New violin sonatas sometimes jazzy, sometimes spherical

When one picks up the violin to sight-read new music, one is extremely pleased when difficult-looking music flows well in the hand and a logical structure becomes visible when looking over the score; this happened to me conspicuously in the works of Rüegg and Wolfgang.

Mathias Rüegg, the Swiss jazz arranger, was the founder and director of the Vienna Art Orchestra. He now teaches at the music academies in Vienna and Zurich and is increasingly composing chamber music. Here he wrote a three-movement jazz sonata lasting a quarter of an hour. Ten increasing variations on a harmonic scheme are followed by a thoughtful blues with an impressionistic gesture, which is rhythmically framed in between. The motorically fast finale with interesting time changes and shifts in accent is concluded by a six times eight-bar "turn around", which looks like a chaconne. In the Listen in one is briefly reminded of Grappelli here and there, but this only points to the roots of this characterful, dynamically differentiated music, which is exciting to play for both instruments.

Mathias Rüegg, three questions - one answer, for violin and piano, D 33205, € 24.95, Doblinger, Vienna 2011

Californian Gernot Wolfgang has developed from computer programmer to jazz guitarist, film composer and creator of new music. He is inspired by nature, which he fights to preserve. His Rolling Hills & Jagged Ridges is expressively captured with spherical sounds, but within a tonal framework. A rhythmic, repetitive echo duet and angular ridges emerging from the fog are presented with virtuosity. A contemplative violin cadenza with wandering pizzicati leads into misty motifs in the piano. The spikes emerge once again in dramatically underscored unison, then the piano mist calms the violin to floating harmonics until the twelve-minute piece ends with a rapid ascent. Audio sample

Gernot Wolfgang, Rolling Hills & Jagged Ridges, for Violin and Piano D 19970, € 19,90, Doblinger, Vienna 2011