DEUX CARACTÈRES POUR VIOLON ET PIANO
(1955/1961)

Alice Heksch and Nap de Klijn with Ifukube's original 1955 score

Deux Caractères pour Violon et Piano was originally written in 1955 for the Amsterdam Duo, a musical team consisting of the celebrated Dutch violinist Nap de Klijn (1909 - 1979) and his wife, the Austrian-born pianist Alice Heksch (1912 - 1957). This ensemble first performed Deux Caractères in October 1956.

In the 1970s, Nap de Klijn and Rudolf Jansen recorded the 1955 version of Deux Caractères for a broadcast on Radio Netherlands. This is the only known recording of the 1955 version and it has since fallen into obscurity.

In 1961, Ifukube made a revision of Deux Caractères, but this version was never performed or recorded until 2008. The revised version of this work received its world premiere recording on a CD released by Raison Records with former Ifukube pupil Reiko Yamada on piano and her husband Shigetoshi Yamada on violin.

Although the title of Deux Caractères suggests that the music is divided into two parts, there are actually three: “Première caractère” (Allegro ballabile),“Intermède” (Rapsodico) and “Deuxième caractère” (Vivace ritmico).

Deux Caractères is notable for its peculiar use of "special effects" for the violin; for example, in the first movement (“Première caractère”), there are peculiar glissandos on the violin and in the third movement (“Deuxième caractère”), there is a section where the violinist is required to lay the wooden part of the bow across the strings and perform a pizzicato (plucking of the strings) with the left hand. This, according to Ifukube, is meant to imitate the sound of a snare drum. Additionally, the work’s harmonic language is unusually experimental for the conservative Ifukube, giving the work a singular, avant-garde flavor.

Cover (left) and title page (right) of the original 1955 score

Ifukube's hand-written instructions on the "snared drum" effect in the 1955 score

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