The Pièces de Clavecin for solo cembalo are among the most popular works by great French baroque master and Bach contemporary Jean-Philippe Rameau. Eugène Ysaÿe, leading violinist of his time, outstanding representative of the Belgian school and prominent conductor and composer, arranged four of these pieces for violin and piano.

Margarita Oganesjan has taken Ysaÿe’s piano arrangement and created a progressive, personal arrangement for the Hartmann/Oganesjan duo.

Allemande, Rappel des Oiseaux and the final piece, Tambourin, were taken from the first suite of the Deuxième Livre, which appeared in print in 1724.

Ysaÿe took the third movement, the Menuet, from the Nouvelles Suites, the third book of the Pièces de Clavecin.

In Ysaÿe’s day it was very fashionable to arrange popular works from various eras, in particular the baroque and classical periods, for violin recitals and other chamber music ensembles. Fritz Kreisler, Johan Halvorsen and Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst are other examples of the popular arrangements of the time.

When Christoph Schlüren, a wonderful musician, suggested Anders Eliasson’s work „In Medias“, for solo violin, my first thought was: I wonder what this piece of music sounds like bearing the title „In Medias“. When looking closer and immersing myself into the very special sounds of this masterpiece, I came under its spell. Anders Eliasson’s tonal expression is incomparable! Eliasson Managed to find a completely new access to tonality and delved into it again and again. Traditionally, tonality has always been concentrated on a more or less clearly defined centre also said to be the fundamental tone or tonic note of a particular key. With Eliasson’s music there are always several centres active at the same time. Imagine a space shuttle flies between several force fields (suns, planets, other attractors). How much energy is activated and released there! The same applies to Eliasson’s „In Medias“. The music is constantly tense and vibrating, everything is moving and never stops! In an obituary for Eliasson, Christoph Schlüren proved the point when he wrote::

“The power, the momentum which is the basis of musical development, never stops. From the beginning, opposing forces work against one another and even the final notes hover in the air without landing. This music is airbourne and never touches the ground!“

For a long time I have been looking for compositions that I can combine with J.S.Bach’s Partitas and Sonatas without having to doubt their compatibility. “In Medias” by Anders Eliasson stands for me on a pedestal with the transcendent energy of Bach’s solo works.