Sonata for Flute, Violin and 'Cello in B-flat

Here is a little sonata that came flying out of me this week. I finally have some time, and I haven’t been so stressed out since I quit my day job, so the ideas are starting to come again.

This is my first completed, mature chamber work for three instruments. Ironically, it’s based on an idea I came up with when I was 15 (1977) and never finished. The ideas that came to me for the second and third movements I sketched on a napkin while shopping for appliances on Tuesday. You never know when or where inspiration will happen.

While this is definitely a showcase for the flute – one reason I’ve chosen the title ‘Sonata’ - I’ve given more than enough of interest to the other instruments, and all the parts are basically equal in terms of the demands made of them, if not in leadership.

Some of the problems I ran across and attempted solutions:

1. It’s tricky to achieve a fullness of sound with only three voices/instruments. One way I found was to have a fair amount going on in the outer movements, and undulating broken chord accompaniment under the melody in the slow movement - with judicious breaks in the texture at intervals. There is also a great deal of counterpoint going on in all the movements.

2. A temptation for me was to have every chord sounding as many of the notes of a triad as possible. This simply wasn’t practical if I were to allow the individual lines to flow naturally. Hence, a fair amount of the harmonic structure is merely implied. There is harmony – a whole other part, if you will – that is not played or heard, only outlined and implied. The trick was to make the implication convincing enough that the harmony still sounds complete. I’ve read that Mozart, in his piano sonatas, was considered a master of this, and I strove to emulate him. Hopefully I succeeded to some degree.

The opening movement poured out of me in a torrent in a single evening (Monday). I’m not sure I could tell you how I wrote it…I don’t really remember, it was that automatic.

The slightly rococo yet romantic second movement was more problematic, partly because I failed to save the sketch in Finale and had to reconstruct the first half of the movement. Much of this movement was composed by sketching the flute melody first – just letting the melodic ideas flow, usually going with my first instinct, making some adjustments as needed, then adding the other parts to fill everything in.

The fugal finale was the most difficult to compose, naturally. It was hard work, occupied all my spare time for three days (Thursday through Saturday) and most of my thoughts. I’ve interpolated some baroque-isms here and there, such as a Corelli-esque sequence in the middle, but otherwise I adhered to Classical fashion. The formality of this movement is another reason I stuck with the ‘Sonata’ title, though I couldn’t stay serious – my sense of humour comes through clear to the end.

Thanks for listening. Enjoy! Comments/criticisms welcome as always.

EDIT: Links destroyed in protest 4/2/09

Charming!

As with all your works, it shows the kind of maturity and experienced understanding of composition which most of us here at YC can only gaze at in envy.

It's definately got that classical sort of sound to it, and you've managed to incorporate some distinct styles into one which ensures that your own voice is still clearly heard.

About the first movement. My only problems with it are small stylistic issues. I feel, for one, that the flute ornamentations are a tad overused; they start to lose the poignancy and effectiveness of their statements very quickly and start sounding tacked on in the first movement. Otherwise, the first movement is solid and the ending is very effective even though it's subtle; that's hard to pull off.

Second movement fit in well with the first, which is another thing that can be hard to achieve. It seemed to flow nicely and reminded me of a nice scene sitting in one of those swan boats on a nice day trip with a loved one...poetic. Loving the major/minor transitions near the end, those were very tasteful. I felt that the ending could have been stronger for this one.

And now the fugue! It was delightful to listen to, very upbeat and concise. Great motion to it and it managed to keep the material fresh. Now, the transition from the middle section to the ending was fantastic and I appreciated it, but then the ending itself seemed really lacking. It was subtle, again, like in the first movement, but it didn't strike me as being very successful in this case - especially not as the ending to the final movement. And to add to that, the movement itself seems to beg for a more conclusive ending; less of a suggestion and more of a statement, if you get what I mean. Otherwise a brilliant fugue.

