James Francis Brown - Sonata for Violin & Piano

A challenging (Grade 8+) work that makes equal demands on the violinist and pianist and is of strong melodic interest throughout its three diverse movements.
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Composer's Programme Note

This Sonata was orginally conceived as a group of three independent movements that would be strongly marker from each other in both form and content. But during the process of composition I realised that the pieces were becoming increasingly related to each other in a way that suggested a sonata-like structure.

The central Presto follows a broad first movement that contrasts music of relatively free rhythm and dissonant intensity with that of diatonic simplicity and a stable pulse. The Presto is a projection of elements heard in the piano part of the previous movement; in particular an arpeggio reiterated over three descending notes under an E major pedal-point in the violin.

The last movement represents a 'return to grace' although this too is gradually invaded by the descending 3rd idea. Being in the remote tonal area of C sharp, it is intended as a reconciliation of conflicting elements from the previous movements and a summation of the mediant tonal relationships of the Sonata.

The Violin Sonata is dedicated to Jack Liebeck, although the second movement is independently dedicated to Katya Apekisheva.
Instrumentation: Violin and Piano