Barber & Meyer: Violin Concertos - Hilary Hahn (2000)

Ideated from: Fall music, things that make me think of the autumn for one reason or another

Hahn has long been one of my favorite violinists. She seems to play very intuitively and emotionally, but certainly doesn’t sacfrifice any technical detail.

One of the fascinating things about orchestral music is how different artists can play the same notes on the page, but make the expression so different. One of my favorite examples is pointing out the difference between Itzhak Perlman’s lively take on a Bach Partita and how Hahn makes the same score sound slow, meditative, and almost mournful.

The material here is top-notch. Samuel Barber was a mid-20th-century American composer whose sound is a little more of a throwback to the romantic era of the 1800s. I love this concerto, and Hahn executes it really well.

Edgar Meyer is a bassist who has one foot in the classical world, but one in the bluegrass and Americana space. This is a pretty modernist piece he’s written for Hahn (this is the premier recording). While she doesn’t get as much melodic material as Barber gives her, she does get to showcase her precision.

Tracks I Liked

If you listen to nothing else, treat yourself to the Andante, the second part of the Barber concerto. I swear it’s so beautiful it’ll make you weep.