By QuinnMason
Whenitcametimetowriteapianosonata,I askedmyself'WhatwouldIwanttosaywitha pianosonatainthe21stcentury?'.It'satriedand trueformthatboastsmanymasterworksby thegreatcomposers,includingessentialpiecesby Beethoven,Schubert,ChopinandRachmaninoff.It wasabitofadauntingprojectatfirstasIquestioned whatIhadtoaddtotheplethoraoflegendary compositionsalready.
Asapianistmyself,mystyleofplayingisfocused onbringingthebestsoundoutofthepianoby placingemphasisontheresonanceoftheindividualtones. Thus,thefirstmovementisbasedaroundthekeyofA, specifallythemiddleA,whichisthehomebaseofthe440 tuningnotewithspecialempahsisandaccentsonspecifictonesintheA Majorscale.Ofcourse,Ipayhomagetotheromantic sonataswithanexpansiveandexpressivemiddlesectioninFminor.
Thesecondmovementisasortoffuneralmarch,butthe musictakesaminimalistturninthesecondsection,and looksbackthe2ndmovementsofBeethoveninthenext(withspecial ornamentationinlikemanner).
Thelastmovementisahomagetomytimespentas asapercussionist,inwhichmyfavoritemusicaltechnique toexplorewashemiolas(multiplerhythmslayeredontopof oneanother).Thus,wegetthename'5with4'and'3with2',which makeforveryinterestingrhythmiccombinations.Here,theplayer isattheirmostvirtuosic,inanalmostmotoperpetuostyle.
SowhatdidIwanttosaywithapianosonatainthe21stcentury?Simply put,onecanutlilizeclassiccompositionaltechniquesofthemaster composersandstillcreateinterestingmusicthatisverytimely,andstill soundsnewthesametime.
Andfinally,thetitle"Sonata'21"canreferto2things:1.anindicationthat Icompletedthispieceintheyear2021and2.it'sasonatafromthe21st century. Totalduration-22minutes