TARTINI Sonata in G minor ("Devil's Trill")
Ania Filochowska, violin
Michael Davidman, piano

Performed on Monday, December 11, 2017
Field Concert Hall, Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia


The G minor violin sonata by Italian composer Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770) is a piece whose inspiration has become legendary. The composer described a dream in which he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his demonic services. One of these was apparently music, as (in the dream) Tartini handed the devil his violin and stood in awe of the creature’s playing. “I felt enraptured, transported, enchanted: my breath failed me, and I awoke. I immediately grasped my violin in order to retain, in part at least, the impression of my dream. In vain!”
In this sonata, Tartini documented his attempt to capture the diabolical virtuosity he heard in his dream, particularly in the fourth and final movement (Allegro assai).Stylistic evidence leads musicologists to believe the “Devil’s Trill” sonata was likely composed in the 1740s, much later than the date recorded in the composer’s anecdote. But whatever its historical origins, Tartini’s sonata is perhaps the earliest example of a musical “deal with the devil,” a trope that echoes through music history from Thomas Mann’s novel Doctor Faustus (1947) to the Charlie Daniels Band’s “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” (1979) and Tenacious D’s “Tribute” (2001).