Sonatas No. 10 & 11 in C Minor

No. 10
Started: 10-11-2005, 9:35 PM
Finished: 10-11-2005, 10:08 PM
Huntington Beach, CA

No. 11
Started: 10-13-2005, 10:03 PM
Finished: 10-13-2005, 10:41 PM
Huntington Beach, CA

This pair of sonatas groups one very Spanish-sounding sonata with one rather unusual one. The sonatas may seem almost too different to be paired (and they were written two days apart), but I did very much intend for them to be played in sequence.

Interestingly enough, though the first sonata in this set was written years after its C major predecessor in this set, both sonatas use octaves in the bass in almost the same fashion. This is interesting to me, at least, because I know I hadn't used it before the C major and I don't think I've used that figure since, so it's not as though it's something very common in my writing. There are some simple hand crossing passages near the ends of each half, and there is a pretty active bass throughout that gives the sonata a pressing sense of momentum (or so I hope, because that's what I intended!). The octave figure that opens the sonata returns at the close of each half. I often like to do that, close sonatas with some variation of the way they open; sometimes I do this by inverting the harmony, but many times I restate the opening lines in some way. I think it brings a nice bit of symmetry to the piece. Besides, it guarantees that if you've managed to come up with an appealing opening, you'll have a ending, too. :o)

The second sonata in this set is uses some strange devices. Each half is essentially cut into three sections, each separated by a brief silence. It's a pretty simple formula: I open each half with the first section, modulate to the dominant/tonic in the second section, then close. There are some quick descending scales at the ends of all but the middle sections. The key in which the sonata is set demands that these glissandi really be played as quick scales rather than con dedo solo (a technique of which I am very much not a fan at all, after having played Liszt's murderous Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15).

Enjoy!