Listen to MIDI performance of the first movement
Listen to MIDI performance of the second movement
Listen to MIDI performance of the third movement
View samples in PDF form
The Sonata in A Minor for Piano with Violoncello obbligato, written in 2003, has a very Romantic tone and character. Its three movements feature both instruments as equal partners in the music-making, and make use of the 'cello as both a melodic and an accompanimental instrument.
The opening movement is tense and tightly wound, spun out from a four-note motif introduced by the 'cello which never completely sorts itself out during the movement, leading to a near-breakdown towards the end, where both 'cello and piano take the motive in stark octaves and play it out to its conclusion. Only the presence of the more jocular second theme holds the work together by giving the instruments an escape, if not a release.
The second movement is a rapid-fire Scherzo and Trio, jumping from the frenetic, barely contained energy of the 'cello-led Allegro Molto section to the calm and meditative Allegretto acting as a centerpiece to the movement. The rhythm in this movement, while constantly driving forward, is often displaced so that the accents fall on the offbeats, lending a disturbed, unsettled feel.
The finale is a Passacaglia - a set of twenty-four variations over a repeated bass. The 'cellist again leads the way into the movement, plucking out the theme which will be repeated and varied fifteen times, turned backwards, repeated three more times in reverse, played against its own retrograde form twice more, then heard another three times before finally pushing into a rapid coda and a triumphal ending.
The whole work lasts about twenty minutes, depending on the speed chosen and the length of the breaks between movements. The MIDI setting, with no movement breaks and little allowance for artistic use of tempo rubato, runs 18:35. The piece makes an excellent addition to a recital programme as a modern work which will not offend the ears of an audience more used to older music. It is challenging but not impossible for both instrumentalists, and treats both as full-on partners in the score.