Sonata for Violin and Piano in E minor, op. 10 (2015)
I. Andante lamentoso–Allegro
II. Andante
III. Allegretto
This piece was commissioned by fellow Frost School of Music student David Parks. When I asked what sort of piece he wanted me to write, David mentioned two things: that he loved the opening of Mozart’s dissonance quartet (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08uY0-ehL-w) (No. 19 in C Major, K. 465), and that surprisingly for a string player, he had a special liking for the key of D-flat major. While D-flat major is a particularly difficult key for strings, it has a special, almost muted sound, which I employed in the Andante movement.
Mozart’s dissonance quartet inspired the opening of the first movement: dark and richly chromatic. Like the Mozart opening, the introduction briefly emphasizes “wrong” notes and slips quickly into distant keys before arriving at the main Allegro in E major. The main theme of the following Allegro section comprises three motives: a short fanfare-like motto, and a drawn-out, song-like melody (a la Don Giovanni courting(link)), and an elegant, weightless conclusion. Everything else in the movement stems from these three motives. The second movement begins and ends with a long-breathed, arching melody. Passed back and forth between the piano and violin, it slowly unfurls over an accompanying clock-like staccato figure. The piece concludes with a dark, melancholic rondo in E minor, with a main theme that seems both to dance and sigh. The final bars bring the sonata to a fiery, passionate close.
Sonata for Violin and Piano in E minor