A Major Piano Sonata*
*not actually in A Major
May 9--October 29, 2008
Duration: about 17 minutes
Photo; me age 3
for John Noel
Font required for Finale scores: (1)
This was premiered on my
Feb. 22, 2011 concert at Duke. John Noel, piano
Entire Score, PDF
Cover
I. Heavy Pedal
[5:40]
MP3
Score
Moderato
II. Roll Over Stockhausen
[6:39] MP3
Score
Moderato
again
III. Tell Chuck Berry the News
[6:10] MP3
Score
Allegro
knucklebuster
I
first attempted a piano sonata in 1980; it was performed once at NTSU in Denton Texas for a very small
audience. I have salvaged some ideas from the middle movement for this sonata’s
middle movement, and also some thematic material from the early third movement
for this sonata’s finale.
While
most of my works include piano, it has been a challenge to compose a solo work;
my inner ear is more attuned to less percussive instruments or voice, and to a
variety of tone colors. It is not surprising that this piece took an unusually
long time to write, although the elapsed time is also due to other activities
this summer and fall.
The
photograph on the cover is from my first piano lessons at age three, in Denton,
1958. The only performance I gave on piano was in kindergarten, when I was
dressed as a clown and had a large star, dyed blue, carved into my otherwise
very short hair, which was dyed white. Currently I only play in the privacy of
my boudoir to help compose and rely on others for performance.
John Noel premiered the sonata at Duke
University on February 22, 2011, and in appreciation the piece is dedicated to
him.
Musician Biography
John
Noel, pianist, native of Henderson NC, studied at the NC School of the Arts,
Oberlin Conservatory, Juilliard, the Schola Cantorum, and Rice University. He
spent three years in Paris on a Fulbright Scholarship, a Harriet Hale Woolley
Scholarship and a Société Générale Scholarship. He has performed in many
European countries. John performed on three Robinson concerts, in 2010, 2011, and 2013. He now lives in Houston Texas.