Zigeunerweisen (“Gypsy Airs”), Op. 20

Composer: SARASATE, Pablo de
  • Zigeunerweisen is among the composer’s best-known works and an integral piece of virtuosic repertoire for violin. Written in 1878, the piece for violin and orchestra premiered that same year in Leipzig.1
  • Zigeunerweisen is written as a single movement work; however, the music can be organized into four distinct sections:
    1. Moderato
    2. Lento
    3. Un poco più lento
    4. Allegro molto vivace2
  • While the piece is called “Gypsy Airs,” the source of inspiration was more accurately drawn from Hungarian folk tunes rather than the music of the Roma. In 1877, the composer took a trip to Budapest and met with Franz Liszt (who regularly used regional popular music in his works). The experience undoubtedly inspired the creation of this piece.3

Sources

  1. Boris Schwarz and Robin Stowell, “Sarasate (y Navascuéz), Pablo (Martín Melitón) de,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed November 9, 2022,  https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000024582.
  2. Pablo de Sarasate, Zigeunerweisen (Leipzig: Bartholf Senff, 1878).
  3. Peter Jost, “Filched Melodies – Sarasate’s ‘Zigeunerweisen’ (Gypsy Airs) under suspicion of plagiarism,” G. Henle Verlag (2013), accessed November 9, 2022, https://www.henle.de/blog/en/2013/08/19/filched-melodies-%E2%80%93-sarasate%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98zigeunerweisen%E2%80%99-gypsy-aires-under-suspicion-of-plagiarism/.

Cut IDs

41722 43556 43767 13048 15705