Violin Sonata no. 1

2016 | 30’

violin, piano

Written for Dayna Townsend

Written over exactly one year, the sonata explores various musical concepts and forms while always staying rooted in the subversion of expectations and a relentless discordant language.

Movement 1 documents the forced synthesis of two disparate themes into a single subject, and sets a precedent for the disjunct, erratic flitting between ideas that permeates the whole piece.

Movement 2 continues this idea by setting up and abruptly dismissing a traditional slow movement in favour of a raw and challenging assault on music.

Movement 3 offers an oasis only in tempo, as the passacaglia maintains the energy and passion of the other movements.

Movement 4, the most eclectic, is a theme and variations without a theme, instead weaving ideas from earlier into the fragments that eventually can no longer be contained, dissipating with great fury as a soft chord signals the end of a rather challenging journey.

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