SONATA-FANTASY (2005)
solo piano, 32 min.

In creating a new large-scale piano piece for the Reynolda House Museum of American Art, I chose to reconfigure the traditional three-movement sonata format found in many works of the Classical and Romantic repertoire. There is a tradition of composers – notably Beethoven, Schumann, and Scriabin – varying the architecture of the classical sonata. My Sonata-Fantasy honors aspects of previous forms, but with fantasy elements and unexpected forms.The most radical structural departure from the traditional sonata is in the second section, where the continuous music of a slow movement is replaced with a group of miniatures.

The first movement, “Maestoso e brillante; allegro ritmico” is akin to a Baroque French Overture. It begins with exuberant, ascending gestures giving way to an allegro. Rather than the literal repetition of materials that would exist in works of previous centuries, the ideas are continually evolving, with contemplative interruptions and contrapuntal investigation.

The second movement, "Wildflowers," consists of ten characterizations of native plants from the Blue Ridge:

Slender Ladies’ Tresses
Gaywings/Fringed Polygala
Birdfoot Violet
Flame Azalea
Indian Pipes
Fire Pink
Blue Lobelia
Viper’s Bugloss
Columbine
Deptford Pink.

Among them is a tango ("Flame Azalea"), a lullaby ("Deptford Pink") and a rip-roaring rap to the "Viper's Bugloss," a rather frightening, hairy blue wildflower. Fragments of Chopin and Schumann even make unexpected appearances.

The third movement, “Epilogue: molto adagio” a hymn-like motive emerges from a quiet, undulating texture.