Greetings and salutations, QC,
congratulations on finishing your sonata. I' ll try and review without a score.
On part I:
1) You had a lot of good motivic material and I liked the way you repeated and varied this material.
2) The Scherzo part was also a pleasant surprise.
3) But I felt the material was disjointed...
4) I feel that the harmony didn't go anywhere, and the constant variations on the themes and the accompaniment soon led me to attention lapses...
5) Very virtuosic and demanding for the players.
Part II:
1) I echo Nikolas; this is indeed beautiful...the melodic work in the piano and the clarinet is quite delicious.
2) Great themes throughout and wonderful harmonic work.
3) Sounds very enjoyable and expressive for the players...
4) The part where the piano enters, after the clarinet solo...beautiful!
5) The Spanish feel was very tastefully conveyed.
Part III
1) The Arioso part was very different from the rest of the piece. I think it had more direction and drive and, thus, is one of my favorite parts of this work.
2) There were some hints of a climax, but it didn't come and that was a tad disappointing...
3) The rondo was disappointing for me...the whole work left me craving for a climax...and the finale wasn't sufficient to provide a definite ending...
Overall, apart from the second part and the Arioso from the third, the whole work lacked direction and felt quite static. The constant change of tonal centers, instead of being delicious to my ears only brought about confusion.
Mostly enjoyable, yet not memorable in any way, except for the second part. Whatever passion could be found seems a bit sterile... a lot of work and fine craftsmanship, but, in my personal opinion, your cello sonata is superior by far...
But, congratulations for making such a major piece of work happen. I'll be happy to listen to the live performance when it is posted here.
