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This is the fourth and final movement of my Violin Sonata in B flat major, commissioned by and dedicated to Arjuna Clark (lately Archie) @expert21. This movement is in Variation form which is my first attempt on the form in a movement, though I already use quite some variations techniques in my old pieces. I choose the form because rather than another narrative sonata form movement, a variation movement exploring the possiblities of the ARJUNA motive is much more appropriate for me. Again, thx to @Thatguy v2.0 for making the audio. I try for some strict procedure in each of the variation, as I use Prime and Inversion form of the ARJUNA motive for the 1st half of a variation, then Retrograde, Retrograde-Inversion and Prime form of the ARJUNA motive for the 2nd half of a variation. Even though the motive itself is short and easy enough to achieve this kind of treatment, still I wanna use them for coherence. Because of this, this one is probably the hardest movement in this Sonata to write with. Here is the YT video and pdf scores of the movement: Violin Sonata in B-flat major 4th mov.pdf Here is the structure of the movement: 0:00 Thema: Allegretto Commodo. A rather simple and easy-going theme for later variations. 1:16 Variation I: Allegretto con moto: A funny variation. Introduces G-flat major for the 1st time in the movement. In the second half, each two bar phrase is the retrograde of the two bar phrase corresonding to the first half, e.g. b.26-27 correspond to b.17-18. 2:13 Variation II: Allegro con energico. A variation heavily inspired by the 2nd movement of Beethoven's Razumovsky Quartet no.1, which is also in the same key. End of the 1st part and begins 2nd part with variations begins in different keys. 3:03 Variation III: Andante Comtemplativo. A variation begins in D major and makes chordal usage of the ARJUNA motive. Briefly reintroduces the 2nd movement theme in 4:04. Ends with a dark transition to C sharp minor. 5:08 Variation IV: Adagio Doloroso. A variation begins in C sharp minor. I make use of the Beethoven op.135 theme again as in the 3rd movement, but this time in minor mode and all sorts of dissonances, since it reflects the dark mood I was having then. The use of ARJUNA motive is saturated here; I even use all four forms of the motive together in b.110. Ends in Picardy third and modulates to the next variation. 6:44 Variation V: Andantino con moto e tranquillo. A variation begins in G-flat major and modulates through D major before returning to tonic B-flat major. I quote a lot of pentatonics and quartals here to show the influence of my String Sextet. 8:10 Variation VI: Fugato e Coda: Allegro Vivace, con brio e energico. Even though it 's a cliche to end a variation in a fugato, I still use it here nonetheless. The fugue subject makes use of the prime and inversion form of ARJUNA motive, while the countersubject the retrograde and inversion of the motive. The episodes also make use of the motives too. I even quoted my Clarinet Quintet main theme in 8:47. Waltz rhythm gradually returns and polyphonic texture changed to a homophonic one, just like the ending of Beethoven's op.110 Sonata. More affirmations of the ARJUNA motive comes and ends the music in a high energetic way. I quite enjoy the ending not to lie. Thx for listening and hopefully you will leave some comments here! Henry P.S. Here are the previous movements posted on YC forum: 1st Mov: 2nd Mov: 3rd Mov:

This is the second movement of my Violin Sonata in B flat major, commissioned by and dedicated to Arjuna Clark @expert21. It's a slow movement marked "A scene by a stream", as suggested by my dedicatee Arjuna. I chase for simplcity here and I really wanna let the violin sing here, and I think I succeed. I freaking love the opening melody! The use of ARJUNA motive is more sparing as I have to give it away to the beautiful main melody! The melody was inspired when I was having a walk through the beautiful scene of Golden Trumpet Tree! The audio is again made by @Thatguy v2.0! Here is the pdf and YT video of the movement: Violin Sonata in B-flat major 2nd mov.pdf This movement is simple, only in ternary form. Here is the structure of the movement: 0:00 1st Part. The melody is quite beautiful for me, even though it sounds like the main melody in Chopin's Grande Polonaise Brillante, and in the same key, which I realized only after finishing this much later. The piano accompaniment represents the stream. In 1:02 Piano takes turn to play the main melody and violin the countermelody. 1:57 2nd part. I reached my usual contemplative mood in the middle section. Then I was awoken by the hummings of Asian Koel in 2:19. That bird is very common in HK which many people find their hummings disturbing but I actually love. 3:43 3rd Part. First begins a false recapitulation in wrong key G-flat major, then a real recap in tonic key in 4:21, with the main melody gets along with the Asian Koel motive. I personally really love the climax in 5:00! 5:13 Coda. A little coda reminds me the coda of Chopin's Nocturne in E flat major, op.9 no.2. Here is the 1st movement's post on YC: P.S. Here is the sound of Asian Koel: And here are some pictures I have taken that day: Hope you enjoy and feel free to comment! Henry

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. Here's the 2nd movement of the same Sonata: Hope you enjoy! Henry

Hello! So recently my music appreciation teacher has given me an opportunity for a final project, and that is to compose a piece of music 1-4 minutes long. I really want yo create a short Violin Sonata with piano accompaniment (or rather a solo violin as a sonata has multiple movements) however I’m having trouble creating a melody and the accompaniment for the melody. What are some tips for writing for this? Also I want it to be romantic era. Thanks!

