^

This week, I decided to go with Polonaise Brillante No.1 in D Major, Op.4 by Henryk Wieniawski. Wieniawski was a virtuoso violinist, but he was also a composer, writing some of the most important works in the violin repertoire. Now, I'm not sure if this Polonaise is counted as a very "important" work, but I do know that this piece is mind blowingly amazing. This is like the ultimate piece to showcase all of the different skills and techniques that can be found playing the violin. Spiccato, double stops, harmonics, large interval leaps... All of this and more are displayed, while still making the music very enjoyable to listen to.

The piece starts in quite a happy mood, as the pianist plays a very brief introduction, and the violinist starts off with the main melody. A polonaise is actually a polish dance, so the melody fits very well with that term, as it sounds very, well, danceable. After a short passage by the piano, the violinist play in a more heavy mood, followed by the return of the main melody, but with variations. The piece ends with a fabulous virtuosic passage (well, the whole piece is extremely hard), making quite a finish to this piece that will make you struck with admiration.

I hope you guys push that play button, because you will certainly not regret it! (Especially with the fact that it's the great Jascha Heiftez on the violin!)