SONATA FOR HARPSICHORD
(1994) 22 min.

The Sonata begins with a decisive gesture, descending, from which all the materials in the piece are derived. The second movement is celebratory, a dance. I was asked to write this work to commemorate the life of Alison Durfey, who was killed by a drunk driver in 1992. She was 23 years old. Alison's love of life and music became apparent when her family shared pages of her journal with me. She wrote that one of her favorite things was "really loud harpsichord music on Sunday mornings." The piece was a commission for the radio program Saint Paul Sunday.