Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano
2024
For Eb Alto Saxophone and Piano
Duration: c. 28'
Dedicated to James Bunte.
First performed by the composer and Jamey Strawn. November 18, Robert J. Werner Recital Hall, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
For Eb Alto Saxophone and Piano
Duration: c. 28'
Dedicated to James Bunte.
First performed by the composer and Jamey Strawn. November 18, Robert J. Werner Recital Hall, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Carly Hood, saxophone with Michael Delfin, piano. Brian Niesz, recording engineer.
Program Note
The summation of my undergraduate study, this Sonata is a truly personal work. It reflects my developing relationship with faith. Specifically, the weight of dogma—which I associate with the spoken text of the Mass—and the enigmatic mystery of faith—which I associate with the music.
Performed without pause, it blends the traditional sonata form with that of the Mass. The first movement is a romanticized pattern prelude (not unlike a Mass prelude). This opening immediately introduces the fundamental motive of the work and elaborates around it. The second movement, drastically longer than the others, is the heart of the sonata. It establishes two contrasting moods (a dark, reserved recitativo and a glassy, bright song), repeats them at a heightened level, and then places them into a development. This development also features constant usage of the opening motive. The second movement ends by collapsing under its own weight, without a formal recapitulation. In the following movement, all of the motivic elements break down and begin to synthesize. This section, highly reflective and weighted, slowly blossoms, loosely completing the sonata form. The final movement is a return to the opening prelude (not unlike a Mass postlude). Despite its mixed melancholy, it finally lands in A major through an extended plagal cadence.
Performed without pause, it blends the traditional sonata form with that of the Mass. The first movement is a romanticized pattern prelude (not unlike a Mass prelude). This opening immediately introduces the fundamental motive of the work and elaborates around it. The second movement, drastically longer than the others, is the heart of the sonata. It establishes two contrasting moods (a dark, reserved recitativo and a glassy, bright song), repeats them at a heightened level, and then places them into a development. This development also features constant usage of the opening motive. The second movement ends by collapsing under its own weight, without a formal recapitulation. In the following movement, all of the motivic elements break down and begin to synthesize. This section, highly reflective and weighted, slowly blossoms, loosely completing the sonata form. The final movement is a return to the opening prelude (not unlike a Mass postlude). Despite its mixed melancholy, it finally lands in A major through an extended plagal cadence.
| |||
I - 0:00, II - 2:45, III - 18:30, IV - 25:05