5 Favorite Piano Sonatas

SKU: PR.114424380

ISBN 9781491138076. UPC: 680160693467. 18 x 12 inches.

If you love playing Eric Ewazen’s flute sonatas or horn chamber music, or if you are fan of Brahms’s chamber music, then this exhilarating work is for you! Among Ewazen’s most performed works, the TRIO, inspired by the Brahms horn trio and originally for Violin, Horn, and Piano, has been adapted by the composer for Flute, Horn, and Piano. With a rollicking scherzo and beautiful melodic movements, this 21-minute work is a joy to play and to listen to.
I’ve always been fascinated and inspired by chamber works offering several instrumental versions of the same piece, resulting in a new feel and color. One famous example is the great Franck Sonata, originally for violin and piano, and beautifully arranged for flute and piano by Jean-PIerre Rampal. Subsequently other versions of the piece were created for an array of instruments: cello, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, and even tuba!  Creating this flute version of my TRIO (flute replacing the original violin part), considered the range, allowing the flute to sometimes sing in a bright, higher register than the original violin part; passages where there were double stops in the violin now have arpeggiated figurations. The original scoring for Horn, Violin, and Piano was commissioned by and gratefully dedicated to Chamberosity, representing an homage to one of my favorite chamber pieces of all time, the Trio for Horn, Violin, and Piano by Brahms. Having both performed (on piano) and analyzed that work, I so loved Brahms’ wonderful weaving of the colors of the instruments, creating an almost orchestral color palette. For years I wanted to write a trio for the same combination, and when my friends in Chamberosity were enthusiastic about me writing that piece for them, I was delighted. The four movements are modeled after the Brahms, with a slow-fast-slow-fast scheme to the entire work. A gentle, somewhat mysterious first movement accumulates depth and momentum as it proceeds, only to return to the gentle world of the opening. The second movement is a rip-roaring scherzo, a true energetic dance with melodies tossed back and forth from the violin to the horn, while the piano provides a resonant accompaniment, inserting its own lively melodies as counterpoint to the violin and horn. The third movement is filled with melancholy, with long lyric melodies appearing sometimes as solos, sometimes as duets, and sometimes as a chorale with all three instruments singing their soulful songs. The final movement, following an austere, dramatic introduction, turns into a grand fugue, with a jumping fugue theme full of life and excitement, culminating in the themes heard in augmentation, strong and bold.