I've been hesitating posting this here, simply because only the piano is from a Garritan library. The entire score is played directly from Finale 2010. No further tweaking, rerecording or sound editing.
Anyway, it's four movements: Moderato, Scherzetto, Aria, and Rondo.
It's VERY tonal and "traditional". I did it on purpose. Also some of the "influences" are a bit more obvious and spotlighted.
For example, being a "sonatina" rather than a full-fledged sonata, I drew my inspiration from Ravel's wonderful sonatina for piano. The first movement is where this inspiration is most evident.
1 - Moderato
It's two themes, but very closely related. The opening section is repeated twice, then the brief development begins.
The Scherzetto is an hommage to Paul Hindemith, both a great composer and a phenomenal violist (I mean, if you're going to be inspired to write a viola piece, it may as well be by one of the greats).
A very simple form, traditional scherzo, just... shorter. And mildly more pungent harmony.
2 - Scherzetto
The third movement is the adagio. It's more "me" than the rest of the sonatina, just "me" in a more tonal mood. It's a very simple ternary form: A - B - A, the middle section is sort of a spacey floating section to contrast with the slightly more "dramatic" character of the "A" section.
The piano introduces with dramatic chords, and the viola comes in with a very simple song-like theme. This theme is gently passed back and forth between viola and piano throughout the movement.
3 - Aria
And the finale is a traditional Rondo. Unlike most of my previous work, there is no cyclical treatment of the material. In other words, no reprises of material from earlier in the entire sonatina. Except at the extreme final cadence, there is a decending passage of chords in the piano which is the exact same harmony as the very opening of the first movement.
4 - Rondo
I hope you enjoy it.
From a purely personal point of view, this sonatina was a difficult work to compose. It was a very conscious decision on my part to eschew any obvious modernisms and to fully embrace a tonal treatment of the harmony. The difficulty was "remaining true" to my own musical aesthetic while doing so. I was basically trying to "go back" and see just HOW tonal I could do something without feeling that I had somehow abandoned the 21st century.
Maybe to some of your ears, this may not see "all that tonal". I'm curious to hear peoples' reactions.
Hopefully, I will have a violist perform the entire sonatina later this spring.
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