Performance History

• 15 December 2016, Morse Hall, Lincoln Center, New York, NY
    Hannah Ji (violin) & Robert Fleitz (piano)
   
• 11 August 2016, Danbury Music Center, Danbury, CT                   Hannah Ji  (violin) & Robert Fleitz (piano)

Program Notes
 

This piece is my journey into the world of the American Violin Sonata. It stems very much from tradition (i.e. the movement titles: Double Variations, Scherzo, Aria, Finale) but like many American composers who followed a traditional approach, the music also has contemporary characteristics. It fits within the mold of the 19th century sonata, but it contains the gestural qualities and expansive sound-worlds that embody much of 20th and 21st century American music. The piece expresses a feeling of optimism, which I also perceive to be a very American ideal.

I. The Double Variations are an ode to composers like Aaron Copland, Robert Beaser, Steven Stucky, and many other American composers who made use of variation form. The sound world is different though... much more restrained and introspective. The construction of this movement predicts the form of the rest of the piece, and thus functions as a prelude of sorts.

II. The Scherzo is the most neoclassical of the movements, and is an homage to the mid 20th century composers Walter Piston and William Schuman. It gives off an aura of being clearly rooted in tradition but “on the wrong notes.”

III. The main melody of the Aria is derived from the opening theme of Robert Beaser’s Violin Sonata; the pitches are different but the shape of the line is very similar. The agitated middle section is an ode to one of my favorite American composers, John Williams, in it’s soaring nature. By the end, this movement brings us out of the ambiguity of the first two movements into a place of quiet contentment.

IV. The Finale continues the positivity of the Aria and the introspective quality of the first movement is transformed into a jubilant and triumphant conclusion.