Overall, I clearly felt that the flute was the lead and although you did give the other instruments nice parts, I wouldn't have minded seeing some more emphasis on a balance between leading. Again, that's a personal taste thing. I just think that having the same instrument leading all the time gets stale, no matter how good the musical material is.

Congratulations on a fantastic work and thank you for sharing it with us! :D

Wow, thanks!

I seem to be on a kick of subtle, concise endings lately...someone else commented that the ending of the finale to my 3rd symphony was too subtle, too. I agree, some of the stuff in the first movement borders on cliche - I was aware of it as I wrote it, end yet I let it come anyway. I usually try to steer around most of the 18th-Century cliches. For some reason I really wanted the fugue to just taper off to nothing...it was one of my first thoughts about it...I sometimes plan endings almost as soon as I've begun the piece, and those last two measures were set in stone almost as soon as the exposition was finished. Oh well... :o I'm glad the fugue didn't seem too short compared to the other movements...I think it says what it needs to say.

Glad you got that visual during the slow movement...it's rather a romantic outpouring. :D

J. Lee, awesomeness! :D I missed your music. The first movement was simply perfect. Unlike Marius, I didn't find the flute overused, just the right proportions. It's not only extremely concize and compact as it is sweet and charming.

I find that the second movement suffers a lot from the recording. I can imagine it being much more subtly and expressively played (like dyamics and rubato.) With that in mind, it's as fine as a Mozartean adagio, especially when it comes to modulations (extremely inventive while never ceasing to be classical.) The ending, however, I found to be a tad off beat.

OMG the fugue *rocks*! I found it to be far away from the serious fugues of Bach, as some parts were very quirky :D later one it somehow breaks away from the overal feeling of a fugue, while nevertheless remaining very fine. I also found the ending to be somewhat anticlimatic here.

Overall, lovely, extremely well crafted and the kind of piece that requires a live recording by law :o be sure to get that. Lol.

And keep it up!

very very nice piece! pleasant and engaging throughout! the fugue is really delightful! my only concern is about the dynamics. the pieces sound too much flat for my taste, i think that there is room for a wide range of dynamics and great deal of passion despite the classic style. i remember to have read that Mozart's music was very disturbing to his contemporaries on account of the plethora of emotion he put on his works, and these pieces of yours would profit from that. anyway i know that a live performance would solve this minor issue. regards!

I find that the second movement suffers a lot from the recording. I can imagine it being much more subtly and expressively played (like dyamics and rubato.)

Totally! I mean, thank God for GPO, because I'm already in love with it - but even with "Human Playback," pieces like that slow movement are always going to sound robotic. The tempo marking "Andante affettuoso" would give real players a good idea that it needs to be performed with as much romantic effusion as would have been seemly in the Age of Enlightenment; but a machine just can't do that. I'm glad it came through for you anyway, though.

With that in mind, it's as fine as a Mozartean adagio, especially when it comes to modulations (extremely inventive while never ceasing to be classical.)

What an overwhelming compliment. Thank you. :D

The ending, however, I found to be a tad off beat.

Interesting...you and Marius both found that ending a little off, and I considered adding about four measures to the coda before it to wrap things up a little better, but thought better of it somehow. Maybe I was wrong...did I cut to the ending too soon?

OMG the fugue *rocks*! I found it to be far away from the serious fugues of Bach, as some parts were very quirky later one it somehow breaks away from the overal feeling of a fugue, while nevertheless remaining very fine. I also found the ending to be somewhat anticlimatic here.

Aww! Nobody likes my little ending! ;) OK, maybe I'll consider rethinking that, too...maybe. :D Where it "breaks away" must be the sequence in the middle with the busy violin part. I wanted to keep the forward momentum going, but I felt it needed a break from the constant running quavers, which were pretty much the fabric of the piece up to that point. Baroque composers did stuff like this all the time, especially in concerti grossi and French ouvertures...I took a risk putting it in a classical fugue, I suppose.

my only concern is about the dynamics. the pieces sound too much flat for my taste, i think that there is room for a wide range of dynamics and great deal of passion despite the classic style. i remember to have read that Mozart's music was very disturbing to his contemporaries on account of the plethora of emotion he put on his works, and these pieces of yours would profit from that. anyway i know that a live performance would solve this minor issue. regards!

