Tartini: Violin Sonata in G Minor The Devils Trill Rachell Ellen Wong, baroque violin.

Tartini’s masterpiece for solo violin, performed by Rachell Ellen Wong as part of the Voices of Music online season, November 24, 2020. Tartini gave his own account of his sonata: “One night, in the year 1713, I dreamed I had made a pact with the devil for my soul. Everything went as I wished: my new servant anticipated my every desire. Among other things, I gave him my violin to see if he could play. How great was my astonishment on hearing a sonata so wonderful and so beautiful, played with such great art and intelligence, as I had never even conceived in my boldest flights of fantasy. I felt enraptured, transported, enchanted: my breath failed me, and I awoke. I immediately grasped my violin in order to retain, in part at least, the impression of my dream. In vain! The music which I at this time composed is indeed the best that I ever wrote, and I still call it the “Devil’s Trill“, but the difference between it and that which so moved me is so great that I would have destro