Romance on a Theme from S. Moniuszko’s Opera ‘Halka’

Henri Vieuxtemps was a remarkably productive composer who wrote seven violin concertos, concert etudes, two viola sonatas and a dozen or so chamber works, yet the bulk of his output consists of works for violin and piano. Vieuxtemps’s favorite musical form was the then-fashionable fantasy on themes from well-known operas, of which he left us quite a number. The Romance originally composed for violin and piano is based on a theme from Stanislaw Moniuszko’s national opera Halka (Jontek’s famous aria ‘Szumia jodly na gór szcycie’ [The firs sough on the mountain top.]). The present edition is based on Zdzislaw Jahnke’s 1952 edition. This work gives the player the opportunity to display a beautiful tone and proficiency in both the left and right hand; it is also a marvelous exercise in rubato playing.