Poème

Chausson’s Poème for violin and orchestra in three linked movements was composed in 1896. It was commissioned by the Belgian violin virtuoso Eugène Ysaÿe, to whom the work is dedicated and who gave its first public performances, in Nancy on 27 December 1896, then at the Concerts Colonne in Paris on 4 April 1897. Ysaÿe enthusiastically promoted the piece, systematically including it in the programmes of the recitals he gave all over the world, and later composed in his turn a Poème elegiaque inspired by Chausson’s work, published in 1893 and dedicated to Gabriel Fauré. Chausson initially conceived the Poème for violin and orchestra, but also transcribed it for violin and piano. Originally entitled Le Chant de l’amour triomphant, it was inspired by the short story ‘The Song of Love Triumphant’ by the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, who lived in Paris from 1870 until his death in 1883, and through his residence with the Viardot family became friendly with numerous composers. Turgenev’s text, published in 1881, depicts a love triangle and a woman spellbound by a melody played on the violin. Some commentators have seen in the reference to this short story a possible evocation of Fauré’s ill-fated love for Pauline Viardot’s daughter Marianne. A key work in the violin repertory, the Poème combines a mysterious inspiration drawn from Turgenev’s work with brilliant violin writing that makes it a piece at once poetic and eloquent, in which the deployment of the performer’s technical capacities never seems to be a vain demonstration of virtuosity.