Sonatina for Violin and Harpsichord (Piston)

The Sonatina for Violin and Harpsichord is a three-movement, neoclassical chamber work composed by Walter Piston in 1945, that marks the beginning of his postwar style.

History

Piston wrote the Sonatina just after the Second World War, and its cheerful, optimistic character marks the beginning of the composer’s postwar style. It is dedicated to Alexander Schneider and Ralph Kirkpatrick, the violinist and harpsichordist who premiered the work on November 30, 1945 (Pollack 1982, 80). The published score allows the piano as a substitute for the harpsichord, and it can sound equally good that way (Pollack 1982, 82).

Analysis

The composition is in three movements:

The Sonatina is a clear example of neoclassicism in Piston’s work, and shows the influence of Igor Stravinsky (Yardley 1990). The sonatina-form first movement is in B♭ major, and is typified by a restless, exhaustive energy produced by abrupt changes to remote keys: F♯ minor, A major, and A♭ major. The movement concludes with a coda that blends elements from both main themes and accelerates to a precipitosa canonic finish. The Adagio is a poised elegy in the key of A minor, with an excursion of the main theme into the distant key of F minor, The finale, like the opening movement, is in sonatina form and in B♭, with a chromatic, humorous, and daring main theme that owes something to the Second Viennese School. The second theme features taut invertible counterpoint, and the entire movement brings the composition to a suitably delicate, unpretentious conclusion (Pollack 1982, 80–82).

Discography

References