Hi, I'd like to present to you the 1st mov. of my violin sonata in e-minor. www.gerdprengel.de/violinsonata-1.mp3 www.gerdprengel.de/violinsonata-1.pdf (score) I would appreciate very much your impressions ... thank you! Gerd

What can I say about love? It never turns out quite the way we expect. Then again neither does life. The years stack up, and the weight of all that time compacts our experiences, until we are forged into something new, like metamorphic rock. A good marriage has the same effect. As the years pile up, any cracks that once existed between us are compressed, our minds and outlooks are reformed, until after a while we have been reshaped, remade together. This music chases love, chases life. It races ahead, keeps the fire lit. It’s hunting, sniffing something out, hungrily searching through the night. The years fly by, but the fire stays lit. It’s a dance, a celebration, though a frenetic one. While you listen, stomp your foot! How about one loud clap! Why the hell not! I have a limited vocabulary for describing how it feels to experience love, real love, so I have to compose instead, to try and capture the uncapturable. This music gives just a taste of that. Love has many flavors, and this is one flavor I’ve tasted, and I want to share the feeling with the world. It may not always be pretty, but it tries hard to live passionately, to expresses itself freely, to communicate something meaningful. It doesn’t give up, even when challenges arise. It reaches out to feel a connection. It aches for it. I have experienced this love. In fact, I experienced it today, while watching my wife walk across the room. Sometimes my heart starts pounding for no reason, and this music appears inside my brain. Makes me want to spin around and around, until everything is blurry. The life we have built, the family we created, the years and shared experiences and adventures are all stacking up before me, until all I can do is marvel at the structure. Keep living! Keep love in your heart, and share it with someone whenever possible. Stomp and dance and spin. And also, lay silently on your bed in the afternoon with the person you love, and watch the sun’s rays poke through the blinds. Compare the sizes of your feet, tell a silly story, share what’s in your heart. Grow together, always growing.

Audio: Allegro.mp3 Score: Allegro TOTALLY DONE.pdf The date was September 24, 2006, my 22nd birthday. Erica and I decided to have a picnic in Meadow Park, share a bottle of wine, and take a nap. It was during this wine-induced nap that somebody walked into our house, in the middle of the day no less, while we slept peacefully in the bedroom, and stole my laptop. This particular laptop happened to contain all the music I had ever written up to that time. Was it backed up somewhere? Of course not. After all, my laptop had never been stolen before, so why would I need to back up everything I'd ever created. Nope, it was all right there, and someone stole it right out of my house in broad daylight. I never saw it again. The thief did not take our DVD player. He did not take our television. He did not take my car keys or the stereo either. He didn't even take the laptop's power cord. Just the laptop. And of course my very reason for living. When I awoke from my cat nap, it took me a good half hour to realize the laptop was gone. I won't try to put into words what went through my head except to say this: all of my art was destroyed that day. I had no website, no hard drive, no printed copies. I felt like a victim of fire. I was completely alone with my grief. Ok I was able to salvage a couple things. While ravaging through my belongings looking for any sheet music I could find, I miraculously discovered some printed pages stuffed down into a drawer. The pages were the original versions of what would later become the third and fourth movements of my first piano sonata. I was also able to copy down from memory the scraps that would later become the last movement of my first string quartet. Other than those tidbits, everything else was taken forever. My entire career as a composer up to that point was a blank page. I'm not sure how long I waited until I tried to sit down and write something again. Maybe a month. Whenever it was, when I sat down in front of that blank page, I actually felt very free, despite my sadness (and rage). It was as if all my musical baggage had been tossed unceremoniously in the trash can. Whatever genre I had been trying to fit into, whatever musical puzzle I had been wrestling with, whatever inadequacies I felt about my completed work - they were all completely moot now. I was born anew. So I sat down and wrote a violin sonata. I had never written for the violin before, but my approach was to write as if the instrument could do anything I wanted it to do. I wrote that way for the piano too. No more feeling constrained by my own lack of pianistic ability. I put on that page whatever I damn well felt like. It felt good. And somehow, despite all the pain, the music was chipper. Even at my darkest moments, my music comes out chipper. Maybe it's just who I am, or maybe that's how I cope. My brain might feel all doom and gloom, but my music is sunshine and rainbows. This first movement is the first piece I wrote after my babies were taken from me. I completed the movement in March of 2007. It is very much a classical piece, straight up sonata form, repeat bar and everything. It might not be genre shattering, but it was a very open and freeing experience for me to write it. It's what I was feeling at the time. It's what had to come out.

Here is the slow movement from my first violin sonata. Enjoy!

This is my rondo in Bflat from my violin sonata. This piece is about the secret crush I had on my first music theory teacher, whose name was Meredith. I don't know where she is now, but this is my ode to our love. This is my first time sharing some of my music on this site. Thank you in advance to those of you who take a listen! The rondo is in ABACAB form, with a coda at the end.