Godard's sonatas for solo violin--"baroque" music from the 19th century

[matesic]

Surely with dates of 1767-1821 Andreas Romberg has to be considered "classical" rather than "romantic", and his solo sonatas appear to date from about 1810 so I can't imagine he'd have been very interested in harking back to the baroque already. Amazing that Revich and Sony are taking such an interest in this repertoire - concertos too! I'll certainly be giving him a listen.

[matesic]

Two complete movements of the G minor sonata can be heard on yuryrevich.com but so far I can't find anywhere to buy the CD. Rather fascinatingly, Romberg seems to have one foot in the baroque and one already in the romantic camp. The opening movement (Grave - Andante) makes me think of Biber more than Bach, while the following "Polonoise (Polonaise)" definitely feels more romantic than classical and probably isn't intended as a joke! Revich is some fiddler - if Sony are willing to record him in this deeply obscure repertoire it beats me why they aren't promoting him in the warhorses too.

[Double-A]

I don't think there is a CD.  Download only.  There is a picture made to look like a CD cover.  But it is only 26 min of music.  The link for the download (iTunes only as far as I can find but I am only moderately savvy on the web) is right below the two movements on the same page.

I started on a typeset; the music on IMSLP looks awful even for the early 19th century, so I thought if somebody--not me--wanted to play they might appreciate a better print.  I do think though that the music on the whole is only modestly interesting.  The third is probably the most interesting of the three--I haven't arrived at it yet so I only took an glance for an overview.  Listening to it I think Biber is indeed present in that first movement (Romberg, being a violinist, might even have known it);  the "Polonoise" would sound more dancy if taken a bit slower such that the characteristic rhythm (Tam Tada Ta Ta Ta Ta) is more clearly audible.  The first is more like Boccherini than any other composer I can think of.  The second has a second (and last) movement that overlays features of a rondo over a variation form (on an "air by Stegmann", a rather uninteresting theme) which is interesting.  But all of it seems to outlast the staging power of its material.