ABOUT PATRICK SAVAGE AND YURI ZHISLIN
Patrick Savage
Australian-born and based in London, Patrick Savage has led a multifaceted musical career across genres. One of Britain’s foremost violinists and a former principal member of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, he has performed on the great stages of the world as guest concertmaster, soloist and chamber musician.
Patrick has led touring bands for icons Burt Bacharach and Quincy Jones, performed electroacoustic ambient sets on electric violin alongside trail-blazing French composer and DJ, Holeg Spies, and led the band for the London production of the global smash-hit musical, HAMILTON.
As a studio musician, Patrick has recorded for film scores with combined box office takings of over sixteen billion US dollars, including many of the biggest blockbusters of recent decades, including THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING, JURRASIC WORLD: REBIRTH as well as television series such as CALL THE MIDWIFE and DOWTON ABBEY. He has also contributed as a musician to albums by legendary recording artists including Paul McCartney, Radiohead, Frank Ocean and Sting.
Patrick's April 2024 recital album release, in partnership with pianist, Martin Cousin, The Golden Age of Hollywood: Concert works for Violin and Piano, featured concert works by icons of American film, including world premiere recordings of works by Bernard Herrmann, Jerome Meross and Heinz Roemheld and was greeted with universal critical acclaim. His May 2024 Australian recital tour, featuring music from the album, was received with exceptional warmth and enthusiasm by audiences, and included the world premiere performance of Pastoral (Twilight), by Herrmann.
Yuri Zhislin
Described by The Strad as a 'virtuoso with a truly Romantic temperament', Yuri Zhislin enjoys an active and illustrious career as soloist and chamber musician. In 1991, Yuri entered the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied with his father, Grigori Zhislin, and later Dr Andrievsky, winning the title of the BBC Radio 2 Young Musician of the Year in 1993.
The orchestras that Yuri performed with include the Oxford Philharmonic, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the London Mozart Players, the Lithuanian State Symphony and the Santiago de Chile Symphony, to name a few. Zhislin made his recital debut at the New York Carnegie Weill Hall in 2014, and has since appeared at the major concert venues throughout Europe, the USA, South America, Australia and Japan.
His discography includes a recital CD released in 2005 on the SOMM label, a violin/viola Duos CD for the Naxos label in 2009, and a string trio CD for the Nymbus Alliance label with Dmitry Sitkovetsky on violin and Luigi Piovano on cello. A keen chamber musician, Yuri has worked with such artists as Maria-Joao Pires, Maxim Vengerov, Barry Douglas and Natalie Clein among many others.
Formed in 2004 by Yuri, the Russian Virtuosi of Europe is an ensemble comprising outstanding string players based in Europe. They have recently completed tours to both South America and Russia and released a debut CD on Orchid Classics, which received great reviews and was chosen CD of the month in April 2016 by the BBC Music Magazine.
Yuri is a professor of violin and viola at the Royal College of Music in London and is in high demand as a visiting professor at the European Summer Academies.
PROGRAM NOTES
W. A. Mozart - String Duo No. 1 for Violin and Viola in G Major, KV 423 (1783)
1. Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Rondeau: Allegro
Mozart wrote this duo during a brief visit to his home city of Salzburg in 1783, stepping in for his friend Michael Haydn, who was too ill to finish a set of six duos commissioned by Archbishop Colloredo. Mozart quietly supplied two works, including this one, and the archbishop reportedly did not spot the change of composer. In the G major Duo, Mozart treats violin and viola as equal partners, giving each virtuosic passagework, lyrical lines, and double stops. The result is an engaging conversation between the instruments. Drawing on the contrapuntal style of his own string quartets— especially K. 387 — Mozart brings a sense of balance, clarity, and invention that’s both playful and refined.
