The Variational Principle in Dinu Lipatti’s Sonatina for Violin and Piano

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the variational principle, as it is applied in Dinu Lipatti’s Sonatina for Violin and Piano, from a theoretical-analytical perspective, but also from the standpoint of the interpretative implications. The variational processes, in close connection with the specificity of the neoclassical language of the work, determine an atypical classification of the form of variations in the gender structure, which implies a resizing of the interpretative means by which the musical dramaturgy of the piece can be achieved. The comparison with the classic model of variations as a component of the sonata genre dedicated to the violin-piano duo, as it appears in the works of composers such as Mozart or Beethoven, as a method of analytical research, highlights the language aspects that condition the performer's vision in the case of Lipatti’s Sonatina, such as character, tempo, metrics, the type of writing, elements of virtuosity or timbre, whose valences are distinct from those determined by a music discourse from the classical era. Understanding the correlation between the succession of movements and the composition of the variational plan constitutes a priority in approaching this work and shaping the desired artistic message; this is why the study attempts to highlight the necessary connection between the structural elements of the composition and those implicitly generated by them, namely the technical and expressive elements required by the interpretative act.