Stravinsky: Suite Italienne, for Violin and Piano

1. how you come across to it:
My violinist gave me the music one evening, and we sight-read the entire suite.

2. why this piece?
She wanted to play this in her recital.

3. (and...)
After sight-reading it, I ended up liking it very much. It is beautiful in an austere way, much like the kind one finds in, say, a beautiful mathematical proof or an elegant physical law. The music doesn't have even a trace of sentimentality or passion. In this neo-classical experiment, the Swiss-clock maker has gone so much further than Hindemith. I can only wonder how the original Pergolesi pieces (on which this Suite is based) sound like.