Sonata No. 26 in D Minor

Started: 8-13-2004, 3:31 PM
Completed: 8:13-2004, 4:36 PM
Santa Monica, CA

I wrote this sonata at my friend Colin's house. He and I are really night and day when it comes to playing harpsichord. His absolute god of music is JS Bach (and mine is, too, when it comes down to it, really, but Soler's good humor has won me over for life, I think), and he could really sit at an instrument and play Bach all day long. He plays very straight, very controlled, and very well. If Colin prefers to sing or talk to you with is instrument, I prefer to yell at you with mine. We meet in the middle in the French school of music, where he leans toward things like Couperin and d'Anglebert, and I prefer Duphly and particularly Forqueray. This is all irrelevant, I suppose, because this sonata is nothing like any of that. I've written lots of pieces in strict counterpoint for Colin to play for fun, but this certainly isn't one of them, even though I conceived of it at his house and sitting right next to him.

In terms of technical demands, I'd put this sonata in the middle. It uses a lot of wrist rotations in the left hand, and I think this can wear out beginners. I think it's a very fun technique once you're comfortable with it, and it creates a very exciting effect if you play it very rapidly. I personally go pretty wild with it in Les Cyclopes and La Marche des Scythes. It's at a more moderate tempo in this sonata and shouldn't be inhibitive to avid players.

Enjoy!