Violin Sonata in B-flat major, 1st movement: Allegretto grazioso

Hi! This Violin Sonata is commissioned by and dedicated to my friend Arjuna Clark  @expert21. He had asked me long ago to write a Violin Sonata for him, but I only managed to start the work after finishing my own String Sextet and 3rd Piano Sonata. Luckily this one is completed before his birthday this year for a timely birthday present. As always, thank to @Thatguy v2.0 for making the audio.

The whole work's tonic key B flat major, key scheme and styles of the movements are chosen by Arjuna himself. The work also featured the "ARJUNA" motive in all the movements, suggested by Arjuna himself: A=A, R=Re=C, J=G, U=Une=Bb, N=rest, A=A. The style here in this movement is a waltz style which I have never tried before but I know Arjuna loves it. I have toned down the playing difficulty for both the violinists and pianists, as I wish I can play with Arjuna with a live recording later.

What I want to achieve in this Violin Sonata is simplicity and beautiful violin singing, since I didn't give much chance for the strings to sing in the String Sextet I just completed then, and my music is usually too complex. I hope I can write something simpler and lovely.

The thumbnail is an ugly self-made birthday card I made to Arjuna LoL! Forgive my bad artwork haha.

Here is the score and YT link for the music:

Violin Sonata in B-flat major 1st mov.pdf

Here is the timestamp for the video:

0:00 Dedication

0:06 Exposition, First Subject. Introduces the ARJUNA motive. 0:24 starts the transition with inversion of ARJUNA motive in piano, sounds a lot like Beethoven's op.110 Sonata. Modulate unexpectedly to D major in 2nd subject.

0:56 Exposition, Second Subject. Uses mainly the inversion of ARJUNA motive in D major. Ends with some pentatonicism as inspired by my own Sextet, just finish days ago before writing this one.

1:58 Exposition Repeat. A rare thing for me to repeat expositions but I find it adequate doing so here.

3:47 Development. Prime and Retrograde of ARJUNA motive in G minor first, then develop on the 2nd subject through G minor, B flat minor and to E major. Force a beautiful C sharp minor climax in 4:32, since it's my favourite key. Return to tonic key through major 3rd relationship.

4:58 Recapitulation, First Subject. Have the recap sneaks in in a Brahmsian fashion (again!). 5:16 starts the transition, this time includes a quotation from my own String Sextet in 5:33 in G flat major to fit the key scheme.

5:43 Recapitulation, Second Subject. Normal recap in tonic key, nothing changed.

6:37 Coda. Restatement of ARJUNA motive in its prime form, nothing complex here.

Hope you enjoy!

Henry

Hi @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu!

I really love this sonata!  In this particular movement, the ARJUNA theme brings to mind for me the Nimrod movement from Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations.  Funny how both this work and Elgar's were written for friends!  Very cool that you dedicated so much time and effort for a birthday gift to an internet friend half a world away from you!  I really like the very classical-yet-romantic leaning graceful music that isn't too waltzy.  I think I like this work because it's not too Beethovenian - I hear more of your own individual voice coming through in this and I also find it more joyful and entertaining for the same reason.  It's also amazing how much this was prompted by Arjuna!  Thanks for sharing!

A very light, and elegant Mozart / Beethoven-esqe influenced piece. But now that I listened to this more closely a second time, this sounds more Beethoven. I noticed you kept things a lot more simplistic with this composition. The simplicity makes it easier to follow the story. For example, I noticed you referenced your sextet's pentatonic themes in a few places too which was a nice touch, particularly here:

• 1:38
• 3:28
• 5:27
• 6:27

Your key changes from the major to parallel minor also made me think a lot of Beethoven's key changing style. For example, at 1:07, this is a prime an example of some key changing techniques I hear in Beethoven's concertos. I loved 3:40 - to 3:53. This was a section that could have been used to segue into a completely different theme. But I suppose you didn't want to venture too far off from the main theme of this piece. Either way, great piece, fun traditional classical harmony and nice references to your sextet.

Would the title Sonata for violin and piano be more appropriate? We say violin sonatas informally, but the compositional weights seems balanced at least to a certain extent imo

Hi Peter!

On 7/6/2025 at 9:46 AM, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

In this particular movement, the ARJUNA theme brings to mind for me the Nimrod movement from Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations.  Funny how both this work and Elgar's were written for friends!

The Nimrod theme is 10 times better than mine lol! I love that variation very much!

On 7/6/2025 at 9:46 AM, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

Very cool that you dedicated so much time and effort for a birthday gift to an internet friend half a world away from you! 

Well I don't care whether a friend is known through real life or internet. Arjuna is definitely much closer than many people I know in real life. I won't write a piece for someone I don't treasure.

On 7/6/2025 at 9:46 AM, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

I really like the very classical-yet-romantic leaning graceful music that isn't too waltzy.  I think I like this work because it's not too Beethovenian - I hear more of your own individual voice coming through in this and I also find it more joyful and entertaining for the same reason.

Yeah I just try to for light mood and simple style here, something enjoyable and not too difficult. Honestly I quite enjoy composing this piece after the Sextet since that one takes tons of efforts.

Thx for your review Peter!

Henry

Hey Mike!

On 7/6/2025 at 10:09 AM, chopin said:

very light, and elegant Mozart / Beethoven-esqe influenced piece. But now that I listened to this more closely a second time, this sounds more Beethoven. I noticed you kept things a lot more simplistic with this composition. The simplicity makes it easier to follow the story. For example, I noticed you referenced your sextet's pentatonic themes in a few places too which was a nice touch, particularly here:

• 1:38
• 3:28
• 5:27
• 6:27

Yeah I'm just able to sneak in some pentatonicism in this otherwise normal classical/romantic movement. I am learning how to write simpler and lighter music while still maintaining the flow and effectiveness, because it's not things I have done in the past few years.

On 7/6/2025 at 10:09 AM, chopin said:

Your key changes from the major to parallel minor also made me think a lot of Beethoven's key changing style. For example, at 1:07, this is a prime an example of some key changing techniques I hear in Beethoven's concertos. I loved 3:40 - to 3:53. This was a section that could have been used to segue into a completely different theme. But I suppose you didn't want to venture too far off from the main theme of this piece. Either way, great piece, fun traditional classical harmony and nice references to your sextet.

Yeah I don't wanna explore too much here, maybe in the variation 4th mov there's more! 

Thx for your review!

Henry

19 hours ago, PCC said:

Would the title Sonata for violin and piano be more appropriate? We say violin sonatas informally, but the compositional weights seems balanced at least to a certain extent imo

I just never thought of it lol, as I thought all sonatas for violin and piano are called Violin Sonatas anyways but look like I'm wrong. I did put some slight melodic emphasis for the violin as this is Arjuna's instrument to play, and I would love the instrument to sing beautifully. Thx for your review!

Henry