(2018)
Duration ca. 15'
vla, pno
Commissioned by and written for Liuh-Wen Ting
Excerpts
Sonata (2018) for viola and piano
I. Passionate, elegant
II. Very quick
III. Interlude: Freely
IV. Finale
Commissioned by and written for Liuh-Wen Ting
Program Note
After having performed my piano quartet and string quartet in Random Access Music around 2015, Liuh-Wen Ting asked me to write a viola piece for her, utilizing the lyrical viola writing found in those works. I wanted to make this piece special and took my time with it as there was no set performance date. I wrote the work from the fall of 2017 to the end of 2018, while writing other works and having moved back to NYC during that time.
I constantly assess and reflect on my music and this piece is the realization of my reflections. The work contains lyrical passages with extended jazz-inspired harmonies in the first movement. The second movement utilizes mixed driving pulses and tunes, fragmented or fully realized. The interlude is what I like to describe as abstract nostalgia, chords that float in a soundscape and that can evoke sentiments within the listener. And the final movement is - as it seems to me - an organic development out of what occurred before: a heartfelt song for viola.
Performances
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Downtown Music at Grace Presents
Barbara Podgurski, piano
Grace Church
White Plains, New York