Eugène Ysaÿe - Six Sonatas for Solo Violin, Op. 27 (Leonidas Kavakos) (2000)

In 1924, inspired by Josef Szigeti's performing one of Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, Eugène Ysaÿe wrote his Six Sonatas for Solo Violin. In echo of Elgar's Enigma Variations, the composer dedicated each sonata to a violinist and friend. Elgar's Violin Concerto was a favorite showpiece for Ysaÿe, who was considered the greatest violinist of his age. Among his inventive and often virtuosic original material, Ysaÿe makes reference to Bach's E-major Partita for Solo Violin, such that the music must be considered part of the neoclassical, back-to-Bach movement of the 1920s and 1930s.