Eugène Ysaÿe: Sonata No. 5 for Violin, Op. 27

The “Danse rustique” from Ysaÿe’s Fifth Sonata is a marriage between the seemingly disparate worlds of Ysaÿe’s refined classical background and a rustic folk dance tune. Written on the page with the precision and thoughtfulness of the great classical composers, in performance it sounds like the spontaneous improvisations of a folk musician.

As I walked from my cabin to the Olivier Music Barn for the recording session, the sights, smells, and sounds of the expansive landscape at Tippet Rise brought the “rustique” character of this music to life for me in a spectacular way. A breeze carried the beautiful scent of the cottonwoods my way and made the spring wildflowers dance amongst the grass as birdsong cut through the sound of shimmering leaves. A “rustic dance” of the Tippet Rise landscape. I find it very special to think that a Belgian composer’s music written a century ago and a continent away could feel so natural and fitting thousands of miles away in Montana.

This was an unforgettable project that I’ll always cherish.

—William Hagen