Bohuslav Martinů – Three Madrigals for Violin and Viola (1947)
1. Poco Allegro
2. Poco Andante
3. Allegro
Martinů wrote Three Madrigals while recovering from a serious fall during his years in exile in the U.S. Unable to focus on large orchestral works, he turned to chamber music, composing this duo for violinist Joseph Fuchs and his sister Lillian. Inspired by their performances of Mozart’s duos, Martinů created a piece that blends baroque counterpoint with the rhythmic character of English madrigals and the melodic spirit of Czech folk music. Each of the three movements has its own colour and energy, with lively imitation, layered textures, and expressive interplay throughout. It’s a work born of constraint, but full of imagination in his inimitable personal voice.
Handel / Johan Halvorsen – Sarabande con Variazioni (1897) & Passacaglia (1894)
Johan Halvorsen, a Norwegian composer known for his romantic style and flair for orchestration, drew upon excerpts from George Frideric Handel’s keyboard works to compose these two celebrated showpieces for violin and viola. The Sarabande, based on a grand, stately theme, sees Handel’s theme from his D minor Suite transformed by Halvorsen into highly contrasted variations, from richly lyrical to imaginatively virtuosic. His Passacaglia, based on the final movement of Handel’s Suite No. 7 in G minor, starts in fiery fashion, building on a repeating bass line. The works have much in common structurally and stylistically, both building a set of variations that grows in complexity and drama, culminating in a dramatic finale. Together, these works balance baroque structure and romantic flair, offering both expressive depth and technical fireworks.
INTERVAL
Reinhold Glière – Twelve Duets for Two Violins, Op. 49 (selection) (1909)
III Andante
V Vivace
VII Allegretto
IX Andante
X Con Moto
While the Russian composer, Glière, is best known for his large-scale works—symphonies, ballets, and operas—he also wrote chamber music with great charm and craftsmanship. His Twelve Duets for two violins, composed in 1909, reflect his interest in folk-inspired melody and his gift for lyrical writing. Though modest in scope, the duets are carefully constructed, with textures that often suggest more than two instruments. Glière’s style here is warm and melodic, with subtle harmonic shifts and clear phrasing. These pieces were originally intended for teaching, but their musical quality has made them favourites in performance as well—accessible, expressive, and full of character.
Sergei Prokofiev – Sonata for Two Violins in C Major, Op. 56 - 1932
I. Andante cantabile
II. Allegro
III. Commodo (quasi allegretto)
IV. Allegro con brio
Prokofiev’s Sonata for Two Violins was written in 1932, sparked by his dissatisfaction with a violin duet he’d heard and his desire to demonstrate the expression and variety possible in violin duo. Composed during a stay in southern France, the sonata follows the structure of a Baroque sonata da chiesa—alternating slow and fast movements—with clear lines and tight counterpoint. The third movement includes thematic ideas that Prokofiev would later revisit in Romeo and Juliet. The sonata was intended to be premiered in Paris to the Triton Society, though they were scooped by an earlier performance in Moscow. The Paris debut featured Samuel Dushkin and Robert Soetens, leading European virtuosi of their day.
Béla Bartók – 44 Duos for Two Violins, Sz 98, BB 104 (selection)
Párnás Tánc (Pillow Dance)
Sántantánc (Lame Dance)
Dal (Song)
Magyar Nóta (Hungarian Song)
Játék (Game)
Máramarosi Tánc (Dance from Maramaros)
Kalamajkó (Maypole Dance)
Ujévköszönto (Happy New Year)
Rutén Kolomejka (Ukrainian Dance)
Bartók wrote his 44 Duos in 1931 at the request of educator Erich Doflein, who was seeking something more inspiring than standard etudes for violin students. Instead of arrangements, Bartók composed original miniatures based on folk melodies from across Eastern Europe: Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Ruthenia, and more. Though organized by technical difficulty, the pieces go far beyond the classroom. They explore asymmetrical rhythms, speech-like phrasing, and the subtle inflections of folk style. Like Bartok’s Mikrokosmos, they aim to close the gap between traditional music and modern composition. Each short piece feels complete in itself—compact, vivid, and unmistakably Bartók.