Sonata for Viola and Piano in D Major

This is a very substantial work. I can see why the 2nd movement is your favourite. It is the most together of your movements in terms of using your material well without drifting off on to other ideas. The first movement seemed to ramble from The Carpenters into an Irish Jig via a slow movement and back again. There seemed to be enough material for another sonata in there. I'm sorry but I didn't listen to the whole movement. The third also had the same problems. It starts with a slow intro after a slow movement. Then there are some ideas again from The Carpenter and Queen. There is a lot of material and not much harmonic contrast in the music. You could get at least another 3 movement out of this movement with more judicious development and some key contrasts. You don't seem to have development sections just new ideas. Fecundity is a great asset to have but you need to use it better.

Biddy, this is an ambitious and noble undertaking. I regret I only had time this morning to hear the first movement, but here are my impressions.

I have to agree with some of the prior comments about the technical demands you've made of the viola. While not impossible, many of the double stop passages are awkward because of the rapid changes in position necessary; one sees such things in Paganini, and in etudes specifically written as musical calishthenics, but you have to ask yourself whether you only want your piece decently playable by five to ten percent of the professional violists out there. Also, the arpeggios in the viola solo at 225-226 are, in my opinion, unplayable; the shifts back and forth from 3rd to 1st position at that speed are prohibitive. The others in the same section are fairly straightforward, though.

There is a curious mix of technical knowledge and nievete in this movement. There is plenty of rhythmic variety, and you seem to know something of what the capabilities of your forces are, yet the piece is harmonically quite static - whole sections going back and forth between two chords in various inversions, sometimes outlining the same chord for many measures on end, as if you didn't know what to do, so you did nothing. Finally at measure 159 there is some harmonic interest, but it seems incongruous, having nothing whatever do with what came before. If I were you, I would work on greater harmonic variety, as well as modulations and transitions.

Thanks for you comments Lee! I will admit that the first movement needs to be reworked, but I really do look forward to your comments about the other movements. If the double stops in the first movement were bad then just disregard them in the second :p - I'm going to rework those as well.

You know, it stinks not being in a composition program. I have to learn all these little tricks and things on my own, so the more feedback the better!