Yep, I hear you. I've never used as many dynamics as Mozart, and certainly not as much as Beethoven. But I intend in the final printed version of this piece to include more dynamic contrasts, and as you point out, live musicians (I hope) will take unwritten stylistic cues and turn them into contrast on their own. Again, this is not something a machine can do on its own, I haven't the patience to much more than perfunctory tweaking, and I often leave dynamics out of recording editions of my Finale files because I have issues with the way dynamics are interpreted in Finale more often than not. Going from a forte to a piano needn't sound like the band dropped off a cliff...but then again, sometimes the contrast isn't broad enough. Live musicians intuitively know these things, especially in a well-established idiom, and that's what I'm counting on.

Thanks guys! :D

J. Lee, a lovely little Sonata. The first two movements were so delicately crafted. It made me see a beautiful petite woman with long dark wavy hair in a soft silky pale white gown, walking through a garden of soft flowers with a soft breeze blowing over them.

The third movement was wonderful too. I love what you did through measures 50-57. It was the climax of the piece and orgasmic (and I mean that in the purest way). It well placed and gave a freedom to the piece.

You would have made a fine court composer back in the day! ;)

I wish I was able to listen to your music, but I can never hear the files on the websites where you post them.

I'll e-mail it to you Brandon, if you like. Good to see you around. I've missed you.

Thanks for the comments, Jeremy! So you like that little homage to Corelli in the fugue. :) I'm glad. I really thought I needed a break from all those quavers.

You would have made a fine court composer back in the day!

That has been a secret ambition of mine all my life. I would love to find some wealthy dilettante and write music for their entertainment. Had I lived "back in the day," I would have been very happy to be a court composer.

This really is an excellent piece Lee; your cadences are wonderful-- classical and yet very much your own. Some of the melodies in the second movement got a little old after awhile, but I guess that's a sonata for you =]

he melodies in the second movement got a little old after awhile, but I guess that's a sonata for you =]

I wish I knew what you meant...maybe the repeat of the first half is too much.

Thanks J. Lee. Puck81@gmail.com

BBH

I wish I knew what you meant...maybe the repeat of the first half is too much.

Exactly. I mean, that really is just the nature of this piece, I wouldn't have it any other way. It's one of those things that one notices while watching a score, but not so much when just casually listening.

Hey J. Lee, sorry to dig this out of the depths of YC, but could I possibly hear this? Its no longer on the file hosting and from the comments, it looks like something worth hearing. Could you possibly repost or send it to me? Pretty please? :)

What are you sorry for? :D

Hey, I'll do you (and anybody else interested) one better: I've replaced the dead links in the original post with live ones!

Soundclick has been weird today, but all the links work, so if you get an error the first time you click on an MP3 link, try it again. All best! Hope you dig it.

Error Occurred While Processing Request

Error Diagnostic Information

Error occurred while attempting to open service control manager.

Windows NT error number 5 occurred.

Yep, Soundclick has been doing that tonight. Hopefully they'll correct the problem.

Wonderfull. I'll study the score.. I will list it as one of my favorite, believe me. :thumbsup:

If only we could all compose like you, Lee. :)

Really, this is an excellent piece (but you knew that already).

The first movement was my favourite, and I thought the relationship between the instruments was just perfect. I didn't think that the flute part was overused, but then, I'm a flutist, so I may be a bit biased.

I'm going to have to look at the score more closely, because I expect there is a lot I can learn from this.

Seriously, this needs a recording. *wishes that he knew a violinist and a 'cellist*

Anyway, thanks for posting (and reposting).

I'm so glad you enjoyed it, and that it might be some use to you. It's actually one of several pieces I hope to get performed and recorded, so it's interesting you should mention it. The second movement especially needs to be heard in a live recording...there is simply no way that an electronic performance can give it the nuance